Joe Krancki

Joe was part of the team that launched Frog Capital in 2009 and has since been instrumental with Frog’s investments in IT and digital media. He is a Board observer at e-commerce analytics leader eCommera, brand funded video content business Rockabox Media, social/mobile games developer Mediatonic and Rated People, the online platform for homeowners to connect with quality, local tradesmen. Joe also leads Frog’s involvement with the London Business School and the TELL Series (www.tellseries.com).

Jens Düing

Previously with Pioneer Point Partners, Fidelity Equity Partners, DKB and Fog City Capital in San Francisco, Jens brings not only a wealth of growth capital experience but also strong insight into selected cleantech and digital media sectors. As well as an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, Jens also holds a Master’s in Theoretical Physics from Durham University (UK).

Quote from Mike Reid, Managing Partner

“With several strong exits over the last two years, Frog Capital is now recognised as one of Europe’s most notable up-and-coming growth capital investors. Frog’s blend of sector expertise and flexible range of deal types means it can collaborate effectively with many of Europe’s best entrepreneurial teams.

Joe Krancki has been and continues to play a key role in the team since we launched Frog. And we are delighted to have persuaded Jens to come aboard. He combines the attributes of being smart and international with being down to earth and someone you shoot the breeze with.”
 

About Frog Capital
Frog Capital is a London-based European investment firm, specializing in growth capital for technology-driven businesses across the Cleantech and IT & digital media sectors. With €100m under management, Frog seeks to lead or partner in investments where companies require between €2 million and €20 million of funding for expansion capital, minority purchases, management buy-outs or acquisitions. Frog also invests in quoted companies when the opportunity fits.

Frog’s recent exits include SiC Processing AG, BuyVIP and agri.capital. Current investment themes embodied in the Frog Portfolio include resource efficiency, renewable energy, online fraud, gamification, brand funded content, ecommerce analytics and many others. For more information, visit www.frogcapital.com.

For further information please contact Mike Reid.

The rollout is part of a plan that will see eCommera launch transactional ecommerce sites for both the Clarins brand and brands under the Clarins Fragrance Group - Thierry Mugler and Azzaro - across 16 countries and in multiple languages. Further mobile sites will also roll out globally through 2012 to provide an optimized customer experience across a variety of touch-points.

Utilising the eCommera platform enables the sites to benefit from state-of-the-art e-commerce features such as facetted navigation and product comparison, enhanced with innovative features developed by the Clarins digital team and eCommera engineers, such as an online beauty consultation, a collection of content-rich  mini-sites encapsulated in the shopping pages, and an exclusive online reward program.

All sites are supported by eCommera’s Software as a Service (SaaS) managed services approach and deployed on the eCommera Commerce Platform which uses  Demandware technology.

Laurent Malaveille – Senior Vice President of Digital, CRM & E-Commerce at Clarins Group, said: “We have successfully launched or re-launched many brand websites in 2011, and are confident we will continue to do so in 2012. This agility is possible only because we invested in a partnership combining the Clarins group, a single, powerful yet flexible, digital commerce platform, and the development and support expertise of eCommera. This combination means we have an excellent foundation to support all our brands, in all countries, on all devices with the ability to drive a range of initiatives like pure play e-commerce, drive-to-store and loyalty programs. We believe this is a strong asset for our brands.”

Andrew McGregor, CEO at eCommera comments: “We are pleased to have been able to provide Clarins with the platform and services to support multiple brands, countries, devices and features, whilst their vision and ambition to deploy new ideas to extend the multi-channel success of their brand has made them an exciting partner to work with.”

Laurent Quatrefages, managing director at eCommera France, adds: “Once again eCommera has demonstrated its ability to quickly deliver a worldwide trading platform tailored to our client’s specific needs.”

 
Clarins selected eCommera as a partner for its global eCommerce venture in December 2010. The two organizations will continue to work together on integrating new features and functionality into the site as well as rolling out new country sites.

About Clarins Group

Clarins Group is a private cosmetics group with a brand portfolio that includes CLARINS (the #1 high-end skin care brand in Europe and also one of the leading brands in Americas and Asia Pacific), and a range of world famous prestige fragrance brands such as Thierry Mugler, Azzaro and Swarovski Beauty.

eCommera acquired  Symsource to help its customers meet the distinct rise in the use of mobile devices including smartphones and tablets, to access retail transactional websites.  According to research by IMRG, the percentage of visits via mobile is increasing from an average of 1.4 per cent in Q1 to 7 per cent. The number of sales via mobile has risen from 0.4 per cent at the beginning of 2010 to 3.3 per cent in Q2. Some retailers have sales via mobile as high as 8 per cent.

As Andrew McGregor, CEO of eCommera explains, “We’re experiencing another wave of evolution in the online world and the number of mobile transactions being conducted, on tablets in particular, is growing month on month.  Furthermore, it is becoming clear to retailers that many of these mobile customers are the most loyal and represent some of their most lucrative sales. Our technology and analytic solutions will enable retailers and brand owners to capitalise on the opportunities to better attract, retain and monetise these customers.”

McGregor continues, “Our clients are not short of choice when it comes to point solution suppliers in the mobile space. However, there have been no obvious choices for clients seeking an integrated mobile commerce solution from a vendor who understands both mobile technology and the retail space. Our partnership with Symsource allows us to help clients further realise their ambitions in the mobile and multi-channel space using our pre-packaged modular and proven solutions.”

The first fruits of this acquisition are already well underway, with a fully transactional m-commerce application for Apple iPhone and Google Android smartphones due for launch this year. eCommera also has a roadmap of additional mobile products scheduled for delivery within the first two quarters of 2012.

