Investor increases support for Chester eLearning specialist

PE firm Maven Capital Partners has increased its investment in Chester-based iAM Compliant.

The firm specialises in offering eLearning courses to enterprise customers as well as a cloud-based estates and compliance platform tailored for the education market.

Maven has led a £1.42m investment which builds on its previous £1m investment in iAM in 2021 completed through NPIF Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, a fund it manages on behalf of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

The newly secured funding, which includes a £1.1m investment from the Maven VCTs and a £320,000 investment from NPIF Maven Equity Finance, will be used to support iAM’s ongoing growth initiatives.

This includes further enhancing its compliance software and its eLearning library through product development, as well as strengthening its sales and marketing operations.

The iAM business consists of two distinct divisions: iAM Compliant and iAM Learning.

The iAM Learning operation offers an acclaimed eLearning library that continues to expand, covering a wide range of subjects such as health and safety, compliance, mental health, and safeguarding, while iAM Compliant provides a cloud-based software platform for estates and compliance management.

Its primary focus is on the education sector, encompassing areas such as estates management, health and safety, statutory reporting, incident reporting, and premises checks. Additionally, schools gain access to iAM Learning’s exclusive learning library, which supports employee training requirements.

Since Maven’s initial investment in iAM more than two years ago, the company has achieved significant growth, with annual recurring revenues quadrupling.

James Rosthorn, investment director at Maven, said: “We’ve been impressed by the ambition and drive demonstrated by the management team, as well as the strong performance of both business units in developing compelling propositions and ensuring customer retention.

“Furthermore, we acknowledge the immense value within the sectors iAM’s divisions operate, which are currently undergoing substantial growth and witnessing robust merger and acquisition activity. This additional investment will enable iAM to further expand its client offering and achieve significant revenue scaling.”

Tom Moore, COO at iAM Compliant, said: “Since the initial investment round, we’ve seen strong growth coupled with further development of our product offerings. This investment allows us to build on our increasing market position and accelerate our learning library and compliance product plans as well as our head office capabilities (in sales, marketing and customer delight).

“The really exciting part is that we’ve already been challenging the competition, but now we can really start to shake things up.”

Keira Shepperson, director, regional funding at British Business Bank, said: “Our ambition is to provide businesses in the North with the access to finance they need to achieve their goals, so it is markedly special when a company thrives and returns to secure even more investment for future growth – iAM Compliant has social impact at its heart by helping schools become more compliant in a world that is rapidly becoming more digital every day.

“We are seeing even more companies in the digital transformation sector emerge, which is turning the North into a digital powerhouse.”

Principals and key advisors to the transaction: Legal – Browne Jacobson. Insurance – Locktons Insurance. VCT Assurance: Philip Hare and Roger Blears. Legal: Porter Dodson (for iAM Compliant).