RICHARD BAKER
Managing Partner
Acuity’s Richard Baker advised founder Jon Air through the sale of Sparkol to a Management Buyout team.
Sparkol’s tools enable a dramatic improvement in audience engagement. As a founder of the “video scribing” model, Sparkol’s proven technology developed in the UK, has built a customer base of subscribers across over 140 countries. User cases are diverse across commercial, public sector, education and consumer sectors enabling engaging presentations and storytelling for teaching, marketing, sales, training, corporate messaging and public awareness.
Jon Air, Sparkol founder, commented:
“Thanks to the Acuity team for their support throughout the process. Richard’s leadership and commitment to the project, coupled with an extensive understanding of both the inner working of a software business and every part of a transaction process, were key to the project’s success.”
Richard Baker, Managing Partner at Acuity, said:
“We are delighted to have worked with Jon and the Sparkol team to secure this sale which will enable the Sparkol team to continue the businesses development and extensive growth plans. Sparkol continues to innovate through the development of intuitive software tools designed to communicate with a global audience whatever the complexity or simplicity of the message.”
“Thanks to the Acuity team for their support throughout the process. Richard’s leadership and commitment to the project, coupled with an extensive understanding of both the inner working of a software business and every part of a transaction process, were key to the project’s success.”
JON AIR | Founder
Sparkol
Team Members
THOUGHTFUL SUB HEADLINE GOES HERE.
Richard is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Acuity Advisors with 25 years’ experience in all aspects of corporate finance.
Having held influential leadership, corporate development and consulting roles at JPMorgan, Monitor and Diageo plc, Richard has had great insight into the world’s most successful businesses. He has extensive experience working alongside investment banks on M&A transactions across the technology sector and has deep-rooted longstanding relationships with many venture capital and private equity investors.
Richard has been instrumental in building Acuity’s Deep Tech Practice which, along with our successes in the semiconductor sector, has firmly established Acuity as the most successful Deep Tech mid-market advisor. With many notable funding and exit mandates completed, clients have come to rely on Richard’s sector insight to help shape and deliver shareholder value.
Insight is one of Richard’s notable strengths. He very quickly grasps what drives a company’s bottom line and growth, an understanding that’s bolstered by his personal experience of running and then exiting his own business. Richard easily builds strong working relationships with potential buyers and has a keen and intuitive sense for what motivates them.
Since securing a first class degree in Economics with Statistics, Richard has worked extensively in Europe, the US and Asia, creating an enviable and comprehensive international network.