About Symsource

Symsource is a seven year old London-based company.  The management team has more than 50 years’ combined telecoms experience from leading companies in the industry. Symsource was chosen by eCommera for its proven ability to deliver forward-looking, cross-platform mobile technology solutions on time and to budget.

Symsource is focused on delivering cross platform applications and systems integration for a range of mobile devices and has experience from the early days of the Symbian handheld OS, through Windows Mobile, Google Android and Apple iPhone.

The global identity verification market is growing rapidly as identity fraud, money laundering and corruption affect virtually all businesses and organisations and regulators attempt to address the problems involved. The acquisition accelerates GB Group’s drive to expand its product portfolio, providing businesses worldwide with effective and economic services to identify third parties and manage the data involved.

The acquisition offers many synergies to GB Group, including functionality and software integration and expanded global reach. The enlarged GB Group serves customers in all major regions of the world.

Commenting on the transaction, Frog Capital Managing Partner, Mike Reid, says: “We have been really impressed with GB Group’s focus on the quality of its products and services and this acquisition delivers another part of their business plan in building market share globally. It’s an excellent deal and we are delighted to support it by increasing our own shareholding through the share placement.”

Frog Capital received the honour of “Development Capital Fund of the Year” for its track record of innovative investments and noteworthy exits, as well as for working closely with the investment community and portfolio companies to add value through capital, networks and expertise.

Frog Capital’s three most recent exits include SiC Processing, BuyVIP and agri.capital, all of which were nominated for “Exit of the Year”. Additions to the Frog portfolio include cross-media pioneer Rockabox Media, AIM-listed fraud and identity management specialist GB Group and Rated People, the online platform for homeowners to connect with quality, local tradesmen.

“'We're delighted with the award. The team at Frog has worked incredibly hard, but not nearly as hard as the teams we back,” commented Mike Reid, Managing Partner of Frog Capital.

Now in its ninth year, Investor Allstars is one of the most important events of the year for recognising the leading investors in the venture capital community. More than 500 investment professionals attend the awards ceremony each year, where previous winners have included Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, 3i, Accel, Wellington Partners, Investcorp Technology Partners, TA Associates, among others.

Visit the Investor AllStars website for a full list of 2011 winners.

About Investor Allstars
The Investor Allstars Awards, organised by tech investment bank GP Bullhound and Vitesse Media, are known as the “Oscars” of the venture capital community.  Each year the VC community congregates to vie for one of the coveted Investor Allstar trophies. Not only is it an opportunity to reward those who have made outstanding contributions in the last 12 months, but also a chance to network with over 600 people at a must attend networking event - and enjoy a great party at a fabulous and unique venue.  Manish Madhvani, Founding Partner GP Bullhound, acts as Chairman of the Judges who decide on a pre-announced shortlist, and winners, who are announced on the night.  This year's event, the ninth edition, took place on 22nd September at The Natural History Museum.

The three companies are:

• Rated People is the UK’s leading online platform for connecting homeowners with quality, local tradesman. The London-based company generates over £1bn of home-improvement spending through its website each year.

• eCommera provides the technology and expertise that powers online commerce for retailers and brands. The company’s clients include well-know UK names such as Asda Direct, House of Fraser and Hamleys, as well as international players such as Clarins cosmetics and mattress-maker Tempur. They also run the official online shop for the London 2012 Olympics.

• Solarcentury is the UK’s largest independent solar electric company. Founded in 1999 by Jeremy Leggett, Solarcentury continues to design new versions of its products for homes and commercial premises across Europe.

Every one of Frog’s portfolio companies that were eligible for consideration garnered a place on this year’s list. Alongside these great companies, Mediatonic earned a special nod as one to watch. Mediatonic designs and builds casual and social games for a variety of platforms, and joined our portfolio through an investment last year.

The Tech Track 100 is sponsored by Microsoft, Barclays Corporate and BDO. It is compiled by Fast Track, the Oxford-based networking events and research company. The 2011 Tech Track 100 was published in The Sunday Times on 18 September 2011, with title sponsor Microsoft.

“This quarter’s research into the ‘core competencies of an online retailer’ offers insight into the skill sets being valued and developed in successful ecommerce businesses,” said Michael Ross, Director, eCommera. “The findings are indicative of an industry sector which is challenged by the breadth of the agenda and is still experimenting with how best to resource the activities.”

Trading Intelligence Quarterly: Key findings

•         84 per cent of companies in the report increased their online revenues over the last year, and more than 60 per cent saw growth rates of over 20 per cent.  Just four per cent of respondents cited a decrease.

Figure 1:

 •         Indicative of the resourcing and skills challenge for retailers is that virtually every one of the 17 suggested competencies was ranked as either core or critical by the respondents.

 •         In terms of the most dominant competency, technology functions are currently a high priority for online retailers. Over half of respondents cited website design (53 per cent) and site development (51 per cent) as the two highest rated competencies, reflecting a  focus on the technical aspects of online retailing.

 •         44 per cent of high growth retailers believe that both analytical and technology skills are core competencies in equal measure. They also rate customer experience, product and marketing skills more highly than lower growth businesses. 

 •         Lower growth companies have generally less regard for all five of the aforementioned competencies. Mid-tier companies tend to overemphasise technology skills.

•         Most retailers are managing functions across the board with help from third parties. Interestingly, a relatively high number of ecommerce businesses are managing and executing their technology (46 per cent) and customer service (47 per cent) functions externally. This is in direct contrast to their ranking of these functions as ‘core’ to their business.

 •         Product was the only category that retailers most tended to manage and execute internally. Product range development drove this ranking with 47 per cent indicating full control over this function.

Figure 2:

 •         42 per cent of ecommerce directors indicated they would outsource the technology function more within two years’ time. Only website design will be more internally controlled, with 36 per cent planning to move it in-house.

