Interregnum doubles team

Interregnum has doubled its numbers by hiring nine new staff over the last six months: not a move you would expect from an investment firm that has seen its share price drag since floating on AIM in March last year. However, Interregnum has seen its way out of this problem by going out to raise a GBP75 million fund into which Interregnum is expected to place some funds itself. The fund raising was announced late summer last year but a first or final closing still isn’t on the immediate horizon. Interregnum faces the unenviable task of raising its first fund, and a technology focused one at that, of which investors are increasingly wary at present. On Interregnum’s side is that fact that although for the most part it has been lumped together with other listed incubators, which have been strictly out of stock market favour for the best part of a year now, it has a credible track record. Before floating in March of last year Interregnum had been investing in technology since its formation in 1992.

If the GBP75 million is successfully raised it will be immediately populated by a number of investments that Interregnum has been warehousing since the latter part of last year – during which it made 5 investments (another three are planned to complete during the coming three months). If the fund does well investors in Interregnum plc will benefit via the increase in the value, at exit, of the companies since some of Interregnum is committing money to this fund. In addition the fund’s management fee is likely to help towards the investment teams fixed costs, which have increased considerably with the recruitment of nine new personnel.

Four joined in February this year. They are Arthur Hochberg as an associate director in the Research & Consulting division, which is responsible for the specialist technology research and analysis which underpins Interregnum’s Venture Marketing, Investment, and M&A activity. (Interregnum’s Venture Marketing team works closely with its clients in defining, funding and implementing market-led strategies. These relationships last from engagement until sale or flotation and Interregnum is paid in a mixture of non-executive fees and equity.)

Hochberg was formerly chief analyst at Gartner Group, leading the coverage of the enterprise software market in Europe for the Dataquest division of the Group.

Alongside Hochberg in that grouping James Foulk and Regina Dubrovskaya joined as analysts Foulk was previously with IDC where he was a research manager for the European IT Asset Management Service.

Dubrovskaya was previously an analyst at Giga Information Group, the international IT and e-business consultancy.

In its Venture Marketing division Interregnum hired Rupert Cook who joins as an associate director. Cook previously worked for ICE Dynamics, a consultancy and incubator, which

he founded in 1998, and where he was managing director. He has also worked for Cap Gemini as EMU Service Offer Manager.

In November last year there were five new recruits to the Venture Marketing team. Andrew De Abreu joined as an associate director, having spent nine years working in sales and marketing in the telecoms market. Prior to joining Interregnum, he was Global Sales Operations Director at MCI Worldcom. Michael Fish also joined as an associate director. He was previously managing director (Europe, Middle East and Africa) for Platform Computing Corp, a software vendor.

Karen Whiteley joined as a principal. Prior to joining Interregnum, she was marketing director at E-Result plc, an e-business solutions developer. Peter Denison-Pender joined as an associate principal, having previously worked with Ian Taylor, MP as a director of Hudson Venture Partners, a venture capital boutique specialising in providing seed and development to technology companies. (In February last year Ian Taylor, former DTI Minister responsible for the UK’s IT sector, joined the Interregnum board as a non-executive director.)

And Stuart Keeler joined as senior principal. Keeler’s previous roles include commercial director at Diagram Systems Ltd.