£800,000 web investment may create scores of jobs

Nov 17 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

NORTH EAST venture capitalists have invested £800,000 in a Windsor-based price comparison website which could create scores of jobs in this region.

Cogenta Systems has just opened its Newcastle office and says it will be needing more skilled North East workers as it aims to boost sales from £500,000 to £10m in the next two years.

North East venture capital company Hotspur Capital Partners, which manages investments for some of the region’s wealthiest individuals, has invested £450,000 and Newcastle-based NorthStar Equity Investors (NSEI) a further £350,000.

Both venture capital funds are expecting rapid growth from Cogenta and say its decision to open its only other UK base in the region is a significant vote of confidence in the North East.

Cogenta Systems has developed a market-leading technology for gathering product price and availability information, which allows it to look at almost three million prices a day from leading high street retailers.

It has recently expanded its customer base from trade to retail and is now aiming to take its offering to the continent.

The Newcastle base will be used as a platform for this European expansion with the two German-speaking staff, currently based there, working on the product for the German market.