Downing acquires minority stake in Claresys for £550,000

The funding was drawn from the VC's Downing Growth EIS fund and will help bolster Claresys's sales team, as well as expand its product range and in-house manufacturing capabilities. It will also be used to meet working capital requirements.

Claresys's existing investors provided a modest amount of additional capital in the funding round.

Downing stated that its investment was motivated by the company's growth potential in an expanding niche market and by the possibility of developing its product range into new markets and sectors.

The news came during a week in which Downing also invested £3.8m in Goonhilly Earth Station, which owns and operates the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall, England. The VC's other recent investments include £1m of expansion capital for software-as-a-service company Curo and an undisclosed investment in Angela Malik, a London-based cookery school, deli and restaurant.

Company
Claresys develops lenses for surveillance and vision systems, mainly in the defence and police sectors. It is based in Abingdon, England, and has a headcount of four.

People
Downing investment manager Jamie Lewis led the deal. Chris Allner, a partner at Downing, will take a seat on the board at Claresys. Andy McLeod is the CEO of Claresys.

Advisers
Equity – Field Seymour Parkes (Legal).

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