WHEB Partners

"Intralinks has been a vital part of our fundraising process. The Intralinks team provided strong training, guidance and support, which enabled us to set up the dataroom in an effective, accurate, and timely manner. Having the dataroom in place has enabled us to provide potential investors with large amounts of data but also to easily amend and update the documents stored online and monitor usage by our potential investors. It has been a key facilitator in achieving our final close in a difficult fundraising environment."

Mark Preston Principal, WHEB Ventures

THE FIRM ACHIEVED A FINAL CLOSING PRICE OF £105 MILLION, A SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT IN A DIFFICULT FUNDRAISING ENVIRONMENT.

THE SITUATION

In 2004-2005, WHEB Ventures, a pioneer in the European clean technology sector, used traditional methods for communicating data to potential investors to raise £24 million for its first Cleantech venture capital fund. The firm’s second fund, at £105 million, aimed at a higher target and would require a more robust infrastructure for reaching a larger, global investor audience

THE PROBLEM

The company’s investment team realized that scanning and sending documentation to investors via email was neither efficient nor cost-effective.

THE IMPLICATIONS

Dealing with frequent bounce-backs of emails containing large attachments added to the complexity of the information sharing process. In addition, such practices provided little reassurance that important documents were being received and reviewed by their intended receipts.

THE SOLUTION

Following a thorough review of Intralinks’ software-as-a-service solution, WHEB Ventures came to understand that an online dataroom was the right approach for its next fund. With the help of IntraLinks’ client services team, WHEB Ventures had its exchange up and running in four weeks. By hosting the due diligence process in an online dataroom, the investment team could give investors selective access to thousands of pages of data in a quick, efficient and secure environment.

THE RESULT

With its first fund, WHEB Ventures raised £24 million in 18 months. With Intralinks, the firm was able to close on its second fund at £105 million in the same time frame. This marked improvement was facilitated by the move from its email-based approach to an online solution for sharing information. WHEB Ventures has been able to reach a larger, global audience and has secured commitments from more than 50 investors.

THE BENEFIT

In addition to the improvements in efficiency, security, and time savings, WHEB Ventures’ exchange has been well received by its investors. Positive feedback from all parties involved on the exchange’s ease-of-use and anytime, anywhere access has WHEB Ventures planning to use Intralinks again for future fundraising.