News: Maven Capital Partners through the South West Investment Fund takes an equity stake in Blu Wireless

The growth position of Blu Wireless and recent progress in key markets piqued Maven’s interest

Blu Wireless, the leader in mmWave radio networking technology, has announced that it has received investment from Maven Capital Partners, a UK institutional investor acting as an appointed fund manager for the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund. The South West Investment Fund awards £200 million to smaller businesses in the area to help promote and drive sustainable economic growth and support innovative, pioneering businesses across the region.

Blu Wireless, located in the centre of Bristol, UK, is a fast-growing wireless business, with ambitions that align with the South West Investment Fund and Maven. Both organisations have been in talks for over six months and the opportunity to invest at this point in time made perfect sense for both parties.

Alexander Sleigh, Maven Investment Director, comments, “Blu Wireless has developed a highly defensible and scalable mmWave solution which has the potential to materially improve connectivity on high speed rail transportation. This new investment will enable the company to further commercialise its market leading technology including through the creation of new high quality engineering jobs in the Bristol region. We are pleased to have partnered with Alan and his team, through the South West Investment Fund, and we look forward to supporting them over this next phase of growth.”

The patented ground-breaking Blu Wireless mmWave wireless solution for rail networks provides high bandwidth and low latency connectivity from trackside to train. It delivers gigabit data throughput, increased security and cost-effective deployment, utilising the unlicensed frequency band at 57-71 GHz.

The pioneering gigabit communications network is already being deployed successfully in the high-speed transport market in the US with the CALTRAIN commuter rail line running from San Francisco to San Jose through the heart of the Silicon Valley. In the UK, the technology is being rolled out on the busy South Western Railway (SWR).

“Having the South West Investment Fund, through Maven, invest in Blu Wireless is fantastic for the business and the area and underlines the progress the company has made over the last 24 months,” says Alan Jones, CEO of Blu Wireless.

This investment will allow Blu Wireless to serve its growing international customer base and deliver commercial mmWave deployments worldwide. It will also fuel commercialisation of mmWave technology in the rail sector and pave the way for the ‘gigabit train’ in the UK and globally.

About Maven and the South West Investment Fund

The South West Investment Fund, launched by the British Business Bank, was created to support ambitious and entrepreneurial SMEs who are seeking the capital they require to fulfil their growth potential.

SWIF – Maven Equity Finance can invest between £150,000 and £5 million in earlier stage and established companies located across the South West of England.