Mercia Asset Regulatory News (MERC)

18 March 2015

Mercia Technologies PLC

£1m investment in user-generated content platform, Crowd Reactive

Mercia Technologies PLC (AIM: MERC, "Mercia" or the "Group"), a Midlands-based leader in the funding and commercialisation of technology businesses in the UK, announces a £1m investment in Crowd Reactive Limited ("Crowd Reactive"), a user-generated content platform for events and venues.

The investment will be spread across two tranches of £500,000 each. It follows on from an early stage SEIS investment made by the Group's third party funds, managed by Mercia Fund Management ("MFM"), Mercia's wholly owned subsidiary.

Crowd Reactive allows event organisers to broadcast on large screens, live photographs, videos and social content from a variety of social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, Vine and Dropbox.

It offers three products: Crowd Reactive, a platform for brands to incorporate social content into their adverts; EventsTag, a live social media feed for consumers, brands and businesses; and ii.do, a live social slideshow for wedding party pictures.

Crowd Reactive was founded by CEO Dan Strang and has successfully built a global customer base which includes O2, Nike, Coca Cola, Chevrolet, Vogue, Audi, Ferrari, Starbucks, Southern Comfort and England Rugby.

Crowd Reactive recently expanded into the United States, which now accounts for over 65% of its total sales. It intends to expand its client base to Europe and Latin America and further develop its product, to give brands unique moderation controls, allow customers to seamlessly display social content on their own websites and integrate into new forms of advertising.

Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer of Mercia Technologies PLC, said:

"Crowd Reactive is a new emerging star from our early stage portfolio. It's a fast growing business that has shown great progress since MFM's original investment, and has been remarkably successful in winning new business from globally recognised brands.

"With offices already in the UK and US, we are delighted to continue our hands-on support of Crowd Reactive. We look forward to a productive relationship with the founding team, in particular Dan Strang, a highly capable CEO who is leading the business from strength to strength."

Dan Strang, Founder and CEO of Crowd Reactive Limited, said:

"The continued operational and financial support from Mercia is invaluable. It allows us to provide unique and innovative solutions for our international customers and scale the business globally across new sectors.

"Our team has considerable expertise across digital, marketing, events and sales. With the additional funds, we can now support our rapid growth by investing in new and experienced executives internationally.

"Our goal now is to develop the products to support the increasing demand we have seen for brands to moderate and display social content in nearly everything they do." 

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Note to editors

Mercia Technologies PLC

Mercia creates, funds and develops technology businesses nationally with an emphasis in the Midlands and the North of the UK. It brings technology transfer, company formation, incubation, commercialisation and investment, to technology ventures.

Mercia has a well seeded portfolio and pipeline of investments. The Group has a direct investment in 11 operating companies and access to a portfolio of 38 businesses through its third party funds, managed by its wholly owned subsidiary Mercia Fund Management.

Mercia's shares started trading on AIM on 18 December 2014.

Crowd Reactive Limited

Crowd Reactive is a user generated content platform for brands. Its products include EventsTag (a live social media feed for consumers), ii.do(a live social slideshow for wedding party pictures), and Crowd Reactive (a platform for brands to add live social media content to its advertising). Crowd Reactive's mission is to help clients create unique experiences for their customers whilst also increasing interactions on social media.