Hereford-based retail stock control business secures £200,000 investment

Published by

Nicky Godding

Hereford-based Stok.ly has secured a £200,000 investment from venture capital firm Midven, using equity finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

The firm, established in 2015, specialises in providing ePos, stock control and multi-channel solutions for UK retailers. Stok.ly was founded by Managing Director Iain Coplans and Technical Director Dan Preece who came together to develop a proficient and easy-to-use software platform.

Stok.ly helps large and small retailers that have struggled to integrate ePos and stock management systems from different vendors with their own websites, Facebook, eBay and other online retail channels.

The funding is to be used by the firm to implement its growth strategy, with investment being made into expanding its sales and customer services team alongside its business development function.

Iain Coplans, Managing Director of Stok.ly, said: “We found the process with Midven very professionally managed and thought provoking. Many helpful ideas emerged regarding our company structure and commercial strategy through our conversations with Gio and the team.

“We intend to use the funding to grow our sales and customer services teams and invest in business development to acquire new sales leads. We are very focused on expanding our customer base, while continuing to help our existing customers get more out of Stok.ly.”

Along with its investment, Midven has introduced an experienced financial manager to bolster the Stok.ly team.

Giovanni Finocchio, Investment Director at Midven, said: “I was initially intrigued by why and how an early stage business based in Hereford was winning the custom of both large and small retailers. I quickly realised the founders knew their market, issues that retailers faced with the traditional software offerings and aimed to resolve this with a fully integrated cloud-based solution. “I was also impressed with the ease of use of its comprehensive software, and after reviewing the company’s growth strategy, I was convinced that this would be a good investment for our MEIF equity fund to make. I’m looking forward to working with the team and supporting the company as it grows.”

Ken Cooper, MD at the British Business Bank, said: “Supporting businesses like Stok.ly to build and expand key areas such as sales and business development, are such important steps to growing a business and a key objective of the fund.”

Paul Hinkins, chairman of the Marches Growth Hub which supports MEIF in the region, said: “The economic prosperity of this region depends on companies such as Stok.ly being able to access the finance they need to thrive and expand. The Marches Growth Hub and the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership have made this a key priority and I am delighted to see it bearing fruit in this way.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.