Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE), a specialist in eye-tracking and facial recognition, has raised £15mln, with strategic investor V S Industry putting its financial weight behind the issue of new shares.
The company is providing the opportunity for existing investors to take part in the fundraiser, a process that could bring in a further £2mln.
The stock was placed at 4p, a 0.5p discount to last night’s close, and the proceeds will be used to drive forward the development of its ground-breaking technology.
Cash will go to the company’s FOVIO automotive arm, which has come up with a driver monitoring chip to be used in the next generation of semi-autonomous cars.
Prior to the placing announcement, Seeing Machines had been mulling whether to demerge FOVIO as a separate business.
But it was deemed in the “best interests” of the business to retain control of its intellectual property.
“We are seeing strong demand for our advanced driver monitoring systems from global car makers and from their tier-one suppliers,” said chairman Terry Winters.
“We previously considered spinning out our FOVIO automotive business however the directors have resolved it is in the best interests of shareholders to retain full ownership.
“All our intellectual property including data, our SiP driver monitoring system chip and all our key staff will remain available to all Seeing Machines' target industries.”
In the announcement the company also updated on trading, saying 2016 would be a record year thanks to sales of its first commercial product, Fleet Guardian, which is used by the mining industry.
Seeing Machines has a licensing deal with Caterpillar and it said the agreement provided a one-off boost that won’t be repeated in 2017. That said, revenues are expected to grow next year.
The digger and dump truck maker is expected to appoint a representative to the Seeing Machines board.