Oxford Capital et al. in $3m Celoxica round

Ellie Pullen
20 May 2013

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Oxford Capital Partners has led a $3m funding round for London-based ultra-low latency market data provider Celoxica.

The round also saw all of the company's previous investors inject fresh capital into the business. The investment will be used to expand the company's marketing and sales presence in Europe and the US.

Details of existing investors in Celoxica have not been released, although according to unquote" data the company has previously received backing from Advent Venture Partners, Cazenove Private Equity (now DFJ Esprit), Intel Capital, Quester Venture Capital Trust (now Spark Ventures), Wind River Ventures and the Isis College Fund in the past. However, a number of these firms – Advent, DFJ Esprit, Intel and Spark – exited the company in 2010.

Celoxica has shares listed on London Stock Exchange's AIM. The company held its IPO in June 2005 and raised £6.1m, although none of the company's venture capital investors sold shares in the listing, according to reports. However, in 2008 Celoxica sought shareholder permission to cancel the company's listing on AIM. In December that year the company was delisted due to financial burden.

Previous funding
Celoxica received $6.3m in 2004 from existing investors in a deal led by Advent, Cazenove, Intel and Quester. Prior to this, the company received a $30m backing from Advent, Cazenove, Intel, Quester, Wind River and the Isis College Fund in 2001.

Company
Celoxica was founded as a spin-out of Oxford University in 1996 and was originally named Embedded Solutions Limited until 2000.

In 2008, Celoxica underwent a major relaunch by bringing in a new board of directors and narrowing its key markets to focus on just the financial sector. The company now provides hardware-accelerated, ultra-low latency market data for the financial industry, as well as risk trading solutions.

Celoxica employs 34 staff and is based in London, with additional offices in Paris, New York and Chicago.

People
Lee Staines is the president of Celoxica, while Jean-Marc Bouhelier is the company's executive chairman and CEO.

Oxford Capital will not be making any additions to Celoxica's board of directors. The firm's co-founders and managing partners are Edward and David Mott. Oliver Hughes is Oxford Capital's senior investment manager.