Business
Investment in Sure Valley Ventures
Investment in Sure Valley Ventures.
About this update from Mindflair Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 7391X Pires Investments PLC 23 December 2019 \n\nPires Investments PLC\n \n(\"Pires\" or the \"Company\")\n \n \nInvestment in Sure Valley Ventures - sale of Artomatix\n \n \nFurther to the announcement made by the Company on 21 November 2019, confirming the Company's initial investment of £1.1m into Sure Valley Ventures (\"SVV\"), the Board announces that it has been advised by SVV that an agreement has been signed to sell one of the companies within the SVV portfolio, Artomatix, for cash to a leading technology company. Artomatix provides an artificial intelligence platform that is able to automate the creation of 3D content. \n \nWhen realisations are made within SVV, the proceeds are distributed to the fund's investors. As a result of this sale, the amount accruing to Pires is expected to be around €803,000, of which €718,000 will be distributed shortly, with the balance expected in 18 months, subject to certain terms and conditions as is customary for transactions of this type. Pires has around a 13% interest in SVV.\n \nThe sale of Artomatix represents a cash multiple of around 5x the initial investment made by SVV and demonstrates the quantum and speed with which potential returns can be generated from the SVV portfolio. Furthermore, the return achieved by Pires is even more significant given that the Company only recently completed its investment.\n \nSVV is a venture capital fund founded by Barry Downes and Brian Kinane, in partnership with Shard Capital, focused on investing in the software technology sector with a specific focus artificial intelligence (\"AI\"), the internet of things (\"IoT\") and augmented and virtual reality (\"AR/VR\"). SVV currently has a portfolio of nine investee companies at different stages of development.\n \n \nPeter Redmond, Chairman said:\n \n\"The sale of Artomatix represents a very substantial return from our investment in SVV over a matter of months - our investment in SVV is proving to be an even more exciting investment than we initially expected. We look forward to good progress being made at the other companies within the SVV portfolio and expect further positive developments in the portfolio during 2020.\"\n \nBrian Kinane, Co-founder and General Partner, Sure Valley V...