Published: Jun 22, 2015
Focus:
Growth Capital
The Scottish Loan Fund has committed £2m of funding in support of The Interactive Design Institute (IDI), one of the UK’s leading providers of accredited online courses to students at degree and masters levels.
Musselburgh-based IDI delivers online courses to students throughout the UK and in more than 70 countries worldwide. Founded in 2004 and employing a core office staff of 30 alongside a network of tutors and developers across the UK, the business has developed an online cloud-based learning environment becoming the first fully online provider in the UK to gain approved status from the Quality Assurance Agency. In addition to partnering with Higher Education Institutions such as the University of Hertfordshire, IDI’s learning management system can also be customised, providing a ‘white label’ service for other training institutions and corporate partners such as IDI’s relationship with one of the world’s largest publishers, Penguin Random House. 
The capital injection from SLF will allow the business to invest further in its delivery platform and systems as well as increasing its digital marketing spend to attract more overseas students from key international markets. The market for online education has seen rapid expansion and is predicted to be a key route by which UK Universities will increase their share of the international higher education market.
IDI has plans to capitalise on the global standing of the UK Education brand by increasing the number of courses it offers across a range of subject areas and is targeting additional partnerships with other Higher and Further Education Institutions.
David Milroy, Investment Director at Maven, said: “IDI has created a valuable platform that we believe will be attractive to a number of Universities and corporate partners with an interest in training. On-line education is an exciting market and IDI is ideally positioned to leverage the UK’s universities as they successfully market their services abroad. With access to development capital via SLF the Company will be able to step up its sales and marketing efforts which are vital in securing new partnerships and enrolling new students.”
Fiona Crosbie, Director of Student Recruitment and Marketing at IDI, said: “We are excited about the future prospects for IDI having secured the financial and strategic support of SLF and Maven. With access to the SLF funding we are able to implement a number of key initiatives that will enhance our leading learning management system and commit to further investment that underpins our longer term goals.”
Scottish Enterprise’s investment arm, the Scottish Investment Bank, is the cornerstone investor in the Scottish Loan Fund.
Michelle Kinnard, Investment Director at Scottish Investment Bank, said: “Investment support can be key to supporting a company’s growth ambition and we are delighted to see the Loan Fund help another ambitious Scottish company in its desire to grow and access international markets. The SLF continues to work with companies like IDI to help them realise their potential, creating value and jobs for Scotland.”
