Intelligent Optimisations receives 'optimal' grant

A new intelligent digital Plymouth firm has ‘GAIN-ed’ a £250,000 grant to boost its £4million growth package, reports KATE WILLIAMS

High tech Plymouth firm Intelligent Optimisations has raised £4million in its first 18 months to fund its growth. The firm received a £250,000 grant from The Growth Acceleration and Investment Network (GAIN) Growth Fund, which has helped to unlock further investment, supporting the creation of up to 42 new jobs.

Based in the Barbican, Intelligent Optimisations was founded in May 2013 and now employs 31 people, with a major recruitment drive aiming to grow the team to 46 - hoping to create up to 20 new jobs in 2015.

The grant is one of 32 awards totalling £3million which have been made from the GAIN Growth Fund - a partnership founded by Plymouth University, Plymouth City Council and Plymouth Science Park - to growing South West businesses eager to expand.

The Growth Fund, a key part of the Plymouth and South West Peninsula City Deal, aims to support companies with growth aspirations to expand more quickly, and the grants are scheduled to create 482 jobs and unlock over £14million in private investment.

Intelligent Optimisations has developed a groundbreaking platform to enable intelligent digital advertising. The automated system uses ‘machine learning’ to give clients a tool to deliver highly targeted online advertisements. The firm is now bringing a global client base of advertising agencies to the platform, to prove its capabilities.

Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Intelligent Optimisations Rory Kindlon says: “The GAIN Growth Fund grant has given us a fantastic boost by helping us bring in additional investment and accelerate our recruitment drive.

“I had little prior experience of applying for grants but the GAIN team was very helpful in guiding us through the application process. GAIN is hugely important to a business like us and we would not have been able to grow at this rate without the Growth Fund. We are committed to growing a strong UK business from here in Plymouth.”

The £250,000 grant from the GAIN Growth Fund is one of 32 awards ranging from £30,000 to £250,000 made to businesses that demonstrated impressive growth plans. These grants will be supplemented by private investment totalling over £14 million from the individual businesses.

John Hutchings, Grant Manager for the GAIN Growth Fund, says: “Intelligent Optimisations has developed an innovative product and the business is growing at an impressive rate.

“It is very rewarding to see how the GAIN Growth Fund grant has supported this growth and unlocked further investment. The firm’s fast growth is not only great news for the Intelligent Optimisations team, but for Plymouth and the South West region which will benefit from the creation of new, skilled jobs.”