Issue of Equity – May 2023

Posted on 5th May 2023 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 5572Y | Sure Ventures PLC | 05 May 2023

Sure Ventures PLC – Issue of Equity

Sure Ventures plc (“the Company”)

is pleased to announce that it has raised gross proceeds of £ 200,000 by way of a private placing at 100p a share. This represents the issue of 200’000 new ordinary shares.

The money will be used for further investments, follow-on investment in Sure Valley Ventures (ICAV), the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software technology fund and general working capital purposes.

Application has been made in respect of Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on the Specialist Funds Segment of the Main Market of London Stock Exchange plc (“Admission”). Admission will become effective and dealings in the Ordinary Shares will commence at 8:00 a.m. (London time) on and around the 12^th May 2023.

Following Admission, the Company will have 6’846’472 Ordinary Shares in issue. The total number of voting rights of the Company will be 6’846’472. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company.

For further information, please contact:

Issuer

Sure Ventures plc

Gareth Burchell

0207 186 9900

Placing Agent

Shard Capital Partners LLP

Damon Heath

0207 186 9900

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

Issue of Equity – January 2023

Posted on 12th January 20235th May 2023 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 4613M | Sure Ventures PLC | 12 January 2023

Sure Ventures PLC-Issue of Equity

Sure Ventures plc (“the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has raised gross proceeds of £ 200,000 by way of a private placing. This represents the issue of 191,387 new Ordinary Shares at 104.5p a share. This was the closing mid-price on the 11^th of January 2023.

The money will be used for further investments, follow-on investment in Sure Valley Ventures (ICAV), the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software technology fund and general working capital purposes. The Investment has been made by one Institutional Investor.

Following Admission, the Company will have 6,646,472 Ordinary Shares in issue. The total number of voting rights of the Company will be 6,646,472. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company.

For further information, please contact:

Issuer

Sure Ventures plc

Gareth Burchell

0207 186 9900

Placing Agent

Shard Capital Partners LLP

Damon Heath

0207 186 9900

Portfolio Update Q3 2022

Posted on 23rd December 202223rd January 2023 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 6953K | Sure Ventures PLC | 23 December 2022

Portfolio Update Q3 2022

Sure Ventures plc (‘Sure Ventures’ or ‘the Company’)

Portfolio Update Q3 2022, NAV Calculation and Director commentary

Sure Ventures is a London listed venture capital fund which invests in early stage software companies in the rapidly growing technology areas of Augmented Reality (‘AR’), Virtual Reality (‘VR’), Internet of Things (‘IoT’) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). We are pleased to provide an update on the Company’s investment portfolio.

SURE VALLEY VENTURES FUND

Sure Ventures made a €7million commitment to Sure Valley Ventures Fund (‘Sure Valley’) representing an interest in Sure Valley of approximately 25.9%. This commitment was made at a price of €1.00 per share. The current NAV of the Sure Valley Ventures ICAV is €1.40 which is a 4.76% decrease from its NAV as at Q1 2022.

Sure Valley has several investments across the AI, AR, VR and IoT sectors and the major contributing factors and commentary on underlying companies that has driven this NAV calculation are as follows:

GetVisibility

This software delivers visibility over unstructured data, e.g. Word documents or pdfs, for enterprises, by automatically, accurately and precisely scanning and classifying the data to a corporate taxonomy using artificial intelligence (AI) at scale (NLP and Neural Networks). The software enables customers to find, protect and remediate issues with sensitive/confidential and regulated data. Getvisibility also integrates into data protection solutions like Azure Information Protection (AIP) from Microsoft to allow customers to apply protection automatically (removing the need for manual intervention by staff).

GetVisibility have made some key customer wins, has opened a new US West Coast Office in San Francisco, California and has be awarded the Horizon Europe Seal of Excellence. The product role out is positive and we are very pleased with their progress and look forward to sharing more news in the Q4 update.

Smarttech247

Smarttech247 is a multi-award-winning MDR (Managed Detection & Response) company and amarket leader in Security Operations. Trusted by global organizations, Smarttech247 combinethreat intelligence with managed detection and response to provide actionable insights, 24/7threat detection, investigation, and response. Smarttech247’s service is geared towards proactiveprevention and this is done by utilizing the latest in cloud, big data analytics and machine learning,along with Smarttech247’s industry leading incident response team.

