Oxford Capital ‘tees off’ with Martell’s new venture
David Martell, one of the few serial entrepreneurs in the UK and founder of Trafficmaster Plc, has announced a substantial investment from Oxford Capital Partners in his latest venture, Teepix.
Advertisement
Teepix is a new and unique sporting technology, which enables golfers’ action shots to be automatically captured on camera and purchased from a dedicated terminal in the clubhouse at the end of their round.
An investment of £800,000 has been raised by Oxford Capital Partners (OCP) through its Oxford Gateway Funds.
Martell established the company just 18 months ago and no doubt will use his previous experience of implementing innovative technologies that have high exit valuations. OCP is therefore confident that Martell’s latest venture will exploit a unique opportunity and will be adopted on a worldwide scale. It will undoubtedly appeal to all golfers, but has a ready made market for corporate events.
Well proven technology
Teepix plans to roll out the technology to around 100 key golf resorts in the USA, Europe and other parts of the world over the next 3 years. Already launched and operating in two resorts in Florida, with two a month being added over a six-month period across the USA, Teepix is already proving to be an extremely lucrative business.
The technology works by mounting discrete multiple digital cameras near the tee box on the chosen hole. The unique sound of a golfer teeing off is recognised by Teepix's patented trigger system, which instantly sends a radio signal to activate the cameras.
The process is instantaneous and captures the ball, frozen in full flight, just milliseconds after impact, creating a breathtaking action photograph every time. The resulting high resolution images are transferred over a digital data link and the internet to the Teepix editing computers based in Bedford, where automatic enhancement and quality control measures ensure high quality images every time. The finished pictures are then relayed in seconds to a dedicated terminal in the golf resort clubhouse for the golfers to view and purchase at the end of their round, or purchase them at the company’s web site.
Mr Edward Mott, chief executive of OCP, commented, “The marketplace for a technology such as this is substantial. With over 70,000 golf courses around the world and 80 million people playing golf worldwide, we believe this is an exciting investment with huge potential for growth. We are confident that David Martell has the drive and expertise to turn this into a very marketable and profitable business”.
Martell’s previous partnership with venture capital house Top Technology resulted in them making £20 million when Trafficmaster floated in 1994, from an investment of just £2.4 million three years previously.
Comments on this story? Send an email to the editor: address - editor [@] thechilli.com
 |
|
|
© Chilli Publishing Ltd 2007 |
26 DEC 2007 |
