Close Ventures leads £2m investment in Rostima

London 3 March 2007 - Rostima Limited (the “Company”), a world leader in staff rostering and other workforce management solutions, has raised £2.0 million of funding to support its growth. Close Ventures led the round, investing £1.65m in total, with the balance provided by existing investors Oxford Capital Partners and Rostima’s Chairman, Arthur Bullard.

Rostima is a dynamic, growing software company which supplies proprietary workforce management solutions to a range of industries. Its core staff rostering solution is world-leading and numbers DP World, Gala Coral Group and Air France Services Limited amongst its customers.

Rostima’s solution ensures a far more efficient use of labour. The benefits of Rostima’s solution include:

• reducing staff costs by as much as 10% per annum;
• providing better service through having the right skills available at the right time
• improving staff morale by accounting for individual preferences and union requirements; and
• reducing business risk by, for example, incorporating health & safety requirements.

Rostima is based in Maidenhead, UK, with a Development and Technology team based in Australia. This round of funding will be used to take on additional staff, particularly in sales and marketing, and fund the working capital requirements of the Company.

“We are delighted to receive the investment as we enter this important phase of growth. We have developed a market-leading workforce management solution which has already benefited existing customers. We are now focused on getting the message across to our target markets” said Steve Moore, CEO of Rostima.

“Rostima has a unique software solution in an important and fast-growing market niche. With its excellent management team, Rostima has every chance of becoming a global success and we are delighted to support the Company” said Ed Lascelles, Investment Manager at Close Ventures.

“Over the past two years we have worked closely with the Rostima team to establish the company as the leader in a number of international vertical markets. The new funding will provide Rostima the firepower to dominate these markets and spearhead into new sectors,” said David Mott, Investment Director at Oxford Capital Partners.

Press enquiries to:
Steve Moore, CEO, Rostima. Tel: 01628 581 630
Ed Lascelles, Close Ventures. Tel: 020 7422 7830
David Mott, Oxford Capital Partners. Tel: 01865 860760

Notes to editors

Advisers
Rostima was advised by Martin Fiennes of Clarity Capital Partners; legal advisers were David Tighe of Manches, who acted for the company, Dee Sian of Speechly Bircham acting for Close Ventures, and Barry Maytum of Nabarro acting for Oxford Capital Partners. Simon Hill of Cooper Parry provided financial due diligence to Close Ventures.

About Rostima
Rostima has developed a proprietary end-to-end workforce management solution. At the core of this solution is an optimised scheduling system which links into existing business systems to provide automatic staff rosters. These rosters can organise a variable workforce of over 2,000 staff with different skills, preferences, union requirements and legal directives, amongst other factors. The benefits of Rostima’s solution has been shown to reduce labour costs by as much as 10% per annum.

About Close Ventures
Close Ventures (CV) invests in privately-owned UK companies typically valued between £1-10 million. CV is one of the leading VCT managers, managing a portfolio of 6 VCTs, with £235m under management. Close Ventures was voted VCT Fund Manager of the Year at the Growth Company Awards in both 2005 and 2006, and also Best VCT Provider in the Professional Advisor Awards in 2005 and 2006. Further information can be found at www.closeventures.co.uk

About Oxford Capital Partners
Oxford Capital Partners is a venture capital firm specialising in investing in science and technology companies.  It supports companies from an early stage through to IPO and has a particular focus on supporting their international expansion.  Oxford Capital Partners manages the Oxford Gateway Funds, Fund No.1 (1999), Fund No.2 (2003) and Fund No.3 (2006) which together have made over 30 investments in technology and life science companies.  Oxford Capital Partners was voted Venture Capital House of the Year 2005 at the Unquote Awards. www.oxcp.com.