The Peninsula Growth Acceleration and Investment Network (GAIN) has brokered a major investment in an innovative Plymouth based company, Real Visual, based at Tamar Science Park.

GAIN is a partnership founded by Plymouth University, Plymouth City Council and Tamar Science Park to accelerate growth and investment in high quality businesses and ideas to create wealth and jobs in the South West Peninsula.

During the staging of the America’s Cup in September, GAIN organised the first of a proposed series of Investor Days in Plymouth to present high quality investment opportunities in local businesses  to large and specialist venture capital firms that had been invited to the city.

During the Investor Day, Nick Palfrey, Managing Director of Real Visual, presented to Rob Sargeant, former CEO of investment bank Lehman Brothers and Stephen Decani of New Scape Fund Managers, as well as a select group of other investors from the City and Europe, invited by Simon Chamberlain.

Simon will lead a consortium of investors that has become a major stakeholder in Real Visual, and is looking for other investment opportunities in the South West and Plymouth area. He is currently Chairman of Tamar Science Park and founder of leading business consultancy Ultimate Succession which is based at the Park. 

Simon has also introduced a number of non-executive advisors to Real Visual, including Charles Howeson, Chairman of the First Great Western Advisory Board, and Nick Buckland, Chairman of the Board of Governors for the Plymouth University, whose key responsibilities will be to open new market places for the business.

Deputy Leader for Plymouth City Council, Cllr Ted Fry, said:  "The Council's support of the America's Cup was underpinned by a desire to use it as a platform to drive inward investment. I am delighted that one of the events we organised through GAIN during the race week has paid such early dividends. This is good news for Real Visual, good news for GAIN and good news for Plymouth."

Julian Beer, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Regional Enterprise) at Plymouth University, said: “This investment is a perfect example of how GAIN can bring together growth-minded businesses with serious investors for the benefit of the region’s economy. We are planning another Investor Day in the New Year and are interested in hearing from local businesses with investment propositions, and potential investors looking for pre-vetted opportunities.”

Real Visual creates extraordinarily realistic real time 3D simulations which can be used for a wide range of applications including serious gaming and training for fire safety, air traffic control and familiarisation with large infrastructures and environments. The company’s biggest innovation is its ability to integrate huge CAD (Computer Aided Design) datasets into its visualisations which enables high quality and very accurate detailed images and scenes to be delivered.

Nick Palfrey, who won the Young Businessman category of this year’s Western Morning News Business Awards, said: "The team and I are delighted to have secured this investment from Ultimate Succession and the consortium. It has allowed us to move comfortably into our second year, safe in the knowledge that we are able to react to the needs of our clients and grow at a manageable rate. We have seen significant growth over our first year, and anticipate the same in our second. The work of GAIN has resulted in a small local business, receiving a large investment from high profile city investors."

Ultimate Succession LLP (Succession) operates in local, national and international markets working alongside owners and boards who are seeking to develop, grow and ultimately exit their business for maximum capital return.  The partners have longstanding career experience operating or consulting alongside businesses, and have now built up a strong portfolio of client partner companies who engage with Succession. Its ultimate goal in Plymouth and the wider South West is to help grant funded initiatives become fully fledged private enterprises, turning innovation into commercial reality.

Ultimate Succession Founder Simon Chamberlain said: “Real Visual is one of those rare companies that has the three fundamentals for future success: a great team of people who are the right people at the right time in a developing market, who are working in a changing environment and a growing sector, and who have a clear plan to ultimately capitalise the business in the future. We are all very excited about working with them.”

For more information about Real Visual and Ultimate succession, please visit the companies’ websites at  www.real-visual.com and www.ultimatesuccession.co.uk

POSTED IN News