Smarttech 247 has now listed on AIM on the 15^th of December 2022 at a valuation of £36.8m raising £3.67m from investors and will us the cash injection to fund its continued international growth. The Company is profitable and cash generative and has achieved significant revenue growth in FY21 (20% over projected revenue and 50% growth compared to FY20) and expects continued growth in FY22.

Smarttech247 has a diverse portfolio of blue-chip customers that includes pharmaceutical, technology, industrial and services companies. The Company has demonstrated a return on investment for clients that have implemented its platform. Forrester Consulting determined that the VisionX product provides in excess of a 300% ROI and €2 million net of present value (NPV), providing customers with a “payback” on investment within 6 months.

Smarttech247 is highly focused on innovation and operational excellence and has exciting plans to continue to expand its Research and Development department in order to further enhance its security technologies. Two new proprietary technologies ThreatHub and VisionX were launched in 2022, in addition to NoPhish in 2021.

EveryAngle-New Investment

We are pleased to announce a new investment completed by the first Sure Valley Ventures fund (“SVV1”) in EVERYangle Ltd, trading as EVERYANGLE, a Dublin-based, computer-vision company that helps physical retailers, hospitality venues, and convenience service stations to optimise operations.

EVERYANGLE has raised €2.7 million in a seed fundraise which will be used to accelerate sales, invest in ongoing product development and drive further expansion in the US and UK. The funding round was led by Sure Valley Ventures, Act Venture Capital and Furthr VC (formerly DBIC Ventures), with participation from Enterprise Ireland.

EVERYANGLE’s platform uses computer vision and machine learning to analyse CCTV footage rapidly and cost effectively at-scale to help retailers, hospitality and fuel station operators gain rich in-store customer insights, reduce loss and optimise their operations. The company plans to increase its headcount over the next 24 months with recruitment underway for key hires in machine learning, data science, software engineering, product management and sales. EVERYANGLE has developed strategic go-to-market partnerships with major vendors including Cisco and SAP, global distributors such as TD Synnex, as well as international reseller partners including CDW and WWT. These extensive partnerships enable EVERYANGLE to serve sectors such as retail, hospitality, manufacturing and healthcare, with customers including Mulberry, Peloton and Oxford Industries.

Listed holdings

Equity markets have been volatile, and both Engage XR (EXR.L) and Immotion PLC (IMMO.L) traded lower on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The AIFM are happy with both positions and are long term investors.

Immotion PLC

With revenue of £4.4m for the first half of 2022, almost double the same period last year (and exceeding that of our seasonally stronger H2 last year) the strength of our core LBE business is being demonstrated clearly and I am excited by its growth prospects.

The decision to focus all our efforts on LBE is delivering results and with the disposal of Uvisan and the spin out of HBE now agreed in principle we can, as we move through the remainder of H2, focus our planning and resources on accelerating growth of our core LBE partner estate.

We believe that considerable growth opportunities lie ahead of us in both the aquarium sector, where we are now a well-established player, and in the zoo market where we have taken our initial steps in what should be an even larger market.

ENGAGE XR

Interim results in September 2022 showed that the business was trading well with total revenue for the Group up c.41% to €1.76m (H1 2021: €1.25m ), ENGAGE revenue up 62% to €1.46m (H1 2021: €0.90m) with the Unaudited gross margin 81% in H1 2022 (H1 2021: 80%) and net cash of €4.9m as at 30 June 2022.

While interest remains strong in ENGAGE, the Board expects that the Group will be behind current market consensus expectations for 2022 in terms of revenue and EBITDA loss. The Board currently expects to report Group revenues for the year to 31 December 2022 of between €3.5m and €4.0m with an EBITDA loss of between €5.6m and €5.9m reflecting the increased headcount in the Group. ENGAGE revenues are expected to have increased by at least 70% year on year and now represent approximately 86% of the Group’s revenues.

SURE VALLEY VENTURES ENTERPRISE CAPITAL FUND

Sure Valley Ventures (“SVV”) has led a £3m seed round in Opsmatix Systems Limited trading as Jaid (“Jaid”), an innovative technology firm providing AI-powered human communication solutions, marking the fund’s second investment. The proceeds of the funding will be used to expand its industry-leading machine learning team, build out business development efforts across America and Europe and expand into Asia.

