Shares in Tekcapital PLC (LSE:TEK) fell 17% to 8.6p on Tuesday after the UK intellectual property investment group announced a $2.05 million (£1.5 million) conditional placing to fund its growth strategy, including new opportunities in generative artificial intelligence.
The investment round, priced at 8p per share (a more than 20% discount to Monday's closing price), was arranged by CMC Markets UK, trading as CMC CapX, which acted as sole placing agent.
Tekcapital said the proceeds will be used to strengthen its balance sheet and support execution across both existing and new portfolio companies, with particular emphasis on AI-related ventures.
Clifford Gross, executive chairman of Tekcapital, said: “We are grateful for the support shown by CMC’s investors and are encouraged by the strong operational and commercial progress being made across our portfolio companies.”
Tekcapital focuses on sourcing and commercialising university-developed technologies, with a portfolio spanning health, mobility, and digital innovation.
Its strategy includes identifying scalable intellectual property with commercial application and providing operational support to help portfolio companies bring products to market.
The group said the additional funding will enable it to pursue its investment strategy more aggressively at a time when interest in AI is expanding rapidly.
The share placing comes amid a broader sell-off in early-stage technology stocks and follows a period of mixed sentiment across the AIM market.