GHS.L Regulatory News (GHS)

9 Feb 2006 07:02

NewMedia SPARK PLC09 February 2006 NewMedia SPARK PLC9 February 2006 NewMedia SPARK ("SPARK") £2m Investment in Skinkers Ltd ("Skinkers"), a leading push communications specialist First New Investment in 3 Years SPARK, the quoted venture capital organisation focused on early stageinvestments in the technology, media and telecoms sectors, is pleased toannounce its first new investment in 3 years. SPARK will invest £2 million inSkinkers Ltd, a leader in desktop alert technology. Based in London, Skinkers' desktop alerts are a business controlled channel tothe desktop of computer users that guarantees important messages are seen whenmost needed. With email communication starting to fail under the pressure of "spam" andviruses, it is crucial for business to be able to guarantee the delivery ofimportant messages to both customers and employees. Skinkers' blue chip client list includes the BBC, BSkyB, the FT, CNN, the WallStreet Journal, HBOS, Cisco Systems, Nortel, Halifax and the London StockExchange. They use Skinkers technology to deliver important messages tocustomers, staff and partners. Skinkers have created a software technology that allows businesses of all sizesto quickly and cost-effectively deploy their own high-priority message deliverychannel to the desktop of their employees or their customers worldwide. Skinkers Alerts are very effective as they can: • deliver messages at a predefined time • support hundreds of thousands of users in a very cost effective way • track how many people receive and interact with the messages • deliver alerts both to anonymous and identified users • control the look and feel of messages for brand control • drive people to other information on the internet/intranet/ television/etc • deliver large multimedia files in a highly optimised way Skinkers will use the £2m investment to promote its existing services (brandedRSS readers, security notifications, breaking news), finalise the development ofits mobile offering and increase its international sales capabilities. Commenting on the investment Andrew Carruthers, CEO of SPARK, stated: "Following our successful exits from Footfall, Pricerunner and Elata we havestarted the process of looking for new investment opportunities and we are verypleased to have found this very exciting company. The growth in onlineadvertising and the explosion of digital media has created many opportunitiesfor entrepreneurs and we are now keen to use our experience to help this newgeneration of companies grow. "Skinkers has a highly experienced management team and has created a marketleading technology platform and product set that has proven its value to animpressive and growing blue chip client base. With the opportunities it now haswith RSS and in the mobile space, Skinkers is poised for rapid expansion." For further information please contact: NewMedia SPARKAndrew Carruthers/Jay Patel 0207 851 7777 Buchanan CommunicationsTim Anderson /Isabel Podda 0207 466 5000 SkinkersMatteo Berlucchi/Rob Noble 0207 579 8350 Notes to Editors NewMedia SPARK plc NewMedia SPARK is a quoted venture capital organisation based in central Londonfocused on early stage investments in the technology, media and telecomssectors. SPARK's portfolio has a particular emphasis on digital media, softwareapplications, technology and communications. As an investor, SPARK expects toadd significant value to its investments through active support and strategicdirection. SPARK is listed on London's Alternative Investment Market. For further information, see www.newmediaspark.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange