NPIF Maven Equity Finance leads £600,000 in YR Free
Transformational video collaboration platform secures follow-on funding to make key hires across its management team as it embarks on a programme of growth
NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and managed by Maven Capital Partners , has led a £600,000 funding round for YR Free Labs Limited (“YR Free”), a business providing secure technology for digitally recorded media via a video collaboration platform called ‘eviid’.
The NPIF – Maven Equity Fund invested £600,000, alongside £225,000 from the Government’s Future Fund.
NPIF originally invested in the Liverpool based business in 2017. Today’s follow-on investment will allow the business to embark on a programme of rapid growth, making key hires across its management team and supporting the company as it expands its customer reach.
The eviid platform enables businesses to use live and recorded smartphone video in their processes, connecting with workers in the field or assisting customers in submitting video and photos as evidence. Its patented evidential technology ensures all video and image content is verifiable and auditable, as well as opening up opportunities around workflow automation and AI. The technology turns video and photos captured on smart devices into reliable, verifiable evidence that is suitable for use in court proceedings, claims management and compliance cases.
Since CEO John Ridd founded the company in 2008, YR Free has gone beyond simple video integration, evolving the eviid product into a powerful workflow tool and enterprise grade platform. Today, eviid’s patented technology underpins evidential video applications for some of the biggest names in insurance, FM, security and infrastructure across the UK and internationally including Australia, India, Europe and the US.
John Ridd, CEO and co-founder of YR Free, said: “At the heart of the eviid platform sits our unique patented evidential technology as well as a robust system for handling video in enterprise contexts. It’s incredibly scalable, with applications in numerous sectors beyond the ones we are serving today. The pandemic has really put video on the map and businesses around the world have realised how much can be done remotely. We have a long-term solution for this – a secure and proven system for integrating video and images into business workflows.
“As we come out of the current crisis, video will stay. Not as an emergency tool in a pandemic, but as a smart, lean and sustainable way of doing business. This new funding allows us to capitalise on our unique market position, take our offering into new markets and scale up rapidly.”
Simon Robb, Portfolio Manager at Maven, said: “The eviid platform plays a crucial role in a number of sectors and we’re delighted to back the business at an exciting stage in the company’s growth journey. The business has evolved considerably since we originally invested back in 2017 and we look forward to working with John and the team as they scale up the eviid platform.”
Janice Mears, Head of Business Growth at Growth Platform said: “I am delighted to see yet another City Region business benefit from funding made available through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. This fund provides valuable support to our business community, particularly those with high growth potential to expand and create jobs in the City Region.”
The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.