The Dragon’s Den style event, to be held at The Hub in Edinburgh on 5 November 2009, will see investors and hi-tech companies descend on Edinburgh for the chance to win between £500,000 and £6 million each in investment.
Money Dashboard is an easy to use, secure and free online personal finance service that helps individuals and families to manage their money more effectively.
Gavin Littlejohn, Money Dashboard CEO comments: “It is wonderful to be involved with so many exciting companies and opportunities. New enterprise is vital for the recovery of the economy and it is great to see events such as these happening. Getting through to the final stage of the Connect Conference is great news for Money Dashboard.
“Having raised £1 million in October 09 we will be hoping to build relationships with key potential investors, capable of getting behind and developing a world class business. We have a great product that I fully believe can penetrate and dominate the market.”
The alpha test programme was launched last month to secure feedback on the design of the product and is already fully subscribed. Currently taking registrations, it is expected that several thousand testers will trial the closed beta launch later this year.
Isabell Majewsky, chief executive of Connect Scotland organisers The GO Group, said:
“There are companies all across Scotland that, like Money Dashboard, have a great deal of potential but require funding to continue their growth. Connect can play a crucial role in helping firms raise anything from £500,000 to £6million, enabling them to develop their business sufficiently to attract the attention of advisers and further investors who can help to elevate them to the next level.”
Behind Money Dashboard is a heavyweight board, made up of some of Scotland’s successful businessmen, including Chairman Stuart Sinclair, former CEO of Tesco Personal Finance and GE Capital in the UK and China and David Robinson, founder and former CEO of Bright Grey.
Ends
For more information contact: Sarah Lee :: 0131 225 3875 :: 077 66 542110 :: sarah@hottinroof.co.uk
http://www.moneydashboard.com
http://www.connectscotland.co.uk/
NOTES TO THE EDITOR
The Money Dashboard Management Team
Stuart Sinclair* (Non-executive Chairman)
Stuart is the former CEO of Tesco Personal Finance and held CEO positions with GE Capital in the UK and China.
Gavin Littlejohn (Chief Executive Officer)
Gavin founded Money Dashboard and is an entrepreneur who has launched businesses in a variety of sectors, including financial services document management and compliance software platform Instant Group Ltd.
James Varga (Chief Operating Officer)
James is a Canadian entrepreneur with over 15 years of innovative technology and Internet marketing solutions experience with leading brands in a range of sectors including Winterthur Life, Centrica Business Services, Thomas Cook and Sky Sports.
George Hall (Marketing Director)
George has considerable experience in General Management, Internet Marketing, Product Marketing and Product Management gained in major software corporations (IBM, SAIC) as well as start-ups.
Alan Gill (Business Development Director)
Alan is an actuary and financial services industry marketing professional who has worked previously with Aegon, RBS, and Barclays Wealth.
David Robinson* (Non-executive Director)
David is the former CEO of Bright Grey, the protection arm of Royal London.
Jeremy Fraser (Non-executive Director)
Jeremy is former Assistant Head of Legal at Lloyds TSB.
Ian Jones (Non-executive Director)
Ian is currently Head of IT at Adam & Co.
The Company Secretary is Peter Downie, former Group Compliance Manager at Aegon, who brings professional regulatory and risk management expertise to the Company.
Money Dashboard
Money Dashboard is the brainchild of Gavin Littlejohn, whose drive and passion has brought the idea from concept to reality. The company was started in the Scottish Borders and is now based just outside Edinburgh.
Money Dashboard reduces financial stress by giving users real control over their money and improved budgeting. It saves time and hassle of keeping track of everything and gives timely and relevant alerts on ways to save money.
Online financial accounts including savings and current account; credit and store cards and mortgage account information are brought together into one place. Users tag transactions and set budgets - giving a better understanding of where money is being spent, and sending out email and text alerts of budget overspend, suspicious transactions or important events.
Money Dashboard is fully committed to being on the side of the consumer and providing impartial and relevant product suggestions it believes will save money for the user or improve their wealth.
Built in Microsoft’s Silverlight for a rich and interactive user experience and utilising cloud computing to enhance availability and access, the dashboard will give the consumer a complete view and description of all of their finances and financial relationships in one place.
Money Dashboard’s interface uses cool graphics to give immediacy of information to the user, plus simple drop down menus and help functions to improve navigation. The key service focus is ease of use: users will find it quick and easy to set-up, easy to operate, easy to navigate and very low maintenance. Tests have shown it will take users about five to 10 minutes per month to have complete control over their finances.
Par Equity and the Par Syndicate
Par Equity LLP is an Edinburgh-based venture capital firm. Par Equity’s investment approach is to combine financial and intellectual capital, bringing to bear the extensive capabilities of its Advisory Panel to add value to investee companies by allowing management teams to access the experience and expertise of proven, successful business people. It is in the process of concluding a first closing of its maiden fund, Par Innovation Fund I LP and co-ordinates the activities of the Par Syndicate.
The Par Syndicate is an informal investor network, supported by Par Equity, whose members invest in innovative businesses with high growth potential. The investment in Money Dashboard is the Par Syndicate’s fourth investment concluded during 2009.
Par Equity is a co-investment partner of both the Scottish Co-investment Fund and the Scottish Venture Fund. Further information on the Par Syndicate and Par Equity may be found at http://www.parequity.com.
The Scottish Co-investment Fund
The Scottish Co-investment Fund is a £72 million equity investment fund established by Scottish Enterprise, partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund, to invest from £100,000 to £1 million in company finance deals of up to £2 million. Further information on Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Co-investment Fund may be found on the Scottish Enterprise website under the “Investment”
