NPIF Maven Equity Finance invests £1.3 million in Manchester-based IDS

Manchester based IDS provides consultancy services, and system transformation and improvement for a number of blue-chip organisations. It offers enriched data using its own method, Kovenant™, a unique methodology that delivers any data migration or digital transformation with 100% accuracy, without restriction, conditions or qualification.

The investment from NPIF Maven Equity Finance will support the expansion of the company’s development team, as well as its channel specialist sales and marketing staff, to further develop its iData toolkit – which promises a software solution for every stage in the data certainty process. Designed to empower data owners, the toolkit enables users to gain insight without the need for data analytical experience. Further investment into iData toolkit will enable the product to be deployed as an SaaS solution.

Following investment, the business is in a great position to capitalise on the increasing demand in the data quality tools (DQT) market, which is now expected to see an annual growth of 19.2 per cent over the next five years. This is due to these tools being implemented across many industries, resulting in a significant boost in the Business Software and Services Market. The businesses iData product is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the regulatory pressures that large enterprises have been faced with at the forefront of corporate governance.

Over the last 12 months, IDS has been busy enhancing the product with the next version of iData due to be launched in September. iData 2.0 is a huge milestone which significantly improves the user experience via a workflow driven approach.

IDS was co-founded by Alasdair Moore and James Briers. Alasdair has decades of experience in technology and strategic planning, mainly as a recruitment professional in the technology sector. He has worked with large corporates such as Siemens, Accenture and KPMG. James is an expert in data quality and transformation and provides solutions to approaching complex data testing projects to customers.

“We are delighted to be investing in IDS, who offer their clients an invaluable service, exceeding alternatives in the market. The company has proven its ability to sell to corporates profitably and has received strong references from a range of existing clients. Our diligence has enabled our team to recognize the company’s market leading product and the opportunities that could be had in this evolving sector.”

Alex Rothwell, Investment Director at Maven

“To be a recipient of investment from a UK based institution, with fantastic history and pedigree as Maven, is a massive compliment. We have built IDS up to become a solid and profitable business over the last 7 plus years and now, with the help of Maven we get an opportunity to further mature and scale our business. This is an extremely exciting time for IDS.”

James Briers, Co-Founder and CTO of IDS

"The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund supports businesses across a diverse range of traditional and emerging sectors. It’s positive to see companies such as Intelligent Delivery Operations Group utilise funding to improve their innovative software. It follows the ‘Backing Innovation-led Businesses’ report, that revealed 36% of the NPIF equity portfolio have received funding from Innovate UK or UKRI.’ Innovation and funding go hand-in-hand, and we’re proud that NPIF continue to find innovative companies across the North of England.”

Sean Hutchinson from British Business Bank