Lloyds BG investment in Ocula Technologies Hold...

6 March 2023

Castelnau Group Limited

(“Castelnau” or “The Company”)

Lloyds Banking Group investment in Ocula Technologies Holdings Ltd

Castelnau Group Limited is pleased to announce that Ocula Technologies Holdings Ltd (“Ocula”), the data science business in which it is a founding shareholder, has today confirmed that it has received new investment from Lloyds Banking Group and their Fintech Investment Team.

Lloyds Banking Group’s investment is in the form of new equity capital and completes the funding round previously announced in November 2022.  Less than two years since its formation, it values Ocula on a post new money basis at £10 million.

Graham Shircore, CEO of Castelnau said: “This is a major milestone for Ocula and testament not only to the hard work of the entire team, but also to the clear benefit which Ocula’s products can bring to their clients. It is also a textbook example of how Castelnau’s long-term, supportive approach to building great businesses can help them flourish and develop.

“The amount of investor interest that Ocula has received in recent months has been extremely encouraging and we are excited to welcome Lloyds Banking Group not only as a shareholder in Ocula but also as a partner whose reach and expertise will be of major benefit to the business as it continues to scale-up its operations.”

Thomas McKenna, CEO of Ocula, added: “This funding will enable us to fuel our ambitious future development and client plans for our two insight modules, Ocula Boost and Price Optimisation. We look forward to further building on our recent success with cornerstone clients such as the Kansas City Chiefs and AO.”

Ocula’s software platform enables companies to make smarter, AI driven decisions. Ocula’s insight modules are helping major retailers, brands and sports teams in the UK and North America optimise their ecommerce experience and compete more effectively on pricing.  Ocula’s customers include Castelnau portfolio companies Hornby Hobbies and Cambium Group, as well as AO and the Kansas City Chiefs amongst others.

Castelnau was a founding shareholder in Ocula when it was formed in 2021. It was founded by serial tech entrepreneur Gerry Buggy, Thomas McKenna (previously of Bain and Dunnhumby) and Dr Gregory Fletcher (previously Chief Data Scientist at Deloitte) bringing together vast experience of the industry, software development and scaling start-ups.  Their vision is to democratise AI and generate transformative insights for clients though their intelligence platforms.

Further information on the Company can be found on its website

Castelnau Group
Graham Shircore
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Liberum Capital Limited
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Darren Vickers/Owen Matthews/Will King

Citigate Dewe Rogerson
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Caroline Merrell/Toby Moore/Sheena Munsami