For a city around 30 miles inland, Manchester is, perhaps surprisingly, no stranger to yachts. The iconic Haçienda nightclub rose from the shell of a former yacht showroom on the bank of the Rochdale Canal, and now AshGrove, the €1 billion London and Copenhagen-based investment firm specialising in bespoke capital and financing solutions for B2B software and services businesses, is following the trend by backing Voly, an end-to-end provider of software, payments and payroll services to the yachting industry.
Voly provides software and services used to manage the financial and operational requirements of yachts and other high-value assets. Its product suite includes accounting, payments, foreign exchange, reporting, project management, and crew-management tools.
Magenta Partners acquired Voly in 2021, supporting the company’s scaling into the market leading platform it has become.
Now, AshGrove’s financing is supporting Voly’s investment in Oceanskies, a major provider of maritime employment and yacht registration services, extending the group’s strength in yacht crew employment, payroll, HR, compliance and registration services, as well as further growth capital for the group.
The transaction supplements strong organic growth and continues Voly’s acquisition strategy. Under Magenta’s ownership, the group has acquired maritime payroll and crew-services provider Voyonic (now Voly Crew), crew-management software provider Workrest and project-management platform Pinpoint Works.
James Cunnah, director at AshGrove, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Ian, Steve and the Voly team, as well as Chase and Tom at Magenta, to support the business through its next phase of growth. Voly is exactly the type of specialist software business AshGrove is built to support, and our deep B2B SaaS sector expertise enables us to create bespoke financing solutions around their specific needs. We’re excited to support the business today and look forward to scaling our support in the coming years.”
Ian Flanagan, founder and group CEO of Voly Group, added: “This investment marks a really exciting addition to the Voly platform as we combine the largest specialist payroll services providers in the yachting space, helping to further deepen relationships with our customers. We’re delighted to be working with AshGrove, who really understand our business model, and look forward to working closely with the team as we continue to grow the business.”
Chase Emson, managing partner at Magenta Partners, said: “Since investing in Voly in 2021, we have supported its development into a broader software and services group for the yachting industry. Oceanskies adds complementary capabilities and market reach, and AshGrove’s funding supports the next stage of that strategy.”
