Announcing a 50% growth in turnover in the year to June, Martyn Thomas, chairman of Bath, Avon software house Praxis Systems Plc, revealed that the company has raised a UKP1m war-chest to fund acquisitions and growth in the UK and other European countries. Funding has come from institutional investor Syntech and Mr Thomas said there was on average six to eight companies a month that came on the market that he was interested in – but he has not yet found a suitable partner. Praxis has been in existence for the last five years and has seen turnover rise steadily from UKP500,000 in its first year of operation to UKP4.3m this year. Mr Thomas was particularly pleased with software development and consultancy sales, which were described as very strong, especially in the second half-year. However Ella, the company’s hardware description language for the expression, verification and management of very large scale integrated circuit designs, enjoyed mixed fortunes. Though it accounts for 20% of the company’s total business and is reported to be taking off in Europe, the distribution agreement with ECAD Inc of Santa Clara, California announced last November (CI No 812) has fallen through following ECAD’s acquisition of SDA. The company presently employs 130 people, and although not listed it trades as a public company with a view to going public in the near future.
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