 •         UK Vs. France - Whilst broadly similar to UK views, French respondents today placed greater value on the core competencies of management of technology infrastructure (44 per cent vs. 35 per cent) and marketing performance (44 per cent vs. 34 per cent). At present French retailers are also placing a greater emphasis on technology development and infrastructure than their U.K counterparts.

 •         In terms of managing competencies, 40 per cent of French retailers indicated that they managed their current technology infrastructure internally, compared with only 28 per cent of UK retailers. However, looking ahead, 53 per cent of French retailers (vs. 41 per cent in the UK) plan to outsource more of their technical development, whilst 41 per cent (vs. 28 per cent in the UK) plan to bring their marketing performance in-house.

Ross concludes. “The findings are indicative of the early stages of a major shift within the industry. The way in which functions are perceived today and how they are being managed today is destined for change. As the ecommerce industry matures, retailers are slowly moving their focus away from mechanical enablers to those skills that drive real differentiation in the increasingly competitive online marketplace.

The journey to becoming a high growth ecommerce company requires a transition from the technicalities of operating the online store, to a conscious focus on the measurement and analysis of all the online activities. Understanding what drives conversion is imperative as is being able to use those metrics to improve operational effectiveness.”

As well as purchasing shares from existing shareholders, Alinda will invest €300m in agri.capital over the next three years, to support planned business growth. This is another landmark transaction in the European cleantech industry, following the sale of SiC Processing in 2010.

This is Frog’s third profitable exit in the last year, in deals which together have an aggregate transaction value of €1 billion.  Last year, Nordic Capital acquired industrial recycling company SiC Processing, and Amazon acquired BuyVIP, a leading on-line retailer. 

Based in Munster, Germany, agri.capital has grown from inception in 2004 to become Europe’s largest biogas producer, using the product of the natural biological decomposition of organic matter, or biomass, derived from energy crops and agricultural waste.  The company currently has over 60 production facilities in operation or under construction, capable of collectively producing 400 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. The company has significant expansion opportunities in Germany and Italy and sees additional growth opportunities in other European countries. Agri employs 130 people and generates revenues averaging €1m–€2m per annum from each plant.

Frog Capital invested in agri.capital in 2010, as part of a 2009 €60m round of funding. Commenting on Frog’s exit from agri.capital, Frog Partner Iyad Omari said: “We are delighted with the progress agri.capital has made and believe this landmark investment from Alinda will help leverage the considerable momentum and potential the company has to build on its leadership position in the biogas sector.”

“Alinda’s commitment to agri.capital will provide the growth equity capital required to realise the full potential of our business,” said agri.capital’s CEO, Dr. Anton Daubner. “Biogas is unique among renewable energy sources in being reliable, storable, and transportable, with applications for electricity, heating, and transport. We believe biogas and biomethane will be critical to Europe’s reaching its renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2020 and beyond.” 
 
NOTES TO EDITORS
 
About Frog Capital
Frog Capital is a London-based investment partner to some of Europe's most ambitious growth-stage companies. Frog invests across the cleantech and IT & digital media sectors, leading or partnering in fundings of €2 million to €20 million for expansion capital, minority purchases, management buy-outs, or acquisitions. Occasionally, Frog invests in quoted companies.

Last month Frog announced its fifth new investment within the last year, an investment in Rated People which is transforming the £39 billion home improvement industry by providing a trusted, convenient online marketplace to connect homeowners and tradesmen, creating substantial value for both.

About Alinda
Alinda Capital Partners is the world’s largest independent infrastructure firm, with over $7 billion in equity commitments to infrastructure investments.  Alinda’s infrastructure companies serve over 125 million customers annually in more than 400 cities.  The companies operate in the US, Canada, the UK and the Netherlands, and employ more than 15,000 people.

Alinda’s investors are predominantly pension funds for public sector and private sector workers. These institutions seek steady investments over the long term, matching their pension liabilities. They include some of the largest institutional investors in the world. 

The Partners of Alinda Capital comprise a highly experienced team in infrastructure investing. They have been responsible for over $150 billion of infrastructure investing and financing, spanning more than 20 years. We look for infrastructure assets in North America and Europe that have a strong operating record.

Oxsensis Ltd has supplied Siemens Energy with 12 Wave-Phire dynamic pressure sensors for use in their ongoing early stage R&D combustion programmes.

Oxsensis has worked closely with Siemens over several years to advance their Wave-Phire dynamic pressure sensor system for use in ultra-harsh environments. This relationship was formed via the European Union Framework Programme 6 funded project HEATTOP. Oxsensis utilised the valuable engine experience gained via that co-operative effort to implement design improvements to the Wave-Phire sensor range to make these sensors truly fit for purpose for the energy industry.

The relationship continued on beyond the HEATTOP programme, with Oxsensis supplying Siemens with a set of 12 sensors for use in their combustion early stage development programmes. These sensors have been installed in locations very close to the primary zone of a special test combustor designed to excite certain instabilities in order to provide precise data on combustion instabilities particularly at high frequencies. Traditionally, piezoelectric type sensors have been mounted either off the engine or on outer pressure casings due to their limited temperature operation ranges. As these are further away from the source of the combustion instabilities, this can lead to damping of particular tones, particularly those excited at higher frequencies. As the Wave-Phire sensor can be mounted at high temperatures and perform well under the high levels of acceleration, Siemens have taken advantage of this capability to accurately map their pre-development combustor equipment up to these higher frequencies.

