LONDON, UK: Pires Investments plc (AIM: PIRI), the investment company focused on next generation technology, has agreed to invest in a new venture capital fund, Sure Valley Ventures III Limited Partnership (SVV3 Fund), alongside Enterprise Ireland which is the cornerstone investor.
The SVV3 Fund has received commitments of €30 million at first close, of which Enterprise Ireland has committed to invest 50% or €15 million.
Pires Investments has initially invested circa €54,000 (“Initial Investment”) in the SVV3 Fund. Pires expects to invest up to €5 million over the 10-year life of the SVV3 Fund (the “Investment”), which would currently provide the Company with a 16.7% interest in the fund.
The SVV3 Fund plans to invest in circa 15 high growth AI software companies in sectors such as Enterprise, Immersive Technologies and Cybersecurity across the Republic of Ireland.
The SVV3 Fund will be managed by the same Sure Valley Ventures fund (“SVV”) team which, to date, has been successful in achieving cash realisations/liquidity events from, and upward revaluations of, investments made by the first Sure Valley Venture Fund (“SVV1 Fund”), as well as launching the £85 million Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund (“SVV2 Fund”) backed by the British Business Bank.
The Initial Investment was made from the Company’s existing cash resources. Going forward, the Company has several sources available to fund the Investment over the coming years. These would include, inter alia, realisations from its existing investment portfolio, the exercise of outstanding warrants, as well as access to debt and equity capital markets.
Nicholas Lee, Director of Pires commented: “The SVV1 Fund has completed its initial investment phase and has already achieved three liquidity events to date, comprising the sale of Artomatix, and listings of Engage XR and Smarttech247 Group plc on the London Stock Exchange, with additional events expected in due course. The SVV3 Fund is therefore very much a follow-on to the successful SVV1 Fund.
“The technology sector experienced a challenging 2022 and so, consequently, there are a number of interesting investment opportunities becoming available at attractive valuations. The Directors therefore believe that this is an ideal time to invest in a new technology focused fund, able to make new investments, given the completion of the SVV1 Fund’s investment cycle for making new investments.
“The significant commitment by Enterprise Ireland is a further endorsement of the SVV team and follows on from the support for the team demonstrated by the British Business Bank with the launch of the SVV2 Fund.
“In terms of funding, at the end of 2022, Pires raised gross proceeds of £1.24 million from a flexible two-year debt facility and it expects further liquidity events from the SVV1 Fund, thereby allowing the Company to continue to progress its investment strategy at this opportune time.
“We very much believe that this investment in the SVV3 Fund will provide more opportunities for Pires investors to benefit from exposure to high growth technology companies within the flexibility of a publicly traded vehicle.”