Thursday, September 27, 2007
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Created by: Tornado Staff
Imperial Innovations puts IPO funds to work
London-based technology commercialization and investment company Imperial Innovations today presented some rosy figures in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 July 2007. That is a year after its IPO on the AIM market in London. A substantial part of the £26 million (approximately €38 million at the time) raised during the flotation has already found its way to UK technology companies.
Imperial Innovations combines technology transfer, company incubation and early-stage funding activities. Over the course of the year after the IPO, the firm made some changes in its investment approach. It has stepped up its investment activity, increased the size of its fundings, gained relatively larger shares of equity and moved its approach from co-investing to (co-)leading deals. The company made 24 investments, leading or co-leading 12. It invested £13.1 million (approx. €18.7 million) in the year, up from £1.9 million in the previous year. Imperial Innovations also reported good figures on its net assets (up £5.3 million to £53.6 million) and the value of its portfolio (up from £33.5 to £55.8 million). The firm made a profit of £0.9 million (£4.1 million in 2006). It has equity holdings in 74 technology businesses and manages 133 commercial agreements.
Recent investments by Imperial Innovations include: developer of credit-card sized devices for medical testing, Molecular Vision (€740,000); provider of medical devices to improve long-term effectiveness of medical care in patients with vascular disease, Veryan Medical (€2,3 million); developer of second generation Li-ion technology Nexeon (€6.3 million, with Tudor Group, PUK Ventures and Paul Atherton); and provider of precision surgical systems for orthopedic surgery, The Acrobot Company (€3.9 million, with London Technology Fund and PUK Ventures).
Their latest deal was also announced today. The firm invested a total sum of £375,000 (€535,000) investment in EVO Electric, a developer of electrical motors and generators for use in gensets, powertrains, and as traction motors in hybrid-electric vehicles. The investment was part of a €2.2 million funding round which also included investments from Consensus Business Group and private investors. Imperial Innovations had previously funded EVO Electric’s pre-commercial stages now holds a 38% stake. Evo Electric’s axial flux technology delivers high power density, the ability to run at speeds that remove the need for a gearbox, and a flat physical configuration that can allow in-wheel designs and operation in confined spaces.
Although Imperial Innovations’ cash position is still strong with £19.5 million in cash at year end, it had €32.5 million in cash a year ago. It may therefore need some further financial successes if it wishes to keep up this level of activity in the years ahead.
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