In response to some of the initial R&D rig test runs Dr Andreas Koch, stated “We have run our most heavily instrumented combustion rig test ever and we were particularly pleased with the acceleration insensitivity of the sensor within this application”. Commenting after this initial testing was completed Martin Jay the Executive Chairman of Oxsensis added “We are pleased to continue our excellent research relationship with Siemens and are happy to learn that they have gleaned valuable data from incorporating the Wave-Phire sensors in their R&D tests. We will continue to support Siemens future R&D efforts and aim to deepen our commercial relationship with them”.

Oxsensis Ltd. have demonstrated with Alstom Power their first ever sensor system that can read out dynamic pressure and self-temperature simultaneously whilst being operated at ultra-high temperatures.

Oxsensis have been working closely with gas turbine Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEMs) since it was founded in 2003, with the goal of realising dynamic pressure sensors, which can be mounted in locations in critical gas turbine components, where no sensors have been able to operate before. This is being driven by the need of gas turbine OEMs to increase the operating envelope of their equipment to run on various grades of fuel and to be able to run at flexible loads to match the needs of the grid, whilst maintaining low emissions and also avoiding combustion dynamics which could be potentially harmful to the equipment. This has been achieved by the Wave-Phire sensor system, which unlike conventional piezoelectric charged based sensors systems, operates via an optical technique. This technique not only allows the sensor to operate at temperatures in excess of 1000°C, but also allows the temperature of the sensing element to be read out.

Alstom and Oxsensis have combined to demonstrate this multi-parameter sensing capability, on Alstom’s equipment. Ian Macafee, Sales Director for Oxsensis Ltd points out: “Not only were we pleased with the successful performance demonstration shown in this challenging test, Oxsensis have also continued to learn from our in-field experiences gleaned not only here but also from our installations at a commercial power station. This has led to further development of our product to make it truly suited for the heavy duty power sector.”

Oxsensis will now continue the development of the temperature capability of the sensor system via publically funded projects including the UK Government Technology Strategy Board funded FRETSGATE project. This will extend sensor performance towards faster temperature response and higher operating temperatures, both contributing to the protection of these valuable pieces of equipment as users and OEMs look to push their operating envelopes ever further.

Last year, Rated People generated £7 million in revenue, was profitable for the third year in a row and led the market by generating more than £500 million in home renovation and repair business for tradesmen using its service. The company is one of the fastest growing companies in the UK, with a 47% compound annual growth rate over the last three years. Frog’s investment provides Rated People with growth capital to continue recruitment and invest in its online platform and mobile applications.

Founded in 2005, London-based Rated People is transforming the £39 billion home improvement industry by providing a trusted, convenient marketplace to connect homeowners and tradesmen, creating substantial value for both.

For homeowners, Rated People offers access to more than 30,000 high quality local tradesmen in the UK, representing 24 trades including bricklayers, builders, carpenters, electricians, painters, plumbers and roofers.

For tradesmen, Rated People offers access to more than 250,000 home improvement and repair jobs a year, helping tradesmen generate more business and find work closer to their preferred locations. Tradesmen also like the fact that Rated People helps build their reputation by generating real, community-based recommendations based on the work they have completed. This also helps them to price their work in line with their Rated People profiles.

“We have been very fortunate to date. We have a great business model and create great value – more than £1 million for tradesmen every day,” explains Andy Skipwith, CEO and founder of Rated People. “We also have a fabulous team and an exceptional board, which have enabled us to achieve incredible growth. To accelerate this growth, we recognise the importance of capital and strengthening our board. Together, this will help us deliver even more value to our tradesmen and homeowners. Frog is a great partner and I am thrilled to have them on board.”

Mike Reid, Frog’s Managing Partner who will join the Rated People board, added: “Rated People have seized upon an enormous market opportunity by pioneering an easy solution to an age-old conundrum: how to find a quality, trusted tradesman. What excites us is that their service also involves and directly benefits tradesmen, who can now earn more money, work closer to home and build a better long-term business around their own brand and reputation. It is a cost-effective and efficient solution where both sides win.”

Frog Capital was advised on this investment by Wragge & Co. and Craig Corporate.  Rated People was advised by Rohan & Co. and FirstCapital.

“We’re pleased to announce another strong quarter for eCommera,” said CEO Andrew McGregor.  “The tremendous growth we’ve seen across our platform reflects the continuing market trend towards multi-channel shopping, which is still growing dramatically despite challenging economic conditions.  Retailers are looking for partners like us who can help them capitalise on this change and make sense of all the associated technology and data.  With our on-demand trading platform, depth of experience in the multi-channel trading environment and next generation predictive analytic tools, we offer retailers a compelling combination of speed to market, managed risk and trading insight.

We’re also delighted to have Nick and Simon on board as they join us during a period of significant growth – last month we expanded into France with a new office in Paris and signed a multi-year global contract with world-renowned cosmetics group CLARINS.  With their combined experience and credentials we fully expect to see the business grow at an even faster rate in 2011.”

Nick’s responsibilities will include defining and evolving product strategy, managing product marketing, and developing the market visibility and go-to-market tactics for eCommera.  He has a strong track record of developing and evangelising applications that address new market opportunities.  He joined eCommera from Verint, where his product management team was a key force in taking the company to its position of global market leader.

With over 12 years of experience building and leading high performance sales teams, Simon’s remit is to drive eCommera’s revenue generating activities, devising strategies to target the world's leading retailers and brands, and ensuring sales execution to the highest standards.  His success to date has been based on a foundation of sales excellence achieved at Microstrategy, EMC and Veritas Software.  

…16 percent never review customer satisfaction…

…15 percent don’t analyse marketing channel profitability…

London, UK – 8th November 2010 – The latest Trading Intelligence Quarterly (TIQ) research report has been launched today by eCommera, the leading provider of intelligent ecommerce trading solutions. The report, which surveys 101 UK ecommerce directors, has revealed that online retailers are very inconsistent with metrics for analysing profitability online – from their web site to specific products, customers and marketing activities.

