Giacom stages management buyout with VC support

VC Livingbridge announced an investment in Hull’s Giacom, a specialist cloud services marketplace which provides cloud services to the SME market via the Information Technology Consultants (‘ITCs’) community.

Giacom offers a one-stop platform for all of the cloud software, infrastructure and IT support services that an ITC might require to transition an SME client into a public or private cloud environment and then manage them on an ongoing basis.

Underpinned by a Microsoft 2-Tier Cloud Solution Provider licence, Giacom has rapidly become the vendor of choice for over 4,000 ITCs enabling the business to service a fast-growing addressable market estimated to be worth c£2.2bn.

Established in 1999, the investment from Livingbridge facilitates a management buyout of the business by Giacom Chief Executive Mike Wardell and his team from the founder, Nick Marshall. LDC who backed the business in 2016 are exiting and will be reinvesting alongside Livingbridge for a minority stake to support Giacom’s ongoing growth strategy. Yorkshire Bank have worked with Giacom since 2016 and continue to support the business following the new investment. Graham Gilbert will remain as Chairman.

Giacom plans to build on the strong momentum it has generated to date by continuing to expand its network with ITCs, cross-selling more products and services across the marketplace and through strategic M&A.

Commenting on the investment, Mike Wardell, Chief Executive said: “Following a year of rapid growth which saw us double our revenues, we believe that now is the right time to secure new financial backing and accelerate our growth plans. Livingbridge’s track record of supporting other high growth businesses such as ours, combined with their experience of investing in the tech sector, means they are uniquely positioned to work with us and I am excited about our future partnership with them. I would like to thank LDC for their backing and support to date and am looking forward to the next phase of our growth strategy.”