Braveheart acquires Inkopo Ltd
On Monday 8 June Braveheart announced the acquisition of Inkopo Ltd, a specialist investment business based in Yorkshire. Inkopo specialises in technology investing and has core businesses in the areas of investment facilitation, portfolio management and management services.
Inkopo was formed in 2002 as the result of the management buy-out of UniVentures, the technology transfer vehicle for Leeds Metropolitan University. The buy-out was effected by Andrew Burton, Inkopo's CEO and then CEO of UniVentures, who then expanded the company's activities to provide a corporate base for serving the needs of early stage, technology-based enterprises. In 2004, Inkopo won a contract from central government to operate one of the eight regional Early Growth Funds, named the Viking Fund, and subsequently, it's not-for-profit sister company, Viking Business Angels Club Limited.
The Board of Braveheart believes that a strong complementary fit exists between the two businesses in terms of management expertise, service offering, clients, relations with academic and publicly funded bodies, and geographic coverage.
Commenting, Chief Executive of Braveheart, Geoffrey Thomson, said, "This acquisition is in line with our stated growth strategy and demonstrates our ability to find and execute such transactions. Inkopo complements our existing business and we now have operating bases in Perth, London and Yorkshire. Our plans are to grow Inkopo by making additional operational and financial resources available to the incumbent management and we look forward to working closely with the team. Andrew Burton who runs the business is a well known and respected operator in our market place and I welcome him and his people to the Group."
Andrew Burton, Chief Executive of Inkopo added, "This is a logical step in the growth of Inkopo. Being part of a larger organisation gives us access to additional resources and means that we can grow the business at a faster rate than would otherwise be possible. Braveheart are respected players in our sector and we look forward to working with them."
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