Zaptic is a business intelligence company committed to closing the gap in supply chain analytics.

Originally launched as Juliand Digital in 2013 by CEO Richard Milne and his team, the company aims to address a “billion dollar problem”.  With a background in game design and app design, Zaptic is radically changing the way the business world deals with supply chain issues.

Zaptic’s business intelligence platform Hive bridges the gap between front line sales and back room office staff, providing real-time store intelligence and minimising any ‘blind spots’ in the supply chain.

Its team of 30 is based in Manchester, London and Stockholm, and the business is set to achieve sales of over £20m in 2016, with several house hold names already adopting the software.

Hive is the first action-based app for supply chain data collection. The mobile app empowers people at the ground level of the supply chain to identify, report and fix issues where and when they happen by providing industry best practices and recommended fixes. This gives companies real-time visibility of losses that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.

Zaptic won the Manchester award in TechCityinsider’s 2015 TechCities Awards for its Hive app, and is based in the city’s Northern Quarter, where innovation and entrepreneurship thrive.

“Manchester has been our home for the last year and has inspired and supported us as part of the digital community,” says founder, CEO Richard Milnes.

Its Manchester base may have proved an obstacle to finding investors, yet Zaptic has received six figure funding from some of the biggest investors in Silicon Valley.

Manchester Tech Trust’s Chief Executive Peter Lusty has already helped the company to make vital connections. Peter championed the Manchester branch of the national Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK) event in collaboration with Manchester University and several other local sponsors at which Richard and his team met Charles Songhurst. Charles is now a Zaptic investor and advisor.

When asked about the ambition of Manchester Tech Trust, Richard says: “What MTT is aiming to do is worthwhile but not without its challenges. It would be good if they were able to bring investors to the table but the focus should be on building the community and the ambition in to Manchester. MTT can contribute to the start-up community and help to promote Manchester for what it is, the powerhouse of innovation and industry. Manchester Start-ups should have the confidence to go for the billion dollar investment, not just the million.”