Jaid is a rapidly growing company that provides AI as a Service (AIaaS) solutions to businesses to automate a variety of use cases, including client service automation, sales automation, payment exception processing, and claims administration processing. Jaid’s technology helps businesses reduce costs, improve efficiency, and make data-driven decisions.

This will now appear in our NAV calculation of the Q4 update which we will release in February 2023.

Sure Ventures PLC NAV

The Sure ventures PLC NAV at the end of September 2022 sits at 124.09p. This represents a 1.32% decrease across the period, down from 125.75p per share at the end of Q2. This decrease represents costs and changes to the value of its listed holdings in Engage XR and Immotion PLC.

Forward looking statement & Director comment

When calculating the NAV for both Sure Valley Ventures and Sure Ventures PLC we do not re-rate an unlisted investee company valuation unless there is a funding round priced by another investor. The nature and stage of the software companies that we invest requires patience and we are now starting to see these businesses mature at a strong pace. The pipeline of deals for Sure Valley Ventures Enterprise Capital fund remains robust despite the market conditions

Gareth Burchell comment

“The market back-drop and specifically the technology sector has had a hard year in 2022. The Sure Ventures NAV has remained strong given this backdrop and several of the investments in the fund are starting to attract interest from larger, more acquisitive players in their relevant verticals.

We welcome two new investments in Everyangle (SVV1) and Jaid (Enterprise Capital fund) both of which have been funded from current cash. The listing of Smarttech247 will of course be represented in our Q4 NAV, but we are pleased with the injection of capital and look forward to being updated with its progress.”

For further information, please visit www.sureventuresplc.com or contact:

Gareth Burchell

Sure Ventures plc

+44 (0) 20 7186 9918

Notes to Editors

Sure Ventures plc listed on the London Stock Exchange in January 2018 giving retail investors access to an asset class that is usually dominated by private venture capital funds. Sure Ventures is focusing on companies in the UK, Republic of Ireland and other European countries, making seed and series A investments in companies with first rate management teams, products which benefit from market validation with target revenue run rates of at least £400,000 over the next 12 months. Website: https://www.sureventuresplc.com/

Results of AGM 2022

Posted on 20th September 2022 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 6694Z | Sure Ventures PLC | 15 September 2022

Sure Ventures PLC

Results of AGM 2022

Sure Ventures is a London listed venture capital fund which invests in early stage software companies in the rapidly growing technology areas of Augmented reality (‘AR’), Virtual reality (‘VR’), Internet of Things (‘IoT’) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The results of the AGM held on the 14th of September 2022 at 70 St Mary’s Axe, London EC3A 8BE:

All resolutions contained in the notice of the AGM were duly passed on a show of hands
The number of shares represented at the meeting an voted on were 316,255

Copies of all special resolutions numbered 10 to 11 will be made available for inspection from the National Storage Mechanism, situated at: https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism.

The results of the AGM will be available shortly on the Company’s website at www.sureventuresplc.com/documents

For further information about this announcement please contact:

Apex Fund Services (Ireland) Ltd: +353 156 79210

Company Secretary

Shard Capital AIFM LLP: +44 (0) 207 186 9914

AIFM

Shard Capital Partners LLP: +44 (0) 207 186 9914

Placing Agent

Computershare Investor Services PLC: +44 (0) 370 707 4023

Registrar

Portfolio Update Q2 2022

Posted on 20th September 2022 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 6293ZZ | Sure Ventures PLC | 15 September 2022

Sure Ventures plc (‘Sure Ventures’ or ‘the Company’)

Portfolio Update Q2 2022, NAV Calculation and Director commentary

SURE VALLEY VENTURES FUND

Sure Ventures made a €7million commitment to Sure Valley Ventures Fund (‘Sure Valley’) representing an interest in Sure Valley of approximately 25.9%. This commitment was made at a price of €1.00 per share. The current NAV of the Sure Valley Ventures ICAV is €1.47 which is a 2.836%% decrease from its NAV as at Q1 2022.

Admix/Landvault

Admix merged with Landvault, a builder in metaverse worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland as it pivots to Web 3. The combined company will be known as Landvault. By merging with Laundvault, Admix aims to become a go-to service provider for major intellectual property holders and brands enabling big companies across all industries to enter the metaverse and be monetised with Admix’s in-game advertising technology.

