Parkwalk are delighted to have won the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association ‘Best EIS Exit for 2014’. The awards were presented at the House of Lords on Thursday 12th February 2015.
Parkwalk were also recognised as ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best EIS Fund Manager category.
We believe the awards reflect both the fact that our 2010/11 and 2011/12 EIS Funds have returned, in cash, more to investors than they subscribed in each fund and our investment strategy.
Returns
Parkwalk returned 6.9x (10x including tax reliefs) to investors in Tracsis plc, in three years and two days.
Parkwalk’s four exits since 2010 (two with gains, two with losses) which have returned 2.25x cost (3.36x including tax reliefs) giving an IRR of 42% (or 54% including tax reliefs).
Parkwalk’s 2010/11 EIS Fund has a NAV gain of 1.87x times (2.15x inc tax reliefs & fees) and the 2011/12 EIS Fund has a gain of 2.37x times (2.94x inc tax reliefs & fees).
Parkwalk had exited 44% of its investments which are currently over 3 years old (the minimum holding period under the EIS).
Investment Strategy
Parkwalk’s investment strategy, where we invest in university spin out companies but importantly offer investors a spread along the growth curve; from early stage to AIM-listed companies.
Improved processes and governmental encouragement have led to more commercial spin-outs, and the University of Cambridge alone now has fourteen spin-outs that are each valued at over $1bn. The University of Oxford has formed 54 spin-outs in the last 10 years, 90% of which are still in business.
Some notable spin-out successes include:
- ARM (Cambridge) – $21bn market cap
- Autonomy (Cambridge) – sold to HP for $10bn
- Natural Motion (Oxford) – Feb 2014 acquired by Zynga for $527m
- Circassia (Imperial) – floated in 2014 with $625m valuation
- Oxford Nanopore (Oxford) – raised $220m to date, $975m valuation
- Bluegnome (Cambridge) – acquired by Illumina for c.100x original investment level
We believe this asset class is coming to prominence with institutional investors such as Woodford, Invesco and Lansdowne investing in the sector. Parkwalk usually co-invest with other large institutional funds.
We would like to thank our investors, our investee companies, our partner Universities and the EISA for both these awards.
Category: Fund Managers Comments
Parkwalk wins Best EIS Exit and Highly Commended Fund Manager
Parkwalk are delighted to have won the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association ‘Best EIS Exit for 2014’. The awards were presented at the House of Lords on Thursday 12th February 2015.
Parkwalk were also recognised as ‘Highly Commended’ in the Best EIS Fund Manager category.
We believe the awards reflect both the fact that our 2010/11 and 2011/12 EIS Funds have returned, in cash, more to investors than they subscribed in each fund and our investment strategy.
Returns
Parkwalk returned 6.9x (10x including tax reliefs) to investors in Tracsis plc, in three years and two days.
Parkwalk’s four exits since 2010 (two with gains, two with losses) which have returned 2.25x cost (3.36x including tax reliefs) giving an IRR of 42% (or 54% including tax reliefs).
Parkwalk’s 2010/11 EIS Fund has a NAV gain of 1.87x times (2.15x inc tax reliefs & fees) and the 2011/12 EIS Fund has a gain of 2.37x times (2.94x inc tax reliefs & fees).
Parkwalk had exited 44% of its investments which are currently over 3 years old (the minimum holding period under the EIS).
Investment Strategy
Parkwalk’s investment strategy, where we invest in university spin out companies but importantly offer investors a spread along the growth curve; from early stage to AIM-listed companies.
Improved processes and governmental encouragement have led to more commercial spin-outs, and the University of Cambridge alone now has fourteen spin-outs that are each valued at over $1bn. The University of Oxford has formed 54 spin-outs in the last 10 years, 90% of which are still in business.
Some notable spin-out successes include:
We believe this asset class is coming to prominence with institutional investors such as Woodford, Invesco and Lansdowne investing in the sector. Parkwalk usually co-invest with other large institutional funds.
We would like to thank our investors, our investee companies, our partner Universities and the EISA for both these awards.
Posted on February 13, 2015
Fund Managers Comments
Oxford: Over twenty new Oxford technologies and ventures received a record £2.6m in proof-of-concept funding in 2014, Isis Innovation has reported
Isis reports record proof-of-concept investment
Over twenty new Oxford technologies and ventures received a record £2.6m in proof-of-concept funding in 2014, Isis Innovation has reported.
