Forbidden Tech raises funds to boost sales team, cuts costs

Forbidden Technologies has agreed to raise a net £1.2m from a discounted institutional placing to invest in its sales growth.

The fundraising, which broker Allenby Capital has arranged at 7p per share compared to share price above 10p for much the year to date, is dependent on shareholder approval at a coming shareholder meeting.

Proceeds of the placing will be invested in sales and marketing for the company's Forscene online video post-production platform and consumer variant Captevate, together with its eva video social network.

Management said they hoped to "capitalise on some immediate strategic revenue opportunities", with the new funds expected to provide enough cash to see the business through to profitability and cash generation.

"As part of this process we are rebalancing our cost base towards our sales infrastructure and have made some board changes," said chief executive Aziz Musa.

At the shareholder meeting, it was announced last week that founder Stephen Streater will step back from his role as executive chairman to become an executive director responsible for research and development, with existing board member David Main becoming non-executive chairman.

Must said Main's track record in high growth technology start ups, as well as extensive company director experience, both public and private, will be invaluable.

On current trading he added: "We continue to see traction in our business. In the last two weeks we have announced deals with a major broadcaster, global sporting events and a leading US technology company. We are in discussions with a number of large multinational companies, including a global e-commerce company, and I look forward to updating shareholders in the coming months."

Shares in the company, which last week hit a 16-month high of almost 15p after the boardroom reshuffle, were up 11.5% to 10.45p by mid afternoon on Monday.