Admix completed a re-organisation of the team and also have integrated the LandVault Management Team. This strategic move has led to a significantly improved margins and they have been successful in winning clients with major world wide brands.

GetVisibility

In March 2022 Getvisibility closed a Series A round of €10,000,000 led by AIC which included

Fortino Capital and as well as follow-on investment from Sure Valley Ventures, Pires Investments and Manifold Investments Limited among others.

Getvisibility has also expanded its pipeline by $6M and has onboarded 31 new channel partners across 7 countries. Getvisibility recently expanded its product offering by adding Google’s platform capabilities and a new Data Breach Risk report which will help businesses measure and benchmark their security and data governance capabilities.

Volograms

The mobile AR market is forecast to grow from the one billion compatible devices and over $8 billion in revenue in 2019 to 2.5 billion compatible devices and $60 billion in revenue by 2024. The Volograms mobile product will enable mobile phone users to take AR pictures and videos, then view, edit and share them with others. This can be done directly or through social media platforms. Thus, the product is an end user or consumer product but the planned route to market will be through mobile OEMs.

We believe that Volograms is opening a new market category for AR photos and video. This category should have much greater appeal for content creators and social media users than the existing static 3D content solutions on offer

Listed holdings

Equity markets have been volatile, and both Engage XR (EXR.L) and Immotion PLC (IMMO.L) traded lower on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The AIFM are happy with both positions and are long term investors. Both listed entities are producing strong revenue growth and market adoption.

Immotion PLC: the company’s LBE business is currently enjoying very strong trading in the key summer period, with unaudited July 2022 revenue of £1.3m being the division’s best ever month. This takes unaudited LBE revenue for the seven months to 31 July 2022 to £5.7m, a 78% increase from £3.2m in the equivalent period in 2021.

completed two small-scale installations at Chester Zoo and Legoland Discovery Center Philadelphia and so the Group now has 488 seats across 54 locations. The Group has visibility on a pipeline of new sites and additional seats at certain existing sites. Should all these developments materialise, the Directors expect that the Group will comfortably pass the 500 seat mark by the end of H2 2022.

ENGAGE XR reported their Interim results for the period to June 2022 and were inline with market expectations. Total revenue for the Group up c.41% to €1.76m (H1 2021: €1.25m) with Engage revenue up 62%. The gross margin sits at a very healthy 81% and the company had 4.9m Euros of cash.

The number of commercial customers has increased to over 180 since ENGAGE’s launch in May 2019 with over 50 customers added in 2022. US Partner VictoryXR has launched 10 ‘Metaversities’ funded by Meta and built on the ENGAGE platform and now has 24/5 customer support with teams in the US, Australia, and Europe available to support customers.

SURE VALLEY VENTURES ENTERPRISE CAPITAL FUND

During the first quarter of 2022 Sure Ventures PLC also made a commitment of £5m to the Sure Valley Ventures Capital Fund. The fund has launched, and the first investment was made in a company called RETìníZE on the 16th of March 2022.

Retinize are developing an innovative software product called Animotive that is harnessing the latest VR technologies to transform the 3D animation production process. The proceeds of the seed round will drive the next two-year step in its growth and the global rollout of Animotive.

The seed round, led by the SVV Software Fund’s £1 million investment, marks the first investment from this fund which recently announced its first close of £85 million, which included a cornerstone £50 million investment from the British Business Bank, an investment arm of the UK Government.

Sure Ventures PLC NAV

The Sure ventures PLC NAV at the end of June 2022 sits at 125.75p. This represents a 2.443% decrease across the period, down from 128.9p per share at the end of Q1. This decrease represents costs and changes to the value of its listed holdings in Engage XR and Immotion PLC.

