London based business, Inspection² has secured a £250,000 loan from The Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF) backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Inspection² has been transforming the automation of industrial inspection since 2012. Inspection² was incubated inside Sky-Futures, a leading global drone services provider and spun out before the sale of Sky-Futures to Private Equity in May 2019.
Inspection² software uses Artificial Intelligence (AI), Automation, and 3D visualisation to automatically analyse inspection images, saving up to 70% of engineering time compared to traditional methods. A powerful AI platform that enables the captured data to be turned into actionable information. This delivers major reductions in OPEX and risk by providing a path to inspection automation and reporting by exception Its ability to correctly identify billable assets also supports more effective inventory, Partner, and cost base management.
As an independent business, Inspection² will focus on industrial inspections within the Telecommunications, Transmission & Distribution and Oil & Gas sectors, solving critical business infrastructure problems.
Whether inspection, upgrade, maintenance or decommissioning, this technology enables those sectors to utilise all of the information needed to make better and more informed decisions. The client can store and manage large volumes of data collected from multiple sources including handheld cameras and smartphones, delivering significant flexibility.
“Understanding the unique requirements of our target sectors is key to our business. The software solution was built to specifically address the volume of data being collected by drones and to automate data processing, allowing an operator to build up a picture of industrial asset condition over time, in a highly structured asset base. This loan will help us strengthen our business and I would like to thank GLIF and David at The FSE Group for facilitating the loan to help us continue to service our existing contracts and to deliver our future plans.”
GLIF is a £100m initiative to help address the SME finance gap in Greater London, promoting economic growth through enterprise and an inclusive and sustainable economy. £55m of debt funding is available, via loans between £100,000 and £1m, to early-stage and established SMEs looking to scale-up and realise their growth ambitions. GLIF is financed through the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), London Waste & recycling Board (LWARB) and Funding London’s Legacies
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is managed by the British Business Bank on behalf of, and with the financial backing of, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and industrial Strategy (BEIS).
“We were impressed by the team at Inspection² who have developed a product which saves time and money for operators of critical infrastructure assets. The market opportunity is substantial across Telecommunications, Transmission & Distribution and Oil & gas and we look forward to supporting the business through its next phase of growth.”
Greater London Investment Fund
The Greater London Investment Fund (“GLIF”) operates as a £100 million fund of funds, managed by Funding London. GLIF supports economic growth by providing loan and equity finance for London’s SMEs, through its investments in three sub-funds. For more information please visit GLIF website
European Regional Development Fund
The GLIF will receive up to £35 million from the England European Regional Development Fund (EDRF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. In London, Greater London Authority is the Intermediate Body responsible for European Regional Development Fund. Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regeneration.
Funding London
Funding London was established in 2004 to provide venture capital and loans, on behalf of the Mayor, to SMEs that have previously found it difficult to secure such funding. So far, the organisation has invested more than £66 million into 672 SMEs, secured £400 million in outside investment for small businesses and created or safeguarded more than 5,900 jobs.
The FSE Group
The FSE Group is a community interest company providing fund management services to investors from both the private and public sectors, delivering debt and equity gap funding to high growth SMEs.
European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the lending arm of the European Union and the world’s largest multilateral lender. The GLIF will receive £50 million from the EIB.