The funding came from three seed funds, and boosted fifteen new companies. These include:
In November, seed fund investee and Isis Innovation spin-out Genomics Ltd raised £10.3 million from Invesco Perpetual, Lansdowne Partners, Woodford Investment Management and the Wylie Family Trust, as well as existing shareholders including IP Group and the University of Oxford. Genomics is developing an analytical platform for genomic sequence data analysis.
The University of Oxford Isis Fund II – an Enterprise Investment Scheme Fund managed by Parkwalk Advisors with Isis acting as Portfolio Advisor – is now fast approaching its target close. It follows on from the success of the University of Oxford Isis Fund I which raised and invested more than its target £1.25m in 2014.
“We have again seen huge interest from investors in the University of Oxford Isis Fund II, both because of the high quality pipeline of spin-outs from Oxford and of course the excellence of its research, reflected in the recent REF result,” said Parkwalk’s Moray Wright.
Read the full article on Isis Innovation’s website here.
Posted on January 8, 2015
Fund Managers Comments
Oxford
Oxford Today – Spinning more gold
Alumni investors are flocking to the second Oxford technology spin-out fund, launched this week, Richard Lofthouse reports.
Some of the savviest Oxonians have been eyeing this moment for months — as far back as February when the University launched its first public-facing technology spin-out fund, the University of Oxford Isis Fund I. The £1.6 million fund was promptly over-subscribed despite the fact that not a penny was wasted on advertising.
….read the full story from Oxford Today here.
Posted on December 4, 2014
Fund Managers Comments
Oxford, UoOIF II
University of Oxford Isis Fund II launched
Parkwalk are delighted to announce the launch of the University of Oxford Isis EIS Fund II.
Launched in conjunction with Isis Innovation, the University’s Technology Transfer and academic consulting subsidiary, the University of Oxford Isis Funds offer alumni and investors the opportunity to invest in companies formed to develop and commercialise technology and intellectual property developed at the University of Oxford in a tax efficient manner.
Please click here to email the funds team to request the University of Oxford Isis Fund II prospectus.
Posted on November 28, 2014
Fund Managers Comments
Oxford, UoOIF II
QS World University Rankings 2014/15
The University of Cambridge and Imperial College surpass Harvard University in the latest QS annual ranking of the world’s top universities, with four British institutions in the top six.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came in at number one, with the University of Cambridge and Imperial College equal second. Harvard cam in at number four and the University of Oxford and UCL were equal fifth.
Kings College London, Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester universities were in the top 30 and Glasgow, Warwick, Birmingham and Sheffield universities make the top 70.
Posted on September 16, 2014
Fund Managers Comments
Another Record year for University of Cambridge spin-out investments
The University of Cambridge has broken its early stage investment record for a second year running, approving nine seed fund investments for a total of £2.7 million, an increase on the £2.3 million invested in 2012/13.
“During the past year, returns on investments made by Cambridge Enterprise have gone from strength to strength.”
— Charles Cotton, a member of the Cambridge Enterprise Investment Committee
Read the full article on the Cambridge Enterprise website here, or the Financial Times’ take on it here.
Posted on September 10, 2014
Fund Managers Comments
Cambridge
University spin-outs
Very interesting interview with Neil Woodford on investing in this ‘undervalued asset class’ can be seen here.
Posted on July 22, 2014
Fund Managers Comments
Parkwalk – 10x Exit for Fund II
We are delighted to announce that the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund II and a Parkwalk Syndicate have successfully exited Tracsis plc.
We invested in June 2011 at 45p per share (31.5p net of initial tax reliefs) and exited in June 2014 at 308.5p per share, representing a 6.9x return for investors, and approximately 10x inclusive of tax reliefs, in three years and 2 days.
The exit led to investors in the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund II receiving back substantially more than their original subscription into the Fund on one exit, with several other portfolio companies in the Fund still showing commercial potential.
Tracsis plc 3-year chart to June 2014 (source: LSE)
Posted on June 21, 2014
Fund Managers Comments, Software & Data
AIM-listed, Exits, Software & Data, Syndicates, Tracsis, UK Tech II