Midlands-based software company, Biosite, has been growing in tandem with the UK’s robust construction sector. Biosite’s year-on-year growth has firmly placed the company on the radar of private equity firm Mobeus Equity Partners, which has provided the software business £4 million in growth capital.
Biosite was founded in 2010 to address critical needs in the construction sector: safety, security and workforce management. The software uses fingerprint algorithm which works with low grade fingerprints to provide access control for workers coming on site. Around this, Biosite has developed a software system that ties this biometric data collected from the access control platform to manage staff, as well as providing broader security services like integrated CCTV, fire alarms and guarding.
Mobeus Equity Partners approached the business about five months ago, the firm’s investment manager, Amit Hindocha told GrowthBusiness. “Biosite came up on our radar because of its impressive growth. But there was a need for them to raise capital and further growth. The funding we put in will help them to build out the team and to take advantage of the significant opportunities their own platform can provide.”
Biosite works with a number of construction firms in the UK including Wates, Bouygues, Willmott Dixon and BAM Construction. As well as providing efficiency savings, Biosite assists its customers to meet safety and compliance requirements.
At a time of economic uncertainty when the general investment appetite has arguably wane, this investment into a tech business in a niche sector is a testament to the strength of Biosite’s technology and the wider opportunities for growth in construction, Hindocha explained. “Biosite has seen revenue growth in excess of 90 per cent year-on-year. That’s a very good sign, especially for such a young business that’s only been around for six years. Biosite was started with very limited capital; just what the founders put in at the beginning. Last year, it turned over just shy of £5 million,” he said.
Hindocha stressed the huge market potential of such technologies in construction, despite the general post-Brexit economic climate. “Obviously there’s uncertainty at the moment. But if you look at the UK construction sector over the past five years, the sector has remained remarkably robust. This is a stable sector,” Hindocha added. “We looked at a number of forecasts for the sector going forward, and construction is due for some growth. Even if you look at some of the less bullish analyses, they still expect the sector to grow.”
Beyond the sector’s forecast, Biosite’s success stems from its ability to address a customer pain-point. “They’ve basically taken an advancement in technology into a sector that has a lot of margin pressure. They are bringing an innovative solution to a long-term problem, and any savings customers make can be crucial,” Hindocha said.
Biosite is led by managing director Dr Li Wang and research director Dr Greg Reynolds. Along with capital, Mobeus has introduced Mark Roberts, former CEO of CSC, as a non-executive chairman. Mark Roberts has previously grown and sold a PE-backed business that was doing software for the engineering sector, an adjacent sector, Hindocha added.
“It was a combination of factors. We offered them a package that works for them and us, introduced a relevant non-executive chair, and set out a realistic timeline to deliver the investment.”