“The purpose of this research was to understand how retailers are measuring their profitability online. What we’ve discovered is that the online retail industry is still too immature to know what good looks like. However, it is clear that higher performing online retailers are more sophisticated and focused in their measurement of profitability,” said Michael Ross, Director, eCommera.

Trading Intelligence Quarterly: Key findings

• Almost half of respondents are growing at a rate of less than 20 percent. 
• Just 18 percent of respondents measure website profitability daily or once a week (taking into account margin, marketing and delivery cost/revenue).  42 percent evaluate it on a monthly basis, 22 percent quarterly and 12 percent annually. Staggeringly six percent never measure it at all. 
• Only 37 percent of respondents measure profitability of individual customers.  32 percent look at profit by recency-frequency-monetary (RFM) segments, 13 percent by non recency-frequency-monetary (RFM) segment and four percent use another (unspecified) metric.  15 percent don’t look at this measurement at all.
• When measuring marketing channel profitability, only four percent of respondents are able to look at fully allocated spend.  25 percent analyse return on advertising spend, 40 percent review cost per customer acquisition and 19 percent measure cost per order. Eight percent don’t analyse this metric at all.
• Understanding and measuring product profitability is a key challenge for respondents and is a better understood metric.  Here 46 percent measure gross margin return on inventory, 30 percent look at gross margin achieved and 16 percent look at a fully allocated profit per product.  Two percent use an alternative metric.  Six percent don’t measure product profitability.
• In terms of measuring customer satisfaction, 16 percent of respondents don’t analyse for this metric at all. Fortunately others fair better with 20 percent requesting feedback after every interaction, 16 percent running regular post purchase surveys to measure end to end customer experience and 48 percent said they carry out regular onsite surveys to measure onsite visitor experiences.

Peter Fitzgerald, Industry Director at Google UK commented: "It is clear from the findings that retailers who measure and value profitability measurement are doing well. The key is to focus efforts on the metrics that really matter. However, across the board there appears to be a blurring of indicators about what exactly should be measured and what the best indicators of online profitability actually are."

Ross concludes. “Underlying a profitable online business is the need for rigorous measurement of profitability – understanding what happens to your business when you pull different levers; and understanding customer, marketing and product profitability in order to allocate spend to maximise returns. It is clear from our research that many organisations are thinking of online as just another store. They must harness the mass of ecommerce data available to them, and understand the need for a different profit model online.”

Research methodology
The data for this report is based on independent research from interviews with 101 UK ecommerce directors during September 2010.   All companies had to have annual online turnover in excess of £3 Million – 51 companies had online turnover of £3-20 Million, and 50 companies had online turnover of over £20 Million.  Respondents were Ecommerce Directors or the person in charge of ecommerce.

About eCommera
eCommera is a pioneering provider of intelligent ecommerce trading solutions, enabling brand owners and retailers to sell efficiently and intelligently across multiple channels. eCommera provides ecommerce products and services to major international brands and retailers - including Asda, House of Fraser, Hamleys, T.M. Lewin, Horze, The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, Magasin du Nord and USC.

eCommera combines a modular ecommerce platform with unique data insight and decision support tools. All delivered as a service.

For more information please visit: http://www.ecommera.com/

Founded in 2008 by technology entrepreneur James Booth and TV executive Torie Chilcott, Rockabox creates and delivers engaging cross-media entertainment formats that are supported by a unique marketing methodology and an innovative technology platform.

Consumption of online video is exploding while the boundaries between TV, online and mobile are becoming increasingly blurred. Combined with the rise of social networking, major brands now find it ever-more complex to reach and connect with their audiences, while intrusive online advertising methods like pre-roll can cause consumer irritation and limit marketing effectiveness.

Rockabox is one of a new breed of companies that understands this rapidly evolving landscape. It boasts senior executive expertise that spans prime-time TV format creation, video content production, high-volume online video ad serving and technology that enables effective tracking across personal computers, smart phones and tablet formats.

James Booth founded Tangozebra and built it into the leading rich media ad serving player in Europe before it was acquired by DoubleClick/Google in 2007. He is widely recognised as one of the most influential people in today’s new media business. Torie Chilcott’s TV format accomplishments include running the Factual Entertainment Development Department of FremantleMedia, creating ‘The Farmer Wants a Wife’ for ITV and co-writing ‘Pop Idol’ for Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell.

James Booth says: “In a world obsessed with social media and in-control media consumption, brands and publishers have many challenges for winning the hearts and minds of consumers and retaining them on a positive journey. When we started Rockabox, the landscape that allowed brands to align themselves successfully with content across the broadest of media channels hadn’t evolved; our challenge has been to create that landscape for which we have had to develop marketing methodologies and supporting technology. We now feel ready to scale this proposition and are absolutely delighted to bring in Frog to help us achieve that. I’ve known Mike a long time; he was involved in the early stages of Tangozebra and is a fabulous investor to have on board. We can’t wait to get stuck in for 2011.”

Torie Chilcott adds: “Everyone loves watching great content; we all love to own, share and discuss what we have watched and we don’t care how we consume it. The challenge for traditional broadcasters is not only to engage viewers through television channels but to use these as a shop window to drive activity and interaction online and into mobile. The challenge for online publishers and brands is how to make content work for all stakeholders. James and I created Rockabox to answer these challenges and Rockabox is now leading the way in creating and delivering engaging content that earns brands a high return on investment. Frog Capital’s investment now enables us to roll out our technology, methodology and creative understanding across the markets; it’s all very exciting.”

