Sure Ventures PLC (LON:SURE) finished its financial year invested in a much more diverse portfolio of software companies operating across the fields of augmented and virtual reality, the internet of things, fintech and artificial intelligence.
“The board is confident of the long-term prospects for the company in pursuit of its investment objective and believes that the robust deal pipeline will result in additional transactions that will complement the company's existing investments,” said chairman Perry Wilson, who was appointed during the year.
WATCH: Sure Ventures acquires stake in dynamic holographic company VividQ
The net asset value per share of the portfolio was 90.3p at the end of June, Sure revealed on Wednesday afternoon, up 9% from the 83.03p at the end of March, which was down almost 9% over the previous year.
With the share price at 102.5p, the board believes this premium to NAV “supports the growth potential of the company's investments and demonstrates an understanding among shareholders of the company's investment rationale and investment horizon”.
NAV has risen since March due to the increase in the share prices of one of its two listed investments, Immotion Group PLC (LON:IMMO).
Valley value
The other listed holding is in VR Education Holdings Plc (LON:VRE), which is held via sub-fund the Sure Valley Ventures fund.
Sure Ventures holds a 22.2% interest in the Sure Valley fund, bought at €1.00 per share, with the NAV sitting at €0.99 at the end of June, little changed since March.
Sure Valley is invested in 10 companies, up from five the year before, of which nine remain privately owned with each investment being held at the initial seed investment valuation, with the exception of WarDucks which successfully raised €3.3mln in March in that led to a fourfold uplift in valuation of the original investment.
During the year, Sure Ventures also in April directly invested in VividQ Ltd, a UK-based deep technology software company pioneering the application of holography in AR/VR and consumer electronic display.
Gross proceeds of £1.3mln were raised during the year, with a further £293,000 added in a private placing in June.