Pires Investments (PIRI ) said the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund - which is also known as the "SVV Software Fund" - has completed its first investment totalling £1m.
The technology-focused investment company announced earlier this month that it was investing in the newly-established venture capital fund - the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund - with the British Business Bank, an investment arm of the UK.
Today, Pires acknowledged that RETìníZE, an award-winning creative-tech company based in Belfast, has successfully raised £2 million in a seed round led by the SVV Software Fund.
The proceeds of today’s seed round are expected to drive the next two-year step in the company’s growth as well as the global rollout of Animotive, a software product developed by RETìníZE to harness VR technologies to transform the 3D animation production process.
The seed round, led by the SVV Software Fund's £1m investment, marks the first investment from this fund which recently announced its first close of £85m; this included a cornerstone £50m investment from the British Business Bank, an investment arm of the UK Government.
Other investors in the round include, inter alia; TechStart Ventures, a leading investor of seed capital across Scotland and Northern Ireland; and the multi Emmy award-winning producers behind the CBS hit show "the Amazing Race", Bertram van Munster & Elise Doganieri.
Commenting on the funding round, Nicholas Lee, Director of Pires told investors: "We are delighted to note the first investment of the new SVV Software Fund, supporting one of Europe's fast-growing creative-tech companies, RETìníZE, in its £2 million seed round.
This funding, which includes £1 million from the new fund and a further £1 million from a number of highly-regarded co-investors, will allow RETìníZE to expand its global rollout of Animotive in the immersive software sector, which is well positioned to grow rapidly."
The new SVV fund is described by the investment company as a “significantly larger” fund with “much better economics” compared to the first. The fund is expected to target a range of technology markets, including the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity sectors.
Pires, which initially invested around £90,000 in the New SVV Fund, said it expects to invest up to £5 million in total over the life of the fund which would provide it with a c.5.9% interest.
The New SVV Fund will invest in a range of private UK software companies with a focus on companies in the Metaverse Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity sectors, it explained.
The fund will be managed by the same Sure Valley Ventures fund (“SVV”) team which, to date, ‘has been highly successful in achieving a number of cash realisations from, and upward revaluations of, companies in the SVV portfolio,’ Pires outlined to investors today.
Alongside other private investors, Pires said it expects to receive a significantly enhanced share of the total return generated by the new SVV fund compared to industry standard.
Pires said the investment will enable its shareholders ‘to gain exposure to exciting, fast growing venture capital investments through a listed company structure with the expectation of an enhanced return which would otherwise be difficult for such investors to achieve.’
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