14th Dec 2005 07:01
Sigma Technology Group PLC14 December 2005 Immediate Release 14 December 2005 SIGMA TECHNOLOGY GROUP PLC ("Sigma" or the "Company") New Investments Sigma Technology Group plc, the UK venture capital investment management andadvisory group that specialises in two sectors technology and property, todayannounces four new investments: • Plenoptics Limited - investment of £300,000• i-design multi media Limited - lead investor in total investment round of £1,000,000• Visual Science Limited - investment of £300,000• Micap plc - participation of £50,000 in total funding round of £825,000 All of the investments are made through funds managed by the technology arm of Sigma, Sigma Technology Management Ltd. Plenoptics Limited ("Plenoptics") The Sigma Innovation Fund (East of Scotland) ("SIF") has completed an investment of £300,000 in Plenoptics. Plenoptics has developed a software tool called PhotoGenesis that allows for the rapid creation of accurate 3D models of buildings (interior and exterior) from photographs. The product has two key competitive advantages: the speed of modeldevelopment and the realism of the end result. The company achieved its first sales this year and the majority of customers to date have come from the defencesector, but other application areas include security, urban planning and the creative industries. This round of funding will be used to support further expansion of the company's commercial activities in the US and Europe. i-design multimedia Limited ("i-design")The Sigma Technology Venture Fund ("STVF") has led a total investment round in i-design of £1,000,000. STVF invested £443,000 as lead investor alongside the Scottish Co-investment Fund, which invested £443,000, the non-executive Chairman, Jim Faulds, who invested £79,000 and management, who invested £35,000. i-design provides ATM advertising solutions and user-interface design to the financial self-service market. i-design's flagship product is ATM:ad which is anend-to-end, integrated business and technical solution that enables ATM network owners to generate significant new revenue from third party advertising. In addition, the company established the first specialist ATM media sales agency in the UK and has been delivering revenue to clients since June 2004. The company generated turnover of over £600,000 in its last financial year. This round of funding will be used to support further expansion of the company's ATM media sales agency and software sales business in both the UK and Europe. This investment in i-design follows a previous investment led by Sigma in November 2004 and takes the total funding arranged by Sigma to £1.25 million. Mark Hogarth, Investment Director of Sigma, joined the Board as a non-executive director at the time of Sigma's first investment and will continue in this role. Visual Sciences Limited ("Visual Sciences")The SIF has completed an investment of £300,000 in Visual Sciences. Established in 1993, Visual Sciences is Scotland's largest independent gamedeveloper. Specialising in the creation of Triple A video games based on original or licensed properties, Visual Sciences offers a full in-house development solution on PC, Playstation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Sony PSP. Projects worked on by the company include Medal of Honour, Formula 1 and HarryPotter World of Quidditch. For the year ended 31 December 2004, the company generated turnover of over £3.6 million on which it made a small loss. This round of funding will be used for further development oftools and technologies to support development for nextgeneration console projects. Micap plc ("Micap")Micap, an AIM_listed company, has issued an RNS announcement detailing a fundinground of £825,000 in which the STVF has invested £50,000. Micap develops and commercially exploits microencapsulation solutions and other technologies for a range of industries. ENDS ContactSigma Technology Group plcGraham Barnet, Joint Managing Director 0131 220 9444 BuchananCommunicationsDiane Stewart/Isabel Podda/Amy Rajendran 0207 466 5000 Notes to Editors About Sigma Technology Sigma Technology Group plc is a UK venture capital investment and corporate advisory group with offices in Edinburgh and London. It specialises in two sectors; technology and property. Sigma was founded in 1997 by Graham Barnet and Neil Crabb. It manages third party funds as well as investing as principal alongside third party investorsthrough its technology venture capital funds. The Sigma Technology Venture Fund (the "Venture Fund") and the Sigma Innovation Fund (East of Scotland) (the"Innovation Fund"). These have £23m of funds under management. Its property activities are through its subsidiary, Strategic Investment Management Limited, which has raised funds of £76m since September 2002. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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