First Investment

RNS Number : 3755E

Draper Esprit PLC

18 July 2016

 

Embargoed until 07.00: 18 July 2016

Draper Esprit plc

("Draper Esprit" or the "Company")

Draper Esprit Makes First Investment Following Successful IPO

Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), one of the leading venture capital investors involved in the creation, funding and development of high-growth technology businesses with an emphasis on digital technologies in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Europe, announces that it has made its first investment since successfully listing on AIM and the ESM last month.

Draper Esprit has invested £3.1 million to acquire a stake in Stockholm-based digital health company Lifesum (www.lifesum.com) ("Lifesum"). Draper Esprit has invested for the first time alongside Nokia Growth Partners, and existing investors Bauer Media and VC SparkLabs Global Ventures.  Vishal Gulati, Venture Partner at Draper Esprit, will join the Lifesum board.

Lifesum, launched in 2013, has created one of Europe's fastest growing health apps with over 15 million users.  Lifesum has created a platform that focuses on engaging and inspiring users online and offline to help them maintain and achieve a healthy lifestyle and work towards their personal health and fitness goals. The app is available on iOS, Android and Apple Watch. Lifesum has closed a $10m Series B funding round, which will fund international growth and further product development.  Using both technology and psychology, Lifesum is committed to creating tailored plans to help people live happier, more balanced lives.

The Lifesum team includes CEO, Henrik Torstensson, whose previous roles include Head of Premium Sales with Spotify and SVP Strategy at Stardoll, and COO, Marcus Gners, former Vice President of Business Development at Stardoll.  Recent senior level hires include Victoria Bastide as Lifesum CTO. A Silicon Valley veteran, Victoria rose to the position of Director, R&D at cloud and virtualization software and service provider, VMware.  Peter Viksten, Lifesum's new CPO, has over 20 years of experience as a creative in advertising and marketing including as a creative at Wieden + Kennedy and Mother, and Creative Director at Great Works.

Simon Cook, CEO Draper Esprit commented: "As we outlined during our IPO, we are looking to invest in high quality management teams with innovative digital technology from across all of Europe.  Scandanavia has produced many great digital success stories such as Spotify and the team at Lifesum has created a very powerful platform."

Vishal Gulati, Venture Partner at Draper Esprit, said: "With the blurring of boundaries between wellness and illness we expect behaviour change to occupy a more central position in how we manage lifestyle related health impairments. LifeSum offers a healthy living ecosystem which embraces users' lifestyle and offers an enjoyable way to live a healthier, longer life."

Henrik Torstensson, CEO of Lifesum, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Draper Esprit and Nokia Growth Partners as investors in Lifesum, alongside our existing investors.  Their investment will help accelerate the company's next phase in becoming a truly global product and brand. The support from our new partners, as leading tech investors, and experienced digital healthcare and wellbeing investors, will help us to meet our product development targets, while facilitating the continued growth of our European and US user bases."

Enquiries

Draper Esprit plc Simon Cook (Chief Executive Officer) Stuart Chapman (Chief Operating Officer)	[phone]
Numis Securities Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker Alex Ham Garri Jones Richard Thomas Paul Gillam	[phone]
Goodbody Stockbrokers ESM Adviser & Joint Broker Don Harrington Linda Hickey Dearbhla Gallagher	[phone]
Zeus Capital Benjamin Robertson Giles Balleny	[phone]
Belvedere Communications (PR) John West Kim van Beeck	[phone]

 

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