Ffastfill placing raises £1m

(By Anthony Miller) Tiny electronic trading software-as-a-service (SaaS) player, Ffastfill, proved that there’s still money out there for worthy causes, raising £1m in a successful share placing. The funds will be used to advance the company’s position in the Asia/Pacific region. Ffastfill also announced its interim results, with CEO Keith Todd, who led ICL some years back, “confident” in the company’s medium and long term prospects (you can check out Ian Spence’s Megabuyte or Panmure's George O'Connor for comment on these results). Setting aside the issue of an £11m turnover company expanding in far-flung areas (I just am not close enough to Ffastfill to take an informed view but it sounds ‘bold’), the fact that they can get investors to part with their hard-earned dosh in the current squeeze must be considered a result. We heard at yesterday’s excellent Exit Strategies conference that the door is closed to tech IPOs, but it seems not to placings. Let’s hope Ffastfill uses this precious cash wisely and profitably.