Oak Intranet is a cloud-based based internal communication and employee engagement platform that has recently secured £2.1m seed funding to support its plans for growth and national expansion. Oak has been a pioneer in developing and selling intranet solutions for over 20 years and the business is used by big-name brands such as ITV, Aldi and Halfords.
The successful round of seed funding was led by Maven Capital Partners UK LLP, who were supported by Square One Law.
The funding is made up of monies from two regional funds, both of which are managed by Maven Capital Partners UK LLP: £950,000 from the North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and £600,000 from the Finance Durham Fund, established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham. An additional £450,000 was invested from the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Northstar Ventures, and a further £100,000 came from a private investor.
The seed funding comes amid a period of growth with a second office opening in the Generator Studios in Newcastle city centre, and a restructure of the company’s leadership team led by the new CEO, Will Murray, and the appointment of a new non-executive chairman, Mark Quartermaine.
Michael Vassallo, investment director at Maven, said “We are delighted to lead the latest funding round to continue to support the roll-out of its innovative cloud-based software and enable the business to execute a number of exciting new developments.”
Michael added, “We are thankful to Square One Law for the support and expert guidance they provided to us on this investment.”
Luke Philpott, corporate senior associate at Square One Law said, “It was great to work with Michael and the Maven team again on another transaction. This investment will enable Oak to grow their current offering and I’m sure that they, with the support of Maven and their other investors, are well placed to meet their ambitious plans for future growth.”
