Lysanda accelerates into new markets with £10 million capital expansion and appointment of Executive Chairman Geoffrey Finlay

Lysanda, a leading vehicle technology developer, has closed on the first tranche of a £10 million expansion plan from a syndicate of investors including Disruptive Capital Finance and the Truell brothers Danny and Edmund.

Newly appointed Executive Chairman, Geoffrey Finlay, who invested alongside the syndicate and has an extensive background and expertise in building software businesses internationally, comments: “Lysanda is extremely innovative and has ground-breaking patented technology which will play a transformational role in how vehicles are managed, driven and insured. The technology has been developed by an impressive team with strong technical know-how, and I look forward to being involved in its future development and expansion into the broader marketplace.”

Lysanda’s patented software reduces vehicle fleet running costs by providing real-time data on fuel consumption and driver behavior. The funding will allow Lysanda to target high-growth markets including the vehicle breakdown and insurance sectors (claims reporting and “Pay As You Drive” respectively). For example, using Lysanda’s prognostics and diagnostics technology, broken down vehicles will communicate with roadside rescue firms in real time, informing them of the specific malfunction before the call-out and improving response times.

Drivers for Lysanda’s growth include:
• Fuel costs and carbon emissions: Fuel costs are high and rising. Legislation and taxation on emissions is also growing sharply. Lysanda’s Eco-Log™, monitors vehicle and driver performance and typically achieves fuel savings of 15-20%. A “plug and play solution”, which is invisible to the user has proven to be highly effective with customers [including Isotrak].

• Insurance:
o Premiums: Vehicle insurance costs are currently based on age, sex and driving experience – rather than how a driver actually drives. From 2012, insurers are banned from discriminating based on sex (men usually have higher insurance costs than women). Lysanda’s device will enable premiums to be set according to a driver’s actual behaviour or “Pay As You Drive” rather than just age, sex and experience – saving both the driver and the insurer money.
o Reduction in Claims Costs: With an accident “black box”, where cars’ “vitals” are recorded and monitored, insurance companies are provided with an objective record of the potential cause of the accident – eliminating fraud and forensic costs.

• Emergency Call (eCall) / Breakdown Call (bCall): There is currently no way of immediately warning emergency or recovery services of an accident or breakdown. In 2014, Europe plans to introduce mandatory “eCall” for new cars. This will mandate a system to communicate the vehicle’s location and vital information if involved in an accident. Alongside this legislation, Lysanda is developing a “bCall” solution: currently, 61% of breakdowns are not fixed at the roadside as it is not possible to remotely know the cause. With bCall, a roadside diagnostic is immediately sent to a recovery team (eg AA or RAC) to ensure they arrive with the correct parts. Lysanda is looking to transform the roadside assistance market through “prognostics” – a pre-breakdown vehicle diagnostics reporting system.

Cédriane de Boucaud, Partner at lead investor Disruptive Capital, commented:
“Our investment approach is all about identifying opportunities for positive disruption of markets. The combination of impending legislation, rising fuel costs and concern for the environment creates real potential for revolutionising the fleet management and associated insurance market as well as benefiting individual drivers. Geoffrey Finlay has a great track record and is wholly aligned with us in accelerating the growth of this business.”