An entrepreneur who has made millions from his digital enterprises aims to fund hi-tech ventures

A leading entrepreneur is hoping to unlock millions of pounds to invest in innovative new digital ventures in the Peterborough area.

Scott Weavers-Wright, who was the former chief executive of Kiddicare.com - the internet arm of Peterborough-based baby care supplier Kiddicare - has founded Haatch to support the growth of novel hitech ventures that have huge growth potential.

He says the aim is to tap into the exciting innovation that has been unleashed by the growth of the internet and digital devices.

While e-commerce is proving to be a battle for survival for many traditional businesses it is proving to be a wealth of opportunity for tech-savvy entrepreneurs.

The creation of Haatch, based at Blackfriars Street, Stamford, comes hot on the heels of the sale of Mr Weavers-Wright’s four-year-old business Elevaate.com

It was sold for a ‘significant sum’ to the California-based Quotient Technologies Inc, which is one of the leading digital promotions, media and analytics companies based in Silicon Valley.

Mr Weavers-Wright said: “It was a significant transaction running into tens of milions of pounds.

“It has really raised the profile of Haatch and what we are trying to achieve.

“It’s for this very reason that we have now launched our new fund Haatch Ventures.

“The idea is to open up our investments to others, and we are now actively looking for others to join the club and invest with us.

“We’ve just closed tranche one and are now looking for more people to join us on the journey.”

The aim is to raise a growth fund of about £50 million to invest in businesses across the area.

Mr Weavers Wright said: “We want to invest in digital.

“We are in the era of the digital economy.

“If we look at where the most exciting new businesses are being built now, the vast majority are in this space.

“The UK is also very quickly becoming a real hub for such startups, and as we have designed Haatch Ventures not just as an investment company but one that offers handson expertise and support, as well as cash, it made absolute sense to focus on the strengths of our partners and team.

The Haatch team includes Fred Soneya, the co-founder of Haatch and who runs the investment process, Simon Pension, founder of Peterborough-based digital marketing company Zazzle, Mark Bennett, whose CV includes leading roles at Google, Blinkbox Music, HMV and Microsoft, and Elaine Weavers-Wright, who focuses on the challeng-

‘It’s the hunting ground for the next billion dollar idea’

ing startups about customer experience, and Sophie Weavers-Wright, who is responsible for the running of The Hub.

Mr Weavers-Wright said: “Between us we have experience across every possible area of the digital space; from e-commerce and apps to B2B and the very latest cutting edge technology.

“We also have world-class marketing and advertising expertise and are able to ensure that any investment cash spent in this area maximizes returns.

“Couple that with the fact that the Government has now rightly focused the Enterprise Investment Scheme tax breaks on ‘knowledge intensive’ industries, of which digital is the heartland, it made absolute sense.”

The online world has quickly established itself as an exciting and innovative area of business ideas.

Mr Weavers Wright said: “Thanks to that extraordinary migration of intellectual capacity towards the ‘online opportunity’ we continue to see pioneering ideas and concepts to this day.

“If we look now, for instance, we are really excited about emerging trends such as voice, mixed and virtual reality, blockchain and the ongoing ‘Uberisation’ of many services.

Scott Weavers-Wright

Scott Weavers-Wright in The Hub.