Knights plc is delighted to announce that is has advised Mercia Asset Management (“Mercia”) on its further investment, comprising finance from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and is part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), and Mercia’s own EIS funds, in fintech platform company e-Bate Limited (e-Bate).

e-Bate was founded by, and is led by, Leanne Bonner-Cooke MBE. Mercia’s further MEIF investment was also matched by the government’s Future Fund programme, bringing the total funding round to £950,000, and was one of the first Future Fund investments made in the East Midlands region. This latest funding round is the second investment by MEIF in e-Bate and brings the total fundraising by the company to date to over £2m.

Leicestershire-based e-Bate has seen an increase in demand for its services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and will use the funding to create five new jobs as it strives to increase its global sales output. Rebates and promotional incentives are widely used in sectors such as construction, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, and automotive. e-Bate’s platform helps companies to manage and simplify rebate schemes, which have historically been complex and calculated manually using spreadsheets.

Knights’ team was led by Tom Gray and Matt Bolton.

Tom Gray commented: ‘We’re delighted to support Mercia with its further investment in e-Bate - an innovative and fast-growing platform which simplifies rebates. Many congratulations to Leanne and her excellent team at e-Bate. We wish them the very best as they press ahead on their exciting growth journey.’

Leanne Bonner-Cooke added: “Rebates can make a big difference to the net price paid and some businesses depend on them to achieve profitability. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of managing rebates more effectively. A fall in sales volumes will have affected businesses on both sides and some will be looking to renegotiate contracts, which are no longer commercially viable. e-Bate offers greater visibility of the process and provides the data insights needed to make better commercial decisions to boost revenue recovery.”

Sandy Reid, Investment Director at Mercia, said: “Over £100 billion of rebates are processed each year in the UK alone and in industries such as food production they are used all along the supply chain. e-Bate is the only product of its type that helps companies to manage such schemes efficiently. Leanne and the team are making great progress even with the economic backdrop of COVID-19.  We are pleased to be able to continue supporting this fast-growing software business.”

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.