SME

Private Equity

4 minutes

05/06/2023

Foresight invests £3.5 million into Red Flag Alert

  • Red Flag Alert is a growing business intelligence provider with a proprietary credit scoring tool that consistently outperforms the established market leaders
  • The investment from Foresight VCT and Foresight Enterprise VCT will support the continued growth of the Company

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Manchester, 01 June 2023: Foresight Group (“Foresight”), a leading listed regional private equity and infrastructure investment manager, has announced a £3.5 million investment into Red Flag Alert Technology Group Limited (“Red Flag Alert” or the “Company”).

The Company, with a team of over 50 based in Manchester, has developed a proprietary SaaS business intelligence platform with modular capabilities spanning credit security compliance, sales prospecting, risk management and financial health assessments sold into a growing corporate customer base.

Red Flag Alert’s success has been founded on the excellent service levels it provides, with continual investment in its product to deliver new functionality for customers. The Company recently launched its third-generation platform with much improved user interface and functionality which accelerated growth with ARR increasing by 25% in the last year alone.

Foresight’s investment will support the Company’s growth ambitions – providing the capital to continue to invest in product development, create high-quality, sustainable jobs and to expand its commercial capabilities and reach.

John Lord will join the board as Non-Executive Chair. John’s background includes eight years as Group Managing Director of listed data provider GB Group and six years as Managing Director of Dun & Bradstreet (UK&I). John also founded a leading customer onboarding platform which he exited to LexisNexis. His expertise will help the Company grow and significantly increase its market share.

Commenting on the investment, Richard West, CEO of Red Flag Alert, said: “In the fast-paced world of financial risk and data insights, innovation and disruption are vital. From the beginning of our conversations with Foresight, they understood Red Flag Alert’s mission and our value in the industry. We are proud to work alongside them to grow our market share and continue our journey.”

Fiona Hatch, Senior Investment Manager at Foresight, added: “Red Flag Alert has built an impressive product and customer base. With our investment and support, the team will be in a great position to benefit from the potential market opportunities. We look forward to working with Richard and the rest of the team to enable the next phase of their growth.”

Foresight continues to be one of the most active investors in smaller companies, having completed more than 90 investments into SMEs in 2022, alongside a number of strong exits. In the same year, Foresight’s Private Equity team announced three new funds, a ventures fund acquisition and expanded its regional office network, opening offices in Dublin and Leeds. So far in 2023, Foresight has invested into 35 SMEs, announced it will open an office in Newcastle, and has announced a number of successful exits, including Datapath (11.7x money), Mowgli (3.5x money) and GovGrant (4.5x money).

ENDS

Advisers to Red Flag Alert:

Corporate Finance: Sedulo
Legal Advice: Brabners

Advisers to Foresight:

Financial DD : Hentons Corporate Finance
Legal Advice : RW Blears LLP
Management DD : Catalysis
Technical DD : CloudOrigin
Insurance DD Locktons Companies LLP
Cyber DD KryptoKloud Ltd
Commercial DD : Whitecap Consulting

Notes to Editors

For more information contact:

Lucy Sherwood: marketing@foresightgroup.eu / +44 (0)20 3763 6977 Chris Barry: barry@thisisinfluential.com / +44 (0)7733 103693

About Foresight Group Holdings Limited

Foresight Group was founded in 1984 and is a leading listed infrastructure and private equity investment manager. With a long-established focus on ESG and sustainability-led strategies, it aims to provide attractive returns to its institutional and private investors from hard-to-access private markets. Foresight manages over 350 infrastructure assets with a focus on solar and onshore wind assets, bioenergy and waste, as well as renewable energy enabling projects, energy efficiency management solutions, social and core infrastructure projects and sustainable forestry assets. Its private equity team manages eleven regionally focused investment funds across the UK and an SME impact fund supporting Irish SMEs. This team reviews over 2,500 business plans each year and currently supports more than 250 investments in SMEs. Foresight Capital Management manages four strategies across seven investment vehicles with an AUM of £1.3 billion.

Foresight operates in eight countries across Europe, Australia and United States with AUM of £12.2 billion*. Foresight Group Holdings Limited listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in February 2021. https://www.foresightgroup.eu/shareholders

*Based on Foresight Group unaudited AUM as at 31 March 2023.

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