28th Oct 2019 12:33
(Alliance News) - Digital technology investment firm Draper Esprit PLC said Monday trading in the first half is expected to be in line with management's expectations.
Draper Esprit said it expects to see its portfolio hits its stated target of a 20% annualised portfolio return.
Turning to its portfolio, the company said RavenPack, a "core portfolio company", raised USD10.0 million in the period in an attempt to expand sales of its analytics platform in Asia. RavenPack offers "big data" analysis to hedge funds and banks. RavenPack's platform uses alternative data by creating sentiment indicators derived from news and social media that plug systematically into financial trading applications, Draper Esprit said.
As a result of the valuation at which the latest funding round was completed, the fair value of the Draper Esprit's investment in RavenPack has increased net asset value by GBP18.3 million to GBP33.9 million.
Elsewhere, investee Pollen raised USD60.0 million in new finance, taking its total capital raised to USD100.0 million. Draper Esprit invested GBP5.9 million in the round as part of a bridge in the first quarter, as well as the original GBP3.0 million series A investment in 2017.
As a result of the valuation at which this latest funding round completed, the net asset value increased by GBP2.3 million to GBP13.2 million, which Draper Esprit said means Pollen is now considered a part of the company's "core portfolio".
Investee Sweepr raised USD9.0 million, with Draper Esprit contributing GBP2.7 million. The funds will be used to facilitate expansion of its workforce to 75 employees in 2020 alongside expansion into North America and Europe, Draper Esprit said.
"These investments underline our commitment to supporting both existing portfolio companies and new investments by providing them with the funding they need in order to scale their offering," said Draper Esprit Chief Executive Simon Cook.
"This funding, as well as our international network and experience in high growth technology companies, means that we are well placed to help our portfolio of European companies become global businesses. We also welcome the other quality investors coming on board as part of these respective funding rounds, bringing their own expertise and capital to help support these companies for future growth."
Draper Esprit will publish its results for the six months ended September 30 on November 26.
Shares in Draper Esprit were 0.2% lower in London on Monday at 459.00 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; [email protected]
Copyright 2019 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Molten Ventures