Manchester-based digital marketing agency Digital Media Stream has secured a £100,000 loan from NPIF – River & GC Microfinance. GC Business Finance (GCBF) manages this microfinance in partnership with River Capital as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF). .
Digital Media Stream was founded in 2011 by Simon Leeming and Dave Watson, who met while working together at US software company Flexera, to combine their sales experience and marketing. The business has experienced significant growth and is now a Diamond HubSpot Solutions Partner, providing his CRM implementation projects with retained marketing services.
Digital Media Stream initially secured an £18,000 start-up loan through the British Business Bank, which was provided by GCBF in 2014. In addition to using this loan to help expand the business, the team also took advantage of many other services through Growth Company. Workshop hosted by Growth Hub.
In 2023, Digital Media Stream acquired Bespoke Digital, a marketing agency with over 20 years of experience in digital marketing. Since then, the team has grown to 22 people and a new management structure has been introduced.
With the introduction of the NPIF financing, Digital Media Stream will increase its revenue to £2m, strengthen the skillset gained from the acquisition of Bespoke Digital to enhance its service offering to clients, and invest further in its people and technology.
Co-founder Leeming said: “We are extremely proud of what we have achieved since founding Digital Media Stream in 2011. Last year was a particularly exciting year for us, with the acquisition of Bespoke Digital and the expansion of our team. It was clear that additional funding was needed to continue delivering on our market-leading proposition.
“The new financing will enable us to continue to invest further in our people and support even more clients.”
Andy Nicholls, Senior Loan Manager at GC Business Finance, added: “The growth that Digital Media Stream has achieved since receiving Startup’s loan has been amazing.The entrepreneurial spirit and determination of the team has been evident since we worked together in the early stages of the business, so we are thrilled to be able to support them again. I’m happy.”
The current NPIF investment phase has been completed with British Business Bank and we plan to launch Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II in March 2024.
