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Private investor syndicate Hotbed has invested £2.1 million of growth capital in Mobiletrails, a provider of travel information to mobile devices.

The investment is eligible for EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) tax relief. Investors were also able to invest via vehicles such as the recently launched Hotbed Alternative SIPP (Self Invested Personal Pension), which is administered by Alliance Trust Savings.

Mobiletrails provides a unique service via its Travel Buddy product that sends texts to the mobile handsets of paying customers, including weather and local information.

Clients include Thomson Travel, Mid-Counties Co-op, Holidays4U and The Holiday Place.

Hotbed is a supplier of alternative asset investments, with direct private equity and commercial property investments made in £25,000 units and private investors select which investments they participate in.

Hotbed’s chief executive officer, Gary Robins, said: “Travel Buddy’s success is based on its ability to capitalise on a number of factors such as high levels of mobile phone penetration, consumers taking more holidays, and the fact that texting has become a standard method of communication.”

Since its launch in 2002, Hotbed has made 56 investments, raising £127 million from its members in transactions valued at more than £500 million.

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