Forward looking statement & Director comment

Gareth Burchell comment

“Sure Valley Ventures and its portfolio of deep technology companies continue to perform well in what are difficult economic circumstances. There are a number of our companies that are looking to their next stage growth, scaling up the commercialisation of their product offering and we are confident of continued growth in Q3 2022 ”

For further information, please visit www.sureventuresplc.com or contact:

Gareth Burchell

Sure Ventures plc

+44 (0) 20 7186 9918

TR-1: Standard form for notification of major holdings

Posted on 18th July 2022 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 1673S | Sure Ventures PLC | 12 July 2022

TR-1: Standard form for notification of major holdings

NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR HOLDINGS (to be sent to the relevant issuer and to the FCA in Microsoft Word format if possible) ⁱ

1a. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached ii:

Sure Ventures plc

1b. Please indicate if the issuer is a non-UK issuer (please mark with an “X” if appropriate)

Non-UK issuer

2. Reason for the notification (please mark the appropriate box or boxes with an “X”)

An acquisition or disposal of voting rights

	X

3. Details of person subject to the notification obligation iv

Name	Pires Investments plc
City and country of registered office (if applicable)	UK

4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3.) v

Name
City and country of registered office (if applicable)
5. Date on which the threshold was crossed or reached vi:	10/06/2022
6. Date on which issuer notified (DD/MM/YYYY):	12/07/2022

7. Total positions of person(s) subject to the notification obligation

	% of voting rights attached to shares (total of 8. A)	% of voting rights through financial instruments(total of 8.B 1 + 8.B 2)	Total of both in % (8.A + 8.B)	Total number of voting rights held in issuer (8.A + 8.B) vii
Resulting situation on the date on which threshold was crossed or reached	23.3%	Nil	23.3%	1,501,000
Position of previous notification (if applicable)	28.0%	Nil	28.0%

8. Notified details of the resulting situation on the date on which the threshold was crossed or reached viii

A: Voting rights attached to shares

Class/type ofsharesISIN code (if possible)	Number of voting rights ix	% of voting rights
Direct(DTR5.1)	Indirect (DTR5.2.1)	Direct(DTR5.1)	Indirect(DTR5.2.1)
GB00BYWYZ460	1,501,000	Nil	23.3%	Nil


SUBTOTAL 8. A	1,501,000	23.3%

B 1: Financial Instruments according to DTR5.3.1R (1) (a)

Type of financial instrument	Expirationdate x	Exercise/Conversion Period xi	Number of voting rights that may be acquired if the instrument is exercised/converted.	% of voting rights



		SUBTOTAL 8. B 1

B 2: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect according to DTR5.3.1R (1) (b)

Type of financial instrument	Expirationdate x	Exercise/Conversion Period xi	Physical or cash Settlement xii	Number of voting rights	% of voting rights



			SUBTOTAL 8.B.2

9. Information in relation to the person subject to the notification obligation (please mark the applicable box with an “X”)

Person subject to the notification obligation is not controlled by any natural person or legal entity and does not control any other undertaking(s) holding directly or indirectly an interest in the (underlying) issuer xiii	X
Full chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or thefinancial instruments are effectively held starting with the ultimate controlling natural person or legal entity (please add additional rows as necessary) xiv

Name ^xv	% of voting rights if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold	% of voting rights through financial instruments if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold	Total of both if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold

10. In case of proxy voting, please identify:

Name of the proxy holder
The number and % of voting rights held
The date until which the voting rights will be held

11. Additional information ^xvi

Place of completion	UK
Date of completion	18 July, 2022

Issue of Equity & Change of Address

Posted on 1st June 2022 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 5423N | Sure Ventures PLC | 01 June 2022

Issue of Equity & Change of Address

Sure Ventures plc (“the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has raised gross proceeds of £ 475,000 by way of a private placing. The Ordinary Shares have been issued at 107.5p a share which was the closing mid-price on the 31^st of May 2022.

The money will be used for further investments, follow-on investment in Suir Valley Ventures (ICAV) and general working capital purposes.

Following Admission, the Company will have 6,455,085 Ordinary Shares in issue. The total number of voting rights of the Company will be 6,455,085. This figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company.

The Board would also like to announce that our registered address has now changed to:

International House
36-38 Cornhill
London
EC3V 3NG

For further information, please contact:

Issuer

Sure Ventures plc

Gareth Burchell

0207 186 9900

Placing Agent

Shard Capital Partners LLP

Damon Heath

0207 186 9900

Q1 2022 Portfolio Update

Posted on 18th May 2022 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 7744L | Sure Ventures PLC | 7 May 2022

Portfolio Update Q1 2022 and Director commentary

SURE VALLEY VENTURES FUND

Sure Ventures made a €7million commitment to Sure Valley Ventures Fund (‘Sure Valley’) representing an interest in Sure Valley of approximately 25.9%. This commitment was made at a price of €1.00 per share. The current NAV of the Sure Valley Ventures ICAV is €1.47 which is a 9.99% increase from its NAV as at Q4 2021.

