Sure Ventures PLC (LON:SURE) has hailed the progress of its portfolio companies to date despite what it said were “poor and volatile” market conditions weighing on its Net Asset Value (NAV).
In a portfolio update after close last Friday, the venture capital fund, which focuses on areas such as virtual reality (VR), fintech internet of things (IoT), said it had made a commitment to the Suir Valley Ventures Fund representing a 22.167% stake at a price of €1 per share. As of 31 December, Suir’s NAV was at €0.99.
READ: Sure Ventures delivers improved returns on investments in first half
Suir’s portfolio contains a number of investments across the VR, fintech, augmented reality (AR), and IoT sectors, including VR Education Holdings Plc (LON:VRE), AI 3D art software firm Artomatix, and cybersecurity management software group Nova Leah.
Sure’s only direct investment, Immotion PLC, floated on the AIM market in February at a price the Sure said was “a notable uplift” in the value of its original £500,000 investment, adding that Immotion had continued to progress by rolling out its VR centres in Yorkshire, Manchester, Cardiff, Newcastle, Derby and Uxbridge.
In a separate update, Sure said its NAV at 31 December had been 91.77p per share, down 9.67% from 30 September, which the firm blamed on “volatile and poor market conditions” in the intervening period.
Gareth Burchell, director at Sure Ventures, said the two listed entities in its portfolio had suffered from “illiquidity and small scale selling”, however the alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) was still seeing “robust” deal flow and the firm was “happy with the long term strategy of providing investors value by investing in software companies in three high growth areas".
In its half-year results in December, the firm achieved a net asset value total return of 10.29% in the six months to September 30, compared to -7.88% last year, representing a life-to-date performance of 1.6%.
In early trading on Monday, Sure’s shares were at 99p.