Commenting on Frog’s investment, Mike Reid says: “I invested in James and Tangozebra and I’m delighted to back him again. He encapsulates the essence of a British web entrepreneur: intensely focused, highly creative, seriously under-stated but a complete game changer. James and Torie are establishing themselves as the authority in cross-media entertainment.”

Lewis Silkin was the legal adviser on the investment.

About Frog Capital
Frog Capital is a London-based European investment firm, specialising in growth capital for technology-driven businesses across the cleantech and IT & digital media sectors. With €100m under management, Frog seeks to lead or partner in investments where companies require between €2 million and €20 million of funding for expansion capital, minority purchases, management buy-outs or acquisitions. Occasionally, Frog invests in quoted companies. Frog’s recent investments include agri.capital, Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, Hydrodec, Solar Century, eCommera, and BuyVIP. For more information, visit www.frogcapital.com.

About Rockabox Media
Rockabox Media is a new breed of cross-media IP-creation and exploitation business. Through a unique combination of marketing methodology, proprietary technology, a rapidly growing online video content-distribution platform and privileged access to talent, Rockabox specialises in realising powerful content-related and social-media marketing opportunities for brands, advertisers and publishers. For more information, visit www.rockaboxmedia.com.

GB Group is the UK market leader in identity verification services and in the provision and analysis of customer information. The company’s technology enables clients to make business decisions based on a thorough understanding of customer data and to combat identity fraud and money laundering. Its extensive client list includes Vodafone, Citi, Lloyds TSB, SkyBet and William Hill.

The company, which is based in Chester and employs 150 people, today gave the market a trading update ahead of its six monthly results to end of September, in which it announced a revenue increased of 10% to £11.5 million (2009: £10.5 million) and expected group profits,  before interest, taxation, exceptional costs and share-based payments, of approximately £740,000 (2009: £300,000).

Identification fraud, money laundering and corruption are rapidly becoming critical issues for an increasingly wide array of businesses and organisations. Regulatory bodies across the globe have now mandated enhanced due diligence and know-your -customer policies to combat these threats. The challenge for businesses is to allocate the right amount of resource, relative to value, on verification. After years of investment into its online database platform, GB Group offers a range of services that are proving attractive to various market sectors, making it well-positioned in an exciting and growing market.

Frog's Managing Partner, Mike Reid, says, “GB Group is well-managed and has steadily built UK market leadership in a rapidly growing sector. We believe the company has the potential to expand its services and geographic reach, as the need for clever identity management grows in parallel with the digital economy. Our investment represents full support of the company’s strategy.”

Frog Capital is investment partner to some of Europe’s most ambitious growth-stage companies. The firm’s portfolio includes e-commerce specialist eCommera and Europe’s largest biogas energy supplier, agri.capital.

The four Frog-backed companies are:

• agri.capital, based in Germany, is Europe’s leading producer (by volume) of biogas energy.

• Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies, based in Canada, removes nutrients from wastewater and
  transforms them into revenue-generating, environmentally-friendly commercial fertiliser.

• SiC Processing, based in Germany, recovers and processes the sawing slurry produced in silicon wafer
  manufacture.  SiC was acquired by Nordic Capital earlier this year.

• Solar Century is the UK’s leading solar energy company. 

The 2010 Global Cleantech 100 has been selected from over 4,500 nominations in 50 countries.  The annual listing shows the diversity of the cleantech sector and highlights private clean technology companies expected to make the most significant market impact over the next five-ten years. 

Iyad Omari, Investment Partner at Frog Capital, said: “These four companies deserve the wider recognition the Cleantech 100 ranking offers them – each is a leader in its market and has repeatedly delivered on ever-more ambitious plans.  We are delighted with their success.”

THE 2010 CLEANTECH RANKINGS

The complete list of 100 companies is being unveiled today at Cleantech Forum New York, http://events.cleantech.com/newyork/. Some of the companies will be showcased in New York today, others at the Guardian’s Cleantech Summit in London on 23 November 2010 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/cleantechsummit).  The full list of Global Cleantech 100 firms is available online, on the websites of the Cleantech Group http://cleantech.com/GlobalCleantech100.cfm)  and the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalcleantech100).

A common challenge in plants practicing biological nutrient removal and anaerobic digestion -- which use microbes to remove phosphorus and nitrogen pollutants from wastewater -- is the formation of struvite scale, a concrete-like mineral deposit which chokes process equipment, increasing operation and maintenance costs, and threatening plant reliability. Further, the breakdown of these microbes in the digestion process causes the phosphorus and nitrogen to be released back into the water which is returned to the treatment plant, requiring the pollutants to be removed repeatedly.

The Pearl process will help the District tackle these challenges at the Nine Springs WWTP by recovering the phosphorus and ammonia from the wastewater and converting them into an environmentally friendly, slow-release fertilizer marketed as Crystal Green®. Ostara’s complete nutrient recovery solution will provide the District with an environmentally sustainable management technique for compliance with the State of Wisconsin’s progressive environmental regulations, and for the recovery of valuable nutrients in the form of a high-purity commercial fertilizer product. The advanced technology is also highly cost-effective, with the District set to benefit from both increased operational efficiency and a share of the fertilizer revenues.

“This partnership between the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District and Ostara provides an important mutually-beneficial relationship,” said Jon Schellpfeffer, Chief Engineer and Director of the District. “With capacity to produce nearly 1,300 tons of sustainable and environmentally friendly fertilizer per year, the MMSD expects to see operational process and maintenance improvements as well as overall cost reductions, all while enhancing our position as a good steward of the environment.”