Getvisibility

Getvisibility successfully raised €10 million in equity from new investors Alpha Intelligence Capital (“AIC”), a global venture capital firm which invests in deep artiﬁcial intelligence/machine learning technology-based companies and Fortino Capital Partners (“Fortino”), a leading B2B software venture capital and growth equity firm.

Certain existing investors, including Sure Valley Ventures and Pires have also made follow-on investments alongside AIC and Fortino and other additional new investors. As part of this funding round, Sure Ventures PLC invested a further 310,773 Euros from existing cash resources as part of the follow-on round.

Getvisibility has made significant progress in both winning customers and identifying customer needs, in what is clearly a requirement that has become “front and centre” to commercial operations across the globe. This round of funding, based on the post funding round valuation of Getvisibility, provides a 4x uplift to our original investment and has been responsible for the NAV uplift.

VIVIDQ

VividQ announced the launch of its latest cutting-edge technology, unveiled for the first time at the SID Display Week Conference in San Jose, California. VividQ’s Alpha Optical Engine Demonstrator displays high-resolution 3D visuals (60 PPD) with excellent contrast and realistic focal depth using Computer-Generated Holography (CGH), the process of engineering light in software.

This new technology allows device manufacturers to test and evaluate VividQ’s innovations in Computer generated holography (CGH) against their AR display specifications and image quality requirements. VividQ is collaborating with device manufacturers from the US, Japan and China to integrate CGH into the next generation of AR devices soon to be available on the market.

Listed holdings

During the quarter Immotion PLC signed a three-year agreement for the installation of a 24 seat Gorilla Trek VR Theatre at Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. The company also announced full year results showing Revenues for the year increasing by 230% to £9,391,000 and the Group achieved a full year positive adjusted EBITDA^[5] result for the first time since its inception of £908,000 (2020: £1,690,000 negative).

ENGAGE XR is also performing well despite the market volatility and Engage platform revenue comprises 72% of total Group revenue. Since the Group’s interim results, ENGAGE has continued to grow, including the recent signing of a contract with one of the world’s leading professional services groups to use the platform. Annual ENGAGE revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is in excess of 100%.

SURE VALLEY VENTURES ENTERPRISE CAPITAL FUND

During the quarter Sure Ventures PLC also made a commitment of £5m to the Sure Valley Ventures Capital Fund. The fund has launched, and the first investment was made in a company called RETìníZE on the 16^th of March 2022.

Sure Ventures PLC NAV

The funding round secured by Getvisability has had a significant impact on the Company’s NAV and despite a decline in value of the listed assets, the NAV of Sure Ventures PLC has grown from 118.34p a share to 128.9p a share, which represents a 8.923% uplift quarter on quarter.

Forward looking statement & Director comment

When calculating the NAV for both Sure Valley Ventures and Sure Ventures PLC we do not re-rate an unlisted investee company valuation unless there is a funding round priced by another investor. The nature and stage of the software companies that we invest requires patience and we are now starting to see these businesses mature at a strong pace. This quarter has seen another portfolio company complete a follow on round with a 4x original cash uplift and we look forward to updating the market with progress of our portfolio as it continues to grow.

Gareth Burchell comment

“Sure Valley Ventures and its portfolio of deep technology companies continue to perform in what are difficult economic circumstances. The speed at which some of the growth is starting to come through has the team excited for the future. The NAV is beginning to reflect some of the achievements of our founders and we look forward to updating shareholders with further progress”

For further information, please visit www.sureventuresplc.com or contact:

Gareth Burchell

Sure Ventures plc

+44 (0) 20 7186 9918

Notes to Editors

RETìníZE Investment

Posted on 16th March 2022 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 9569E | Sure Ventures PLC | 16 March 2022

Sure Ventures plc (‘Sure Ventures’ or ‘the Company’)

First investment of the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund

Sure Ventures plc, a London listed venture capital fund which invests in early-stage software companies in the rapidly growing technology areas of Augmented Reality (‘AR’), Virtual Reality (‘VR’), Internet of Things (‘IoT’) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), is pleased to announce its first investment call from Sure Valley Ventures UK Software technology fund.

