Capital for Colleagues Plc - Portfolio Update - Bright Ascension Limited

Capital for Colleagues Plc - Portfolio Update - Bright Ascension Limited

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, July 14

Capital for Colleagues plc / EPIC: CFCP / Market: Aquis / Sector: Financials

14 July 2025

CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC

('Capital for Colleagues', 'C4C' or the 'Company'

PORTFOLIO UPDATE - BRIGHT ASCENSION LIMITED

Capital for Colleagues, the investment vehicle focused on opportunities in the Employee Owned Business ('EOB') sector, is pleased to announce an update in respect of its investee company, Bright Ascension Limited ('Bright Ascension').

Bright Ascension is an industry-leading space-software technology provider, offering unique off-the-shelf software products and solutions for the delivery of space-based services, both on spacecraft and on the ground.

Capital for Colleagues is pleased to announce that Bright Ascension has now concluded a £2,350,000 funding round. In that round, Capital for Colleagues has converted £1,000,000 of short term loans into £1,000,000 of new convertible loan notes issued by Bright Ascension. All of the other existing external investors in Bright Ascension are also subscribing further funds for new convertible loan notes. Scottish Enterprise, Harrock Capital Partners and T J Morris (Investments) Ltd are investing £600,000, £600,000 and £150,000 respectively. Harrock Capital Partners and T J Morris (Investments) Ltd are significant shareholders in C4C. The new convertible loan notes, which bear interest at the rate of 10% per annum, are convertible into ordinary shares in Bright Ascension.

Capital for Colleagues has also agreed to provide Bright Ascension with a Revolving Credit Facility of £200,000 until 31 January 2026.

Building on the successful launch of HELIX Flightkit, the introduction of HELIX Engineering Services, and the availability of HELIX Ops through custom-engineered deployments, Bright Ascension is entering a new chapter of commercial and technical growth. Bright Ascension intends to use the funds to deliver a significantly expanded portfolio of HELIX products, strengthen its international sales capabilities and drive innovation in its sector through a focus on interoperability, scalability, efficiency and cybersecurity-first engineering.

Bright Ascension has also strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointment of Sandy Damm as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), with founder, Peter Mendham, becoming Chief Technology Officer. Sandy Damm is an experienced CEO with a successful track record in developing businesses internationally as a result of sales growth through multi-channel networks. His leadership experience in business change and transformation will be vitally important to enable Bright Ascension to take full advantage of the multiple opportunities for rapid growth that are available to it in the international space sector.

Commenting, Alistair Currie, Chief Executive of Capital for Colleagues, said:

"We are pleased to see this strengthening of the Bright Ascension team and to provide additional funding for the next stage in the company's development. Bright Ascension is now well placed to accelerate the delivery of its HELIX suite into its substantial and rapidly growing target markets."

Bill Ainscough was a non-executive Director of Capital for Colleagues in the 12 months preceding this transaction and is the owner of Harrock Capital Partners, which is interested in 16.08% of the Company's issued ordinary share capital. The participation of Harrock Capital Partners in this transaction alongside C4C is therefore a Related Party Transaction for the purposes of the Aquis Growth Market Apex Rulebook. The Directors of the Company (other than Malcolm Edge, who provides consultancy services to Harrock Capital Partners), having exercised reasonable care, skill and diligence, consider that the participation of Harrock Capital Partners in this transaction is fair and reasonable as far as the shareholders of the Company are concerned.

The Directors of the Company are responsible for the contents of this announcement.

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.capitalforcolleagues.com or contact:

CAPITAL FOR COLLEAGUES PLC Richard Bailey, Chairman Alistair Currie, Chief Executive Lesley Watt, Chief Financial Officer	01782 940 380
PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED Mark Anwyl	020 7469 0930

Capital for Colleagues plc

Capital for Colleagues is an investment company focused on the UK EOB sector. The Company has a proven management team, with a wide network of contacts and affiliates, as well as established access to investment opportunities, enabling the Company to execute its strategy and capitalise on EOB-focused investment opportunities. In addition, the Company educates and assists companies that are looking to launch employee ownership schemes, advising them, amongst other things, on how to secure investment and achieve their objectives.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation EU 596/2014 as it forms part of retained EU law (as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018).