The launch of the Ostara Nutrient Recovery Facility at the MMSD is a unique partnership where Ostara will provide the core technology and assist engineering of the facility to fully integrate it into the Nine Springs Wastewater Treatment Plant. Ostara will provide ongoing technical support to ensure process performance and fertilizer product quality is maintained. Further, Ostara will manage commercial sale of the Crystal Green fertilizer product, being marketed throughout North America and Europe, and share revenue with the District to offset operating costs.

“The State of Wisconsin has been a strong champion for environmental issues and specifically the recovery and reuse of phosphorus,” said Phillip Abrary, Ostara’s president and CEO. “From the onset, the District had very clear goals to recover precious nutrients from their sewage and have moved forward aggressively to identify the right solution and chose Ostara as the cost-effective and environmentally sound choice. We’re delighted to partner with MMSD on this state-of-the-art Pearl deployment.”

Successful Study Results in Full Commercial Deployment

MMSD and Ostara successfully completed a demonstration project in March 2009. Ostara’s Pearl Nutrient Recovery Process effectively reduced the nutrient load in the liquid wastewater stream, reducing the phosphorus concentration by 80 percent and ammonia by 28 percent. Based on the results of this pilot project, the MMSD and Ostara agreed to build a commercial Nutrient Recovery Facility featuring the newly designed Pearl 2000. Ostara’s facility at the Nine Springs plant will feature two Pearl 2000 reactors, providing the capacity to produce 1,300 tons of Crystal Green per year, significantly larger than the systems currently installed at Ostara’s other operational commercial sites in York, PA, Suffolk, VA, and Tigard, OR. The facility is expected to be fully operational by 2013 along with other improvements to the plant being constructed as part of MMSD’s 11th Addition project.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an Ostara board member representing VantagePoint Venture Partners, notes that the commercial incorporation of the Ostara technology at the Nine Springs plant is the kind of infrastructure solution needed in hundreds of municipalities across the United States. "Local and state governments are taking notice of the improved economics and reduced environmental impact which can be achieved through this kind of this public/private partnership. This groundbreaking approach ultimately saves money for ratepayers while also reducing the impact that wastewater treatment plants have on local waterways, all without onerous regulation," said Kennedy.

Frog Capital provided a €5m financing earlier this year to assist the business to increase its rate of growth and capitalise on several unique product sourcing opportunities.

BuyVIP, based in Madrid, is one of the top European private buyers’ club, with more than 400 brand relationships including Gucci, Calvin Klein, Diesel and Timberland and with an online community of more than six million members. Having operations in Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands and Portugal, the company offers a unique and efficient direct marketing channel to its brand partners. 

Online private buying clubs are showing tremendous growth in many European countries, as fashion-conscious consumers flock to the web to save both time and money by accessing special offers and campaigns. As a result, the online channel is becoming an integral part of many brands’ international distribution strategy. The overall European market opportunity is estimated to exceed €1 billion in 2010.

“BuyVIP.com offers their members an exciting selection of top fashion and lifestyle products at extraordinarily low prices,” said Greg Greeley, vice president European Retail at Amazon.  “BuyVIP.com is an excellent complement to Amazon’s European business and will provide another unique way for Amazon customers to find and discover unique and compelling products.”

“We are excited about joining the Amazon family and believe doing so will help us further grow our presence in Europe and allow us to offer our members an even broader selection of high-quality products,” said Gustavo Garcia Brusilovsky, chief executive officer of BuyVIP.com.

Mike Reid, Managing Partner at Frog Capital said “Having first met Gustavo when I was at 3i, we have been tracking his progress with close interest. So we were especially pleased to have the chance to support him and his fantastic team again this year. He has delivered Frog an outstanding rate of return.”

The technology developed by Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies Inc. of Vancouver, Canada, helps sewage treatment works cost-effectively meet environmental regulations (nutrient limits), while producing a slow-release fertiliser that eliminates run-off.  The fertiliser, called Crystal Green®, is currently being sold in North America, and recent approvals by the UK Environment Agency will enable Crystal Green® to be sold as a premium quality fertiliser in the UK. 

Phosphorus is the key ingredient in fertilisers used to grow the world’s food supply and Thames Water will be the first in the UK to extract this precious nutrient from wastewater.  Mining phosphorus from a sustainable resource is an important and timely environmental initiative given that phosphorus reserves in North America, Russia, China and Morocco are dwindling and that the extraction of the nutrient from these rock reserves is highly carbon-intensive. 

Piers Clark, Asset Management Director for Thames Water; Ostara President, Phillip Abrary; and, Ostara board member, environmental advocate and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were at Slough Sewage Works today to commemorate the partnership.

Mr. Kennedy, a partner in VantagePoint Venture Partners which, with the UK’s Frog Capital, are investors in Ostara, said: “This partnership between Thames Water and Ostara provides a cost-effective solution that benefits the environment at all stages, and truly exhibits the shift that we are seeing towards closed-loop sustainable technologies.”

A Win-Win Partnership

The project at Thames Water’s Slough Sewage Works marks a unique public-private partnership where Ostara will design, build and finance the nutrient recovery facility, which is expected to be completed in mid-2011.  Thames Water has agreed to pay a monthly fee for treatment capacity provided by the Ostara system, which is less than what is currently required to deal with costly maintenance resulting from the damaging build-up of struvite in pipes and valves.  If left untreated, struvite settles as scale on the inside of sewage pipes, increasing maintenance costs, and in some cases, blocking the pipes completely.  This project will help Slough efficiently meet nutrient limits, reduce operational costs and optimize the plant’s efficiency, and immediately save Thames Water £130,000 to £200,000 a year in chemical costs.

