The Forsyth Group – Executive Search

Brainient raises $1.8M to make video advertising more effective

Our mission at Brainient is to help advertisers make their video ads more effective. In order to get closer to that mission, we’re announcing that we’ve closed a $1.8M funding round from a collective of strategic investors. The round was led by Prague-based Credo Ventures. Other backers include Atlas Venture (investors in DataXu, AdSafe Media, OwnerIQ) and Estag Capital (investors in RevenueMax, Germany’s leading yield optimisation platform). Existing investors Sherry Coutu and 500Startups also participated in the round.

We’ll be using the financing to expand our client services and technology teams, by expanding our London and Bucharest offices and opening a new office in New York.

We’ve enjoyed exceptionally strong growth through 2011, with nearly 100 campaigns served over the year for customers like Samsung, Volvo, Canon with our BrainRolls product – generating, on average, three to five times higher CTRs than non-interactive pre-rolls. We also launched BrainAds, the first personalised video retargeting platform in the world helping customers like GetTheLabel and GlassesDirect get click-to-sale conversion rates of up to 10%.

The new funding will help us accelerate our growth in 2012 and continue innovating in the video advertising space. We’re thrilled to have such a fantastic list of new investors on board and we look forward to making our customers incredibly happy in 2012 as well.

You can find the press release here.

CoSkill is the next generation strategic consultancy. They deliver the best of three broken sectors: the tangibility and commerciality of management consulting and business strategy, with the power to change business; the consumer connection of marketing and advertising, with the ability to engage stakeholders; and the sheer power of digital technology, embracing web, social, mobile and data.

Steph Welstead, editor of Startups.co.uk, said: “We were blown away by the standard of entries to this year’s Startups Awards. All of the businesses who made it to the 2011 final have shown innovation, guts and determination and the success they have achieved against the backdrop of the economic downturn is a true testament to the strength of UK entrepreneurship’’.

Competition was fierce but the judges felt it takes a high level of intellect to intersect a market at a particular time and Craig Le Grice is one who stood out from the crowd. Since starting in February the company already have an enviable roster of FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 clients, who have turned to the consultancy for very specialised digital and social media marketing knowledge.

We would like to congratulate all of this year’s winners and wish them continued growth and success in the years to come.

Siemens expands its industrial software portfolio with the acquisition of Vistagy, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts, USA, a leading supplier of specialized engineering software and services with emphasis on designing and manufacturing structures made of advanced composite materials.

An agreement to this effect was signed in early November. This acquisition allows Industry Automation, a Division of the Siemens Industry Sector, to continue to enhance its position as the world’s leading supplier of industrial software. The parties agreed not to disclose the terms of the acquisition. The transaction is subject to customary approvals, and is expected to close before the end of 2011.

Read the full story on http://www.vistagy.com

From Russia with love: two Moscow-based investment firms have led a $17 million funding round for B2B social networking and e-invoicing company Tradeshift, valuing the company at $137 million.  The investors are ru-Net and Kite Ventures, with earlier backer Notion Capital also participating.

Tradeshift basically connects businesses – of all sizes, they’re keen to point out – to help them work together and collaboratively manage things like invoicing and cash flow.

Read the full story on  http://eu.techcrunch.com/

On Tuesday, 1 November 2011, global law firm Orrick (www.orrick.com) will host a panel discussion on the current trends in the use of stock incentives by growing companies. The event will focus on practical rather than technical aspects and will bring together a number of experts in the field. Topics will include: current market rules of thumb for grants to attract talent; getting the valuation you need agreed with HMRC; trends in vesting schedules; cautionary tales on missing out on EMI treatment; and claw-back for leavers after the Skype controversy.

Confirmed panel members include:

Nick Thornton, Tax Partner: Orrick, London (Chair of Panel)
Tony Hindley, Principal: Valuation Solutions (ex HMRC Valuation Office)
James Lindon, Share Schemes Specialist: Orrick, London
Brett Putter, Managing Partner: Emerging Technologies, The Forsyth Group
Giles Hawkins, Senior Associate: Orrick, London