Waterbear raises funding from Maven
HMT LLP advised the shareholders of start-up Waterbear Education Ltd on their fundraising. Maven Capital Partners invested £1.1 million in the business.
Waterbear is a private college working in partnership with a University offering Master of Arts and BA (Hons) Degree programmes to creative people. WaterBear’s industry-connected creative courses will be accredited and validated by the University of Chichester. Its innovative syllabus will deliver a blended learning programme, both online and on site, with a key emphasis on preparing students for employment, developing contacts and opportunities and offering industry connectivity as an integral part of the courses.
Waterbear’s management team is composed of highly experienced management professionals in the UK private music education industry who have a proven track record over 20 years in this sector and have set up and run highly successful colleges.
The college will be run by Bruce Dickinson, Adam Bushell, and Mark Clayden who were successful touring musician and recording artists before focusing on music education.
Waterbear will use Maven’s investment to launch their music education programmes and develop their activities. The funds will be specially used to lease and fit out WaterBear’s primary campus in Brighton and support the opening of additional campus locations in the future.
HMT provided lead advisory and tax advisory services to the shareholders of Waterbear on the fundraising.
Bruce Dickinson, Shareholder of Waterbear commented:
“We are delighted to have secured the support of Maven to enable us to open the first campus in Brighton and help deliver the education and skills that our creative industries need. The investment team at Maven demonstrated an immediate understanding of our business model and has been hugely supportive from the outset. We look forward to working with Maven over the coming years as we strive to redefine the model for creative industry education.”
Dale Bellis, Investment Director at Maven commented:
“The WaterBear management team has identified a substantial gap in the market to offer industry specific degree courses in the creative sector to support its greatest talents and ensure that students are able to capitalise on these skills in the workplace. There has been limited innovation in creative industries higher education over past 10 years, but Bruce and the team have a proven track record in delivering highly popular, successful vocational degree courses, providing a strong academic foundation to support students in their future careers. The team at HMT surpassed our expectations, adding significant value at various stages throughout the process and we look forward to working with them again soon.”
Andrew Thomson commented:
“We are delighted to have once again assisted Bruce on another transaction. With the management team experience and their innovative business model designed to address a clear gap in this exciting market, Waterbear is a good position to achieve their ambitious growth plans.”
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