Further to the Company’s announcement on 2 March 2022, RETìníZE Limited (“RETìníZE”), the award-winning creative-tech company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has successfully raised £2 million in a seed round led by the SVV Software Fund.

RETìníZE is developing an innovative software product called Animotive that is harnessing the latest VR technologies to transform the 3D animation production process. The proceeds of the seed round will drive the next two-year step in its growth and the global rollout of Animotive.

Other investors in the round, from the UK, USA, Ireland and the Netherlands, include:

TechStart Ventures – leading investor of seed capital across Scotland and Northern Ireland, following on from their 2019 pre-seed investment in RETìníZE
VGC Partners – London based investor building great companies at the intersection of physical and digital commerce
Clarendon/Co-fund NI – equity fund based in Northern Ireland that co-invest with business angels and private investors
Lonely Horse Investments – investor association based in the Netherlands
Bertram van Munster & Elise Doganieri – multi Emmy award-winning producers behind the CBS hit show “the Amazing Race”
Ben Morrow – Senior Product Manager, Adobe Aero (Adobe’s AR creation tool)

The SVV Software Fund is a newly established venture capital fund, investing in a range of private UK software companies with a focus on companies in the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity sectors. The fund is run by the same SVV team which has been highly successful in achieving several cash realisations from, and upward revaluations of, companies in the SVV portfolio.

Gareth Burchell Quote: “Really pleased with the first investment made by the SVV software fund and RETìníZE fits in perfectly with the strategy of the fund. This is creative technology at its best and the £1m seed round will allow the team to rollout their ground-breaking VR animation process on a global basis. The round brings with it a number of highly regarded co-investors, which I believe is testament to the experience, capability and skill that the team at RETìníZE possess”.

Enquiries: Sure Ventures PLC – Gareth Burchell – Director – 0207 186 9951

Corporate Broker: Damon Heath – Shard Capital – 0207 186 9952

Investment in Sure Valley UK Software Tech Fund

Posted on 2nd March 20222nd March 2022 by shardadmin

RNS Number : 3470D | Sure Ventures PLC | 02 March 2022

Sure Ventures plc (‘Sure Ventures’ or ‘the Company’)

Investment in Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund Alongside the British Business Bank

Sure Ventures plc, a London listed venture capital fund which invests in early stage software companies in the rapidly growing technology areas of Augmented Reality (‘AR’), Virtual Reality (‘VR’), Internet of Things (‘IoT’) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), is pleased to announce that it has agreed to invest, alongside the British Business Bank (“BBB”), in a new venture capital fund, the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund (the “New SVV Fund”).

Highlights

The principal investor in the New SVV Fund is the British Business Bank, an investment arm of the UK Government. The first close of this fund will amount to £85 million, with the BBB investing up to £50 million and other investors (“Private Investors”), including Sure Ventures PLC, investing up to £35 million over the 10-year life of the fund.
The New SVV Fund will invest in a range of private UK software companies with a focus on companies in the Immersive Technology and Metaverse sectors, including Augmented and Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and Security.
Sure Ventures PLC, will initially be investing circa £90,000, in the New SVV Fund on first close in order to fund the New SVV Fund’s first investment which has already been identified. It expects to invest up to £5 million in total over the life of the New SVV Fund which would equate to a circa 5.9% interest.
The New SVV Fund will be managed by the same Sure Valley Ventures fund (“SVV”) team which, to date, has been highly successful in achieving a number of cash realisations from, and upward revaluations of, companies in the SVV portfolio.
The profit share arrangements within the New SVV Fund are designed to encourage the involvement of Private Investors alongside the BBB, meaning that Sure Ventures PLC and the other Private Investors would expect to receive a significantly enhanced profit share of the total return generated by the fund compared to industry standard.
This investment will enable Sure Ventures PLC shareholders to gain exposure to exciting, fast growing venture capital investments through a listed company structure with the expectation of an enhanced return which would otherwise be difficult for such investors to achieve.
The Company has several sources available to fund this investment over the coming years. These would include a combination of potential realisations from SVV Fund 1, an Equity Subscription Agreement and Loan Agreement, funds from future subscriptions and receipts generated from any sales of listed investments.

