Ingenious Ventures Launches Fund For Creative Industries

Ingenious Ventures, part of UK based investment and advisory group Ingenious has announced the launch of its new Media Opportunities Fund (the Fund), an approved EIS fund that will invest in dynamic growth companies across the creative and media industries.
These industries are one of the UK’s most successful economic sectors contributing £59.1 billion to the economy. This is equal to 5.6% of GDP, double the European sector average and as large as the financial services sector. The UK is internationally regarded as a leader in this field.
The creative economy is currently being driven by ongoing changes in consumer media
consumption, regulation and technology, all of which have created a growing and dynamic investment environment. New platforms such as Kindle, iPad and Connected TV are stimulating growth in the sector, as consumers are enabled to purchase content quickly and conveniently.
At the same time, more traditional areas, such as theatre, live events and film admissions are showing themselves to be resilient to the general economic climate.
The Fund, which has a target raise of £20 million, has already established an attractive pipeline of potential investments and will be seeking to provide capital to exciting growth companies that display proven business models and established revenues.
Ingenious, which sits at the heart of the creative and media sector, will give investors access to promising companies in the next stage of their growth across the sector, including businesses in marketing services, fashion and design, e-commerce, publishing, gaming, live entertainment and audio-visual content production including TV, internet and mobile.
The Media Opportunities Fund’s investments will comprise two separate asset classes; first, high growth companies with the potential for significant equity returns and secondly, companies that can demonstrate a more predictable level of profitability through significant contracted revenues. Ingenious believes that this investment strategy will help to preserve investors’ capital while at the same time giving access to unlimited equity returns, which will be tax free.
Ingenious has significant experience in raising funds in the media sector and Ingenious Ventures has been a specialist investment manager for over ten years, gaining unparalleled access to attractive off-market opportunities. The extensive working knowledge of the sector possessed by Ingenious puts the firm in a strong position to identify companies with significant expansion opportunities that are well placed to benefit from a wider economic recovery.
As an approved EIS fund, investors may be eligible to receive the 30% tax relief this year on investments of up to £500,000 and will benefit from an exemption from capital gains tax on disposals of investments made by the Fund. The minimum individual investment in the Fund is £10,000.
Patrick Bradley, CEO of Ingenious Ventures, said: "The launch of this innovative new fund will build on Ingenious’s already significant commitment to investment in the UK creative industries, having deployed over £6 billion since the Group’s inception in 1998. The sector remains an important, vibrant asset within the UK economy and we are seeing a raft of exciting companies come through across the spectrum of design, fashion, live events, TV and in the digital space. Despite the difficult conditions in the UK, British fashion, design and creativity continues to be an international success, with markets such as China identifying ‘British’ as a desirable mark in cultural and creative purchases.
"With a number of the traditional forms of funding for the media sector, such as bank finance, evaporating over recent years, we are pleased to be able to support the important growth of the industry through our fund to ensure that the UK remains a hub for innovation and creativity.
"We look forward to backing those identified companies with growth capital whilst providing a unique and exciting investment opportunity for our clients."
(LB)