Shares in microcap investment fund capAI PLC (LSE:CPAI) surged over 50% in early trading after the company announced the appointment of Professor Ronjon Nag, a Silicon Valley-based AI expert and investor, as an executive director.
Nag has a four-decade track record in artificial intelligence and deep tech. He runs R42, an investment fund focused on AI and longevity, and has strong ties to top universities, including Stanford, MIT, and Cambridge.
His role will bring capAI access to a network of investors and cutting-edge tech companies, the company said, with his pay to be entirely performance-based, meaning he only benefits if capAI’s share price rises significantly.
Chairman Richard Edwards called his appointment a “major coup” and said the company would be “flexible, agile and unconstrained” in pursuing AI opportunities, having changed its name from Dukemount Capital and announced a strategic pivot from real estate to AI last month.
Alongside the appointment, capAI announced a £275,000 fundraising through a share placing, with Nag himself investing £50,000.
The shares were up 0.019p at 0.056p.