Comment from Gareth Burchell

“Given the market conditions, raising £35m privately and attracting investment from an organisation such as the British Business Bank is testament to the success and talent of the Sure Valley Ventures team.

The Board recognise this is a very attractive investment opportunity for shareholders in Sure Ventures given that the New SVV Fund is a larger size than SVV Fund 1 which will allow for a more diverse investment portfolio and the structure of the new fund provides for enhanced returns to investors, when compared to the more traditional structure of SVV Fund 1. The existing team from SVV will continue to manage the new fund having demonstrated a proven track record from the returns to date achieved from managing SVV Fund 1.

Fund 2 has been created as part of the BBB’s Enterprise Capital Funds programme that only accepts a very limited number of fund managers on to the programme, so this is a clear validation of the quality of the investment team at SVV”

The British Business Bank (BBB) and Enterprise Capital Funds

The BBB is the largest domestic backer of venture capital funds in the UK. Established in 2006, the Enterprise Capital Funds (“ECF”) programme helps those looking to operate in the UK market to raise venture capital funds specifically targeting early-stage small businesses believed to have long-term growth potential.

The ECF programme combines private and public money to make equity investments into high growth businesses. The aim is to increase the supply of equity to UK growth companies and to lower the barriers to entry for fund managers looking to operate in the venture capital market. The BBB’s ECF programme only accepts a very limited number of fund managers on to its programme i.e. some 24 fund management groups over the last 16 years since the programme started in 2006.

The BBB specifically invests alongside venture capital funds on terms which improve the outcome for the co-investors. The reason for this clear advantage is simply to encourage venture capital funds to operate in a part of the market where smaller businesses may not be able to access the growth capital they need.

Other well-known fund managers that have been involved with the BBB ECF programme include Dawn Capital, Notion Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, IQ Capital, and Episode 1.

Details of the New SVV Fund

The New SVV Fund is expected to complete its first close with total investment commitments of £85 million, of which £50 million will be invested by the BBB with the balance of £35 million coming from Private Investors, including financial institutions and family offices. The total investment may, however, increase to £95 million, with the Private Investors investing up to £45 million. Sure Ventures PLC’s investment allocation of £5 million will, however, not be required to increase in these circumstances.

Sure Ventures PLC’s investment commitment over the life of the New SVV Fund will be drawn down in tranches as and when funds are required for investment over the 10 year life of the fund. However, as is similar to the existing SVV fund, any realisations of its investments will be distributed to investors at the time of realisation (as is common with funds of this nature) therefore the return on this investment is expected to be received throughout the life of the fund.

The New SVV Fund will invest in a range of private UK software companies with a focus on companies in the Immersive Technology and Metaverse sectors, including Augmented and Virtual Reality, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and Security and is aligned with Sure Ventures PLC’s investment strategy.

The Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund has been created under the partnership, Sure Valley Ventures Enterprise Capital LP (“Partnership”). The Partnership has been constituted under an agreement between Sure Valley General Partner Limited (“GP”) and Sure Valley Ventures Founder LLP (“FP”) to carry on the business of an investor and, in particular, of identifying, negotiating, making, monitoring and realising investments and to carry out all functions and acts in connection therewith.

Shard Capital AIFM LLP has been selected by the GP to act as the Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) of the Partnership and has been appointed by the Partnership to (i) admit Investors to the Partnership and thereafter to operate the Partnership and manage its investments, and (ii) act as Alternative Investment Fund Manager (as defined in the AIFMD) to the Partnership.

The role of Sure Valley Ventures Limited shall include sourcing investors and deal flow for the Partnership, advising the Manager on making investments, and arranging deals in investments for the Partnership. If Sure Valley Ventures Limited or another Associate of the General Partner becomes an Authorised Person permitted under FSMA to act as Manager of the Partnership, it is intended that Sure Valley Ventures Limited or its Associate (as applicable) shall be appointed as AIFM of the Partnership.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of the UK Market Abuse Regulation and the Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this announcement.

Enquiries: Sure Ventures PLC

Gareth Burchell: Director – 0207 186 9951

Corporate Broker: Damon heath

Shard Capital: 0207 186 9952