Octopus increases investment in blur Group

blur (Group) plc

Octopus Investments increases holding in blur Group

Following blur Group, the technology company that's reinventing commerce, announcing its 2012 results earlier in the week, which showed 216% revenue growth and all figures in line with analyst forecasts, Octopus has increased its investment in blur Group to over 3% of the Company's total issued share capital.

As well as being investors, Octopus is also one of the 25,000+ businesses currently using the Global Services Exchange for its services projects. It recently briefed the Exchange for a project which was delivered by one of the Exchange's expert agencies whose credentials include working with some of the world's top brands, including Volkswagen and Barclays.

Paul Stevens, Octopus, commented, "As an investor in blur Group, we see an exciting proposition backed by strong metrics which demonstrate real momentum. As a recent new customer, we're pleased to see the customer experience backs this up."

Speaking on the increased investment, Philip Letts, CEO blur Group, said "This week has seen blur Group once again demonstrate excellent progress in terms of both the annual results which were in line with forecast and showed a 216% year-on-year revenue growth, and our Q1 metrics, which showed the number of briefs submitted, our key indicator, being the highest of any one quarter, an increase of 178% against the previous year. So we're delighted that Octopus has increased its holding as it's a lead investor in both the private and public markets."

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About blur (Group) plc at blurgroup.com

blur Group is a technology company reinventing how businesses do commerce at blurgroup.com. Its Global Services Exchange delivers services differently: a new way to buy, manage and pay for core services. Over 25,000 businesses in 141 countries have adopted this s-commerce platform a and changed the way they work.

blur Group (BLUR) is a public company headquartered in the UK with offices in the US and Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market. blur was founded in January 2006 and launched in alpha in 2007 with the full, formal launch of the Global Services Exchange in January 2010.

At that time, just over three briefs per month were submitted. Now 100 briefs per month from companies like Broadridge, Coral, eBay, Exceed, HCA, Momentive, Red Commerce, the Financial Times, Berlitz, Butlins, GE Healthcare and Tyco are received. Over the same time, average brief value has grown from approximately $1,500 in 2010 to $10,800 in Q1 2013. Today, more than 1,700 briefs have been submitted with a combined brief value of over $24 million. These briefs have come from the US, UK, Europe, Africa and Asia with over 25,000 expert service providers on eight exchanges responding to them.