[May 09, 2007] DEM raises GBP2m to beef up sales activities Tweet (The Herald Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) DEM Solutions, a Scottish firm that develops software that models the behaviours of discrete elements like sand and coal, has raised GBP2m to beef up its sales and marketing activities. In a coup for DEM the bulk of the finance in the latest round, GBP1.7m, has been provided by NewMedia SPARK, the listed venture capital operation based in London which focuses on early stage technology firms. Edinburgh-based DEM has received renewed backing from the Technology Venture Fund managed by Sigma Capital, the investment firm based in the Scottish capital and from the publicly-funded Scottish Coinvestment Fund. These provided GBP250,000 and GBP50,000 respectively. The new money will be used to expand DEM's sales and marketing operations and support the development of new releases of the firm's software. Founded in 2003 by Dr John Favier, DEM developed what was billed as the world's first complete particle mechanics simulation platform, called EDEM. This simulates the behaviour of substances such as grains during industrial processes. The platform allows users - ranging from pharmaceutical to agricultural companies - to design, develop and test products, processes and equipment more quickly and accurately than was previously possible. Sigma said DEM had made significant progress since raising GBP1m in July 2005. In that round the Sigma technology fund invested GBP550,000 while the Scottish Coinvestment Fund invested GBP450,000. Sales tripled over the past year, to an undisclosed amount. In the year ended May 31, 2006, turnover was GBP339,000. The firm's customers include NASA, the US space authority and John Deere, the giant agricultural products combine. Mark Hogarth, investment director at Sigma, declined to say what valuation had been attached to DEM in the latest round but confirmed it had increased since the 2005 fundraising. He said the majority of the GBP17m raised for the technology venture fund had been invested, in around 15 firms in total. Copyright 2007 Newsquest Media Group Source: Financial Times Information Limited - Europe Intelligence Wire. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]