Inoapps on acquisition trail with £10m funding

TECHNOLOGY company Inoapps is on the hunt for acquisitions after securing £10 million from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) – its largest investment in Scotland.

Andy Bird, CEO of Inoapps with Mike Sibson, investment director of BGF. Picture: Contributed

Chief executive Andy Bird said the firm, which specialises in supplying Oracle software and hardware to clients across the oil and gas, construction and defence sectors, hopes to complete at least two deals before the end of the year.

Bird, who founded Inoapps in 2006, told The Scotsman: “We recently opened an ­office in Kuala Lumpur, and we’re looking at the US and Middle East for organic growth. We hope to announce an acquisition in the UK within weeks.”

The company generated £20m in turnover last year and is targeting £50m by 2015. It has made two acquisitions in the past five years and is also seeking a chairman with experience in the technology sector.

BGF investment director Mike Sibson said: “It is on a highly impressive growth trajectory, driven by consistent high-quality project delivery, Andy’s strong leadership and experienced management team.”

Today’s deal came as Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) announced it has led a further £2.4m investment in Edinburgh-based software group Sumerian. SEP, which has also backed holiday search firm Skyscanner and unmanned aerial vehicle operator Cyberhawk, teamed up with the Scottish Investment Bank to provide the funding.