A Newcastle tech start-up whose software helps sales staff to find and close new leads has raised £400,000 to further develop its product and expand its team.
Allegrow has secured funding from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia, along with investment from Mercia’s EIS funds and a number of private investors.
Allegrow is a sales automation platform for business to business companies – where generating new opportunities is a top priority. The platform puts sales representatives in touch with key decision-makers in their target industries through data-driven outreach, which allows them to attract more leads and book more meetings.
The company – previously known as Direct Software – was founded in 2019 by brothers Ruari and Kieran Baker, who came up with the idea while working for a fast-growing online subscription start-up. Having seen the impact that technology could have on driving sales and scaling up a business, they decided to create their own platform to allow other companies to do the same. The funding is expected to create an additional six jobs at its Newcastle office in the year ahead.
Ruari Baker said: “Sales is no longer about the ‘gift of the gab’. It is a repeatable and structured process and technology can help to achieve results faster. Allegrow allows companies to increase sales dramatically by eliminating repetitive processes, allowing sales people to spend more of their time having conversations with prospects and turning cold leads into customers.”
James Allsopp, Investment Manager with Mercia, said: “Ruari and Keiran have an incredible drive and enthusiasm for helping businesses to scale up through effective lead generation and conversion. The company has already achieved significant traction and this investment will help it to further accelerate its growth.”
Richard Butts of Ward Hadaway provided legal advice to Mercia.
NEVF can invest up to £1.0million in any one round for firms in Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear, particularly those which are engaged in innovation or developing disruptive business models. Funding is available to all companies with high growth potential and also pre-start enterprises.