These nutrient recovery benefits will be provided without Thames Water having to make any capital investment in the system.  Ostara’s Nutrient Recovery Facility at Slough is estimated to yield 150 tonnes a year of Crystal Green fertiliser. Thames Water will receive revenue for the production and sale of Crystal Green, further enhancing the economics of the partnership. Crystal Green® is the only slow-release fertiliser with a combination of nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium.  Unlike most fertilisers, Crystal Green® dissolves slowly over a six to nine month period and therefore is environmentally safe because it does not leach into the environment.

“This project is a classic win-win:  we are transforming the problem of excess nutrients into a valuable product, reducing our maintenance costs and helping the environment by producing a fertiliser that will not leach and damage local ecosystems.  The exciting thing is that this product is derived from a renewable source of phosphate, and will be marketed and sold to growers, horticulturists and the turf industry in the UK.  We constantly recycle our product – water – back to the environment from which we first borrow it and this is another way we are making use of local renewable options,” said Piers Clark, Asset Management Director for Thames Water.

“This public-private partnership between Thames Water and Ostara is a creative approach to helping wastewater treatment facilities deal with the operational and environmental implications associated with the challenges of an overabundance of nutrients,” said Phillip Abrary, Ostara’s President and CEO.  “Ostara provides a no-risk solution to Thames Water from a financial and technical perspective, and will serve as a model for sustainable innovation in the UK.”

From Pilot to Commercial Facility

A pilot scale Nutrient Recovery facility at Thames Water’s Slough Sewage Treatment Works began operating in March 2010 to demonstrate the technology’s potential to support efficient operation of the plant’s biological phosphorus removal process and to assess the viability of a full scale implementation. Slough Sewage Works was one of the UK’s first biological phosphorus removal plants, commissioned in 1993. 

“Given we had already conducted our own research on struvite, and how this can be turned into a value-added product, we were optimistic that Ostara’s proven technology would help support our objectives of efficiently meeting our phosphorus discharge limitations, and recovering useful materials from wastewater.  The results were very encouraging,” said Clark. “Resource recovery is a key principal underlying Thames Water’s sludge management strategy - this technology fits very well with that principal.  The implementation of this innovative technology has the potential to help improve the operational efficiency of our treatment plants, reduce their energy usage and protect water quality – benefits that extend beyond the treatment plant.”

Phillip Abrary, President and CEO of Ostara, said many sewage treatment works are effective at removing phosphorus and other pollutants and diverting them into a sludge stream of liquids and solids – but are then left with the problem of disposing of these nutrients, along with the operational challenges created by the build-up of struvite in pipes and equipment.  The prevention and removal of struvite imposes significant operation and maintenance costs. 

“Ostara’s Nutrient Recycling Process integrates directly into Slough’s treatment system, processes the sludge liquids, and recovers a high-quality environmentally-friendly fertiliser that generates revenue for the water company.” 

According to Abrary, several hundred plants in Europe are potential candidates for the technology.  “Ostara’s technology provides a solution to any sewage treatment plant faced with high phosphate concentrations in their sludge systems.” 

T.M. Lewin will use eCommera’s patent pending Intelligent Trader ecommerce analytics and ecommerce Trading Platform to power their online business. It’s a partnership T.M. Lewin is confident will help them achieve their ambitious goals to expand their web presence and has already enabled the company to launch new, localised websites for the US, Australia and mainland Europe.

“T.M. Lewin have a proud and very successful track record selling online currently growing over 60% on the year.  We have large ambitions to scale our online business internationally and further expand our multi-channel offering” said Geoff Quinn, CEO at T.M. Lewin. “A flexible ecommerce platform is going to help make that ambition a reality.”

Quinn continued: “We chose to work with eCommera because of their partnership approach. They really understand our ambitions and challenges running a multi-channel business across international markets.  eCommera gives us the flexibility we need to respond to customer demand and understand key drivers of our performance.

Our many loyal customers will appreciate our new international sites which will be increasingly customised to their needs more effectively than ever before.”

Andrew McGregor, CEO of eCommera said: "T.M. Lewin is a fantastic brand, well-loved by many customers and we are delighted to have the opportunity to work with them.  Consumer habits are changing and the online shopping market continues to grow in a fairly flat retail landscape. The decision to enhance their online trading platform is a good and timely one as it will make T.M. Lewin a more effective business with a clearer understanding of how to build online brand loyalty and profit on an international scale.”

McGregor continued: “2010 has been a successful year for eCommera. Existing clients such as House of Fraser are reporting significant growth, and the launch of the three T.M. Lewin online stores follows the official London 2012 shop and multiple international sites for equestrian goods supplier Horze.  We have also added new ecommerce analytics and retail search clients, including two major fashion brands and a leading telecommunications supplier, re-enforcing our position as the UK’s leading provider of enterprise-class ecommerce trading platforms and analytics solutions.”

 
About eCommera
eCommera is a pioneering provider of intelligent ecommerce trading solutions, enabling brand owners and retailers to sell efficiently and intelligently across multiple channels. eCommera provides ecommerce products and services to major international brands and retailers - including Asda, House of Fraser, Hamleys, Horze, The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, Magasin du Nord, T.M. Lewin and USC.

eCommera combines a modular ecommerce platform with unique data insight and decision support tools. All delivered as a service.

For more information please visit: www.ecommera.com

Media contact
Nikki Alvey
The PR Network
Tel: +44 (0)7973 354 706
Nikki.alvey@theprnetwork.co.uk

About T.M. Lewin
T.M.Lewin was established in 1898 in Jermyn Street, London. With a heritage to be proud of T.M.Lewin today offers a range of menswear that includes men’s shirts, suits, ties, cufflinks, casualwear, outerwear and accessories, as well as a distinctive range of womenswear, including shirts, suits, knitwear and accessories. It has over 60 stores currently in the UK and also operates online.

For more information please visit: www.TMlewin.co.uk