Oxford Innovation

Oxford Start-up GroupSpaces raises Six Figure Funding to revolutionise Group Management Systems

GroupSpaces, an Oxford-based Internet company that provides online tools to enable groups, societies and clubs to manage their communications and data, today announced that it has raised a six figure round of investment from a consortium of investors.

The round included London-based Avonmore Developments, and an investor introduced by Oxford Early Investments, the business angel investment network that helps innovative early stage companies to raise funding.

Founded by two Oxford University students in 2006, GroupSpaces is revolutionising the ways in which ‘real world’ groups such as sports clubs, university societies, charities and other organisations manage themselves in an increasingly online world.

These groups share a common set of needs that include communication channels, membership and database management, website provision and event organisation and promotion. However, there is no existing solution to meet all of their needs so they are forced to use a combination of disconnected tools from multiple providers.

CTO of GroupSpaces, Andrew Young, explained the unique solution provided by the Company: “GroupSpaces has created a web-based service that solves all the problems of group managers with a combination of powerful, easy-to-use tools and an integrated portal. The online toolset is designed to fit in with groups’ existing conventions, helping to establish efficient, robust procedures and facilitating collaboration between group members, managers and the wider world.”

A successful pilot of the GroupSpaces service was run during 2006-07 with over 300 societies at Oxford University. The quality and frequency of use of the service, which saw between 4,000 and 5,000 unique visits to the website per month, enabled the Company to secure advertising contracts with over 40 blue-chip clients including IBM, BP, McKinsey & Company, Bain Capital, Clifford Chance and JPMorgan.

Oxford University Careers Service is one group benefiting from the service. Director, Terry Dray, said: “The innovative website offered by GroupSpaces has helped even more students to find out about our events and services. They are bridging the gap between university societies and graduate recruiters in a revolutionary manner.”

GroupSpaces secured their funding after a successful pitch at an investment meeting run by Oxford Early Investments.

Commenting on the fundraising, GroupSpaces’ CEO, David Langer, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with such experienced and successful angel investors. The funding obtained through Oxford Early Investments will allow us to expand our engineering team and accelerate product development as we develop and test our service through 2008.”

Manager of Oxford Early Investments, Eileen Modral, said: “We were pleased to help GroupSpaces to raise the crucial funding they need to progress the development of their innovative software.”

GroupSpaces is initially rolling out its online toolset to the 25,000 UK-based university clubs and societies. The Company plans to raise a further round of investment in due course to increase momentum as it expands outside the student market.

US-based Nexo Systems estimates there to be over 100 million groups in the US alone, and GroupSpaces’ mission is to become the essential provider of online tools for ‘real world’ groups.

L-R: David Langer (Chief Executive Officer) and Andrew Young (Chief Technology Officer) of GroupSpaces, an Oxford-based Internet company that has created an innovative, web-based service for group managers. GroupSpaces has raised a six figure sum from a consortium of investors including an investor introduced by Oxford Early Investments.

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Editors Notes

Press contacts:
David Langer, CEO, GroupSpaces Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)20 7193 5063 Email: david@groupspaces.com

Margaret Henry, Oxford Early Investments
Tel: +44 (0)1865 811199 Email: m.henry@oxin.co.uk

About GroupSpaces

GroupSpaces is an Oxford-based Internet company that is revolutionising the way ‘real world’ groups manage themselves in an increasingly online world. The innovative software is initially aimed at university societies, sports clubs and other common interest groups.

The GroupSpaces concept was borne out of the founders’ personal experiences of managing a range of membership groups at Oxford University. As a member of many clubs and societies on a local, university and national level, CEO David Langer was well-placed to witness the common set of needs felt by people who organise groups. CTO Andrew Young, has several years experience of designing and building web-based systems for prominent companies in areas such as real estate, e-commerce and the public sector. Together they saw how technology could be used to dramatically improve the ease with which people could manage the operational details of running their groups freeing up time to concentrate on their core activities.

The founders initially obtained the help of local Oxford entrepreneur, Dr John Boyle (Co-Founder & MD, Oxford Computer Consultants), and Gordon Buxton (Co-Founder & MD, Oxinet). Inspired by a trip to Silicon Valley in summer 2007 where they visited the likes of Google, Facebook and Bebo, the founders began to draw up plans to raise investment to help take the company to the next level. Meanwhile, experienced MBA and web developer Rob Eyre joined the team as a Software Developer in September 2007.

For more information: www.groupspaces.com

About Oxford Early Investments (OEI)

Founded in November 2004, Oxford Early Investments (OEI) is a business angel network that helps early stage companies raise funding from £20,000 to £150,000 by matching them with investors (business angels) who often provide management input as well as capital. Investment meetings, where selected companies pitch their business proposals to investors, are held every two months.

Companies raising funding through the Network can apply for matched funding from the Co-Investment Programme run by OEI with Bank of Scotland Growth Equity. Under the terms of the Co-Investment Programme the Bank has made available £2 million to invest alongside investor members of the OEI Network. The Bank will typically invest from £25,000 to £250,000 per deal, with all investments being made on exactly the same terms as the Network’s investor members.

OEI is managed by Oxford Innovation (www.oxin.co.uk), the UK’s leading operator of innovation centre premises for start-up companies, and sponsored by Manches, NESTA, CLIK and Frank B Dehn & Co.
For more information: www.oxei.co.uk