Tech firm Wise secures private equity deal

A Solihull tech firm founded two years ago has sold a stake to private equity house Inflexion.

Wise, which specialises in services for the self-employment sector and particularly the UK logistics and courier industry, has agreed the sale of a minority share with the London-based mid-market investor.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Wise platform is currently used by more than 250 logistics firms and over 14,000 self-employed drivers to manage issues such as document storage and compliance.

The company said this new backing from Inflexion would support the firm as it grew its technology to serve additional sectors such as construction and private-hire.

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Wise, which also has a base in London, was formed two years ago and in September moved to a new head office in Solihull town centre after growing from just 15 staff to 50 over the previous 12 months.

Last month, it was crowned Digital Start Up of the Year at our West Midlands Tech Awards.

Chief executive Simon Hills said: “Since founding Wise, we’ve been on a truly incredible journey.

“We’ve brought together a team of 50 talented individuals and built a business we’re all proud of.

“Now, with this investment from Inflexion, we’re excited to move on to the next stage of the Wise journey.

“We’ll continue to improve the technology for our existing clients while we roll out our intuitive platform to a variety of new sectors.”

Inflexion’s managing partner Simon Turner added: “In a short space of time, Wise has established itself as an emerging champion catering to the growing demand from the intersection of self-employment and last-mile logistics.

“An explosive e-commerce market combined with Wise’s market-leading offering make the business extremely well placed to continue its impressive growth.”

Advisers on the deal were Titan Partners Group and Fieldfisher.