Spark Ventures

November 20, 2008 – SPARK Ventures, the leading quoted early-stage venture capital investors, announced today that UniServity, a developer and provider of web-based social learning platform solutions and a global educational community, has signed a major strategic partnership with Time Media Co Ltd (‘Time Media’). Time Media, which is owned by the Chinese government under the direct supervision of the Chinese communist party, was the first Chinese publishing and media company listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange [stock ID: 600551]. SPARK VCTs have backed Uniservity since 2007.

UniServity’s agreement with Time Media, which provides educational materials and content in a secure web environment in a county with more than 600,000 primary schools and 80,000 secondary schools, is the first time that a foreign company has entered the highly controlled secondary education market in China. Under the terms of the framework agreement, Time Media will launch and promote UniServity’s highly successful web based cLc learning platform to schools throughout mainland China.

The strategic partnership was engineered by William Lu, an Investment Director at SPARK Ventures, who joined the company six months ago with a specific remit to work with SPARK’s portfolio companies to help them expand their commercial activities and develop new business opportunities outside their core European markets.

Andrew Carruthers, CEO of SPARK Ventures, commented: “We believe there is a significant opportunity to be explored by European businesses looking to access large and fast growing consumer and B2B markets in countries such as China. However, many companies underestimate the specific challenges of overcoming the cultural, social and business barriers to entry and lack the necessary local expertise to successfully break into these markets.

He added: “This is flagship deal which demonstrates our ability to help companies to access new markets. William’s deep local market knowledge has been instrumental in achieving this and his addition to the SPARK team will enable us to explore similar opportunities across the portfolio in the future."

Founded in the U.K. in 1999, UniServity is the market leader in developing online educational learning software for schools in both the U.K. and around the world. Its UniServity cLc (connected Learning communities) Learning Platform, a web-based social learning environment and toolkit which has been developed in conjunction with schools, education authorities and prominent thought leaders in education, is currently used by more than 1.3 million learners in 17 countries. cLc provides a secure teaching and learning environment over the internet where pupils can create and join innovative learning communities, solving real-world projects with teachers, learners and experts across the globe.

Alan Wood, CEO and founder of UniServity, said: “We have secured an important partnership in a Chinese market segment that has not previously been accessible by foreign companies. This is a significant milestone in the development of the business and would not have been achieved without the support and local market knowledge that SPARK Ventures has provided. Having already established our position as a market leader in this space, the addition of China to our global footprint marks a step-change in the future development of the company, both in Europe and beyond.”

 

For further information

Wendy Svirakova / Annabel O’Connor, Capital MS&L, 020 7307 5330  

William Lu

William Lu is Investment Director at SPARK Ventures. He joined in 2008 post- his MBA study at the London Business School. Prior to SPARK, William gained extensive experience in building hedge fund strategies for Man Investment Products in Singapore, and technology entrepreneurship in financial analytics software and online games as the merchandise licensee for Vivendi Universal Games. As well as his role as an investment director, William works extensively with SPARK’s portfolio companies in seeking out opportunities in Asia and assisting them in developing their businesses there.