3i invests in Digital Barriers to drive international growth

LONDON, UK – 16 June, 2022 – 3i Group plc (“3i”) announces that it has agreed to invest in Digital Barriers, a leading provider of IoVT (Internet of Video Things) surveillance and security products. 3i is investing alongside existing investor, Volpi Capital LLP, who will maintain a minority stake in the business.

Headquartered in the UK with offices across the US and Europe, Digital Barriers’ unique video compression technology allows live streaming over low-bandwidth environments, including cellular body worn cameras, and an ever growing set of commercial applications. When coupled with its cloud-based, video management platform Digital Barriers is able to provide an end-to-end solution incorporating a wide range of AI-based operational, safety and business intelligence analytics – the only such cloud video platform that works as effectively on cellular as on fixed networks.

The company has been a trusted partner to leading law enforcement, intelligence and defence agencies around the world for many years and will continue to serve this market. Working closely with Intel, Digital Barriers has leveraged its unique IP to develop commercial off-the-shelf products that are now being sold by blue chip telecom and security partners such as AT&T, Vodafone, Fujitsu and G4S to a wide range of commercial and public sector customers across various end-markets.

The partnership with 3i will enable Digital Barriers to accelerate its international expansion, invest further in its unique technology, significantly grow its go-to-market capabilities to support its channel partners and pursue targeted acquisitions to build out its differentiated solution.

David Stephens, co-Head of 3i’s UK Private Equity team, commented: “Digital Barriers provides a highly attractive market and growth opportunity with a strong executive team, led by Zak Doffman. The video surveillance industry is at an inflection point with a shift towards live-streaming, growing cloud adoption and increased analytics enabling greater scalability and opening up more commercial applications. Digital Barriers’ unique technology positions it at the forefront of this movement and we look forward to supporting Zak and the team as they continue to build on the company’s strong relationships with blue chip partners and expand their global operations.”

Zak Doffman, CEO of Digital Barriers, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with 3i and benefiting from their expertise and global reach as we expand our offering with new products, move towards a subscription-based model and broaden our customer base, whilst continuing to provide a highly differentiated product and market-leading technology. We have now made live video over cellular networks a reliable and affordable reality for the first time – working with 3i and our new channel partners we can take these disruptive solutions out much more widely.”

The transaction is conditional upon certain regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in Q3 2022.

About 3i Group

3i is a leading international investment manager focused on mid-market private equity and infrastructure. Its core investment markets are northern Europe and North America. For further information, please visit: www.3i.com