Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund (BEF) has generated a 5.2x initial return on investment, worth over £3m, following a £24.2m deal that saw EcoOnline acquire software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider StaySafe. A further earn-out is expected over the next 12 months.
The Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund is a £10m venture capital fund that provides early-stage investment for companies with high-growth potential, in combination with non-financial business support at management and board level. An early investor in StaySafe’s suite of software solutions designed to protect lone and at-risk workers, the BEF provided post-seed funding for the company in 2017 and led a follow-on round of funding in 2019.
StaySafe’s lone and at-risk worker solutions include an innovative and award-winning smartphone app and cloud-based monitoring solution. The easy-to-use app tracks location in real-time, enabling employees to check-in safely and request immediate assistance in an emergency, while also upholding individual privacy – employees can choose when to share their location on the app.
Following a period of rapid growth, StaySafe gained a 35 per cent increase in annual recurring revenue (ARR) from its subscription services in 2021, with a reported ARR of £3.1m in Q1 2022.
Founded in 2012, London-based StaySafe has since built a customer-base spanning 47 countries and a strong market presence across the globe, including the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The company provides lone worker safety solutions to over 900 organisations and more than 45,000 users, including blue chip companies Veolia, Siemens, Ericsson and GE.
Don Cameron, CEO of StaySafe, commented:
“Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund has supported us since 2017 with investment, mentoring and insightful guidance.
“We look forward to the next chapter of StaySafe’s story, as we become part of EcoOnline, accelerating our growth into new markets and industries.”
Helen Reynolds, MD and Investment Director of the Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund, who led the investment for BEF, said:
“Supporting innovative businesses such as StaySafe is exactly why the Bayes Entrepreneurship Fund was founded.
“We are pleased to have played an important part in StaySafe’s remarkable growth over the past five years, and have no doubt that Don and his team will go on to achieve great things in their new partnership with EcoOnline.”