BGF’s £3 million investment into high-performance IT consultancy DevOpsGroup has been named the Venture Capital Deal of the Year.
[aoa id=”1″]DevOpsGroup and BGF received the prestigious honour at the 2018 Wales Dealmakers Awards on Thursday, September 27th.
Organised by Insider Media, these awards recognise milestone corporate finance deals made in Wales as well as the people and organisations behind them. [/aoa]
This year’s event took place in a glittering awards gala at Mercure Holland House Hotel in Cardiff. It was sponsored by the likes of the Development Bank of Wales, Darwin Gray, Greenaway Scott and Blake Morgan.
A year of growth
The award marks a massive year of growth for DevOpsGroup. In May, it became the first company in Wales to receive growth capital from BGF after the launch of its Cardiff office.
With the funding, DevOpsGroup has mounted a major recruitment and expansion campaign. The team now exceeds 70 specialists working in Cardiff and London.
During the summer, DevOpsGroup rebranded from DevOpsGuys to reflect growing diversity within the team. It also appointed a new board comprised of chairman Adam Hale; CFO James Henderson; Paul Heywood, Oracle; Coco Brown, the Athena Alliance; and Alex Garfitt, BGF.
James Henderson, chief financial officer at DevOpsGroup, said winning the award reflects the impressive growth achieved by the company in the past few months.
“The Wales Dealmakers Awards is a staple event for investors, bankers, accountants, lawyers and other business professionals in Cardiff,” he commented.
“This is the latest award we’ve received on our scale-up journey, reflecting the venture capital round we closed in May. It’s an indication of the trajectory we’re on as a high-growth company and recognition of one of the stand-out investments in the region.
“With BGF’s expansion into Wales, this was also an important investment for them. The closing of the deal coincided with the opening of their Cardiff office, and the award celebrates this.”
Alex Garfitt, BGF, said: “We’re delighted that our partnership with DevOpsGroup has been recognised at these awards. DevOpsGroup is a truly innovative, fast-growing business and we’re excited to support the team as it strengthens its position in the market and makes strategic acquisitions.
“This was our first investment in Cardiff since the opening of our permanent base in the city, and we’re looking forward to partnering with more Welsh companies to accelerate their growth.”
Looking ahead
Henderson explains that the company has ambitious plans for the future, including new office openings and potential acquisitions.
He said: “Thanks to the investment, we’ve accelerated our hiring plan – doubling our team in the last twelve months – and are committed to continuing this expansion both in Cardiff and beyond.”
“There’s a unique opportunity here, and we’re ideally placed to take advantage of it. The best way for us to capitalise on it is to keep accelerating.
“We’re looking to open new offices in London before the end of the year, and then beyond that we’ve made no secret of our global aspirations. Having recently acquired Agile Snap, we have proven that buying in and integrating talent is also a viable option.”
Speaking about DevOpsGroup’s rapid growth, Alys Carlton – corporate partner at Capital Law – commented: “We absolutely love working with DevOpsGroup. We’re proud to be by their side as they develop and grow.
“There are some very exciting times ahead for them – and the Welsh Tech scene – because of this significant investment from BGF. It’s brilliant to see DevOpsGroup recognised at the Wales Dealmakers Awards at this exciting time.”
