Parkwalk closes Cisiv investment
We are pleased to announce that the Parkwalk Opportunities EIS Fund and the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund V have led a financing round into Cisiv, an innovative and intuitive software platform for late phase pharmaceutical trials. enables pharmaceutical customers to capture, analyse and share patient data quickly, simply and effectively.
Cisiv has been a pioneering developer of technology solutions for pharmaceutical companies, enabling customers to capture new levels of information on the use of their products and treatments in real world settings.
A specialist in large scale phase IV observational studies, Cisiv’s next generation Web-based software platform enables pharmaceutical customers to capture, analyse and share patient data quickly, simply and effectively. With new levels of intelligence harnessed utilising the Baseline Plus platform, they can demonstrate the effectiveness of treatments and identify additional patient value and healthcare benefits way beyond that which can be achieved through traditional means.
Tangentix – Interview with CEO
Ed French, CEO of Tangentix, was recently interviewed in GameWatcher about the GameSession site which is now live.
The interview can be read here and video games can be tried, rented or bought on the GameSessions site here.
TheySay – University of Oxford Isis Fund I Investment
Parkwalk have recently closed an investment in TheySay for the University of Oxford Isis Fund I.
TheySay brings to the market ground-breaking research in computational linguistics from the University of Oxford. Impartial bench-marking studies have been carried out by three leading organisations that verify TheySay’s superior performance compared to the other major sentiment analysis tools.
TheySay’s analytics are fast, easy to integrate , verifiable, flexible and customisable.
The company was founded by Professor Stephen Pulman and Dr Karo Moilanen to overcome the inherent shortcomings of existing approaches to automated sentiment analysis.
More detail can be seen on the company’s website here.
Salunda – University of Oxford Isis Fund I Investment
We have recently closed an investment in Salunda for the University of Oxford Isis Fund I.
Salunda develops robust, contactless sensors for use in very harsh environments. The company’s sensor technology detects position and speed, and measures the composition of fluids.
Salunda has developed patented, contactless sensor technology for monitoring machinery in very harsh environments. Sensors scan components such as pistons, rotors and seals for wear and failure. A profile of the component surface can be recorded with sensitivities of as little as tens of microns. Sensors can warn of imminent failure by detecting cracks, eccentric motion, ‘orbiting’, axial shift or vibration.
The oil industry requires accurate, repeatable measurement of the separation of water, oil and gas. Salunda is developing reliable, inline sensors that measure the water content of crude oil, contamination and actual fluid level in the presence of bubbles and froth. OEM components based on patented technologies are available for open-bore water cut and multiphase flow application.
Perpetuum – Parkwalk UK Tech V & Opportunities Fund investment
We have recently closed an investment in Perpetuum for the Parkwalk UK Tech Fund V, Opportunities Fund and a Parkwalk Syndicate.
Perpetuum engineered, produced and commercialized the world’s first practical electromagnetic vibration harvesting micro-generator delivering the power required to transmit large amounts of autonomous wireless sensor data reliably from remotely monitored assets.
Perpetuum’s technology provides self-powered wireless conditioning monitoring solutions for rail applications and perpetual power for wireless industrial automation applications.
Perpetuum’s sensors are simple to install with no batteries and no wires, condition data is sent to the cloud where Perpetuum’s algorithms read the data and provide information management systems to customers online.
The company’s website can be viewed here.
Tangentix – Follow on Investment
We have recently closed a follow on investment into Tangentix for the Parkwalk Opportunities Fund and a Syndicate.
Tangentix transforms PC gaming by offering free trial, in-game rental and purchase options.
The company’s proprietary algorithms make downloads up to 3x faster, which means that downloads can reach a wider audience, gamers can buy more games, and publishers benefit from deeper links to the customer and stronger margins.
More can be seen here.
RoadMap – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund II investment
We have recently made an investment in RoadMap for the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund II in a first round of financing of £515k. It is envisioned that a further financing round will be required in 12 months.
RoadMap is founded on four patents licensed from the Cambridge Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE) in the area of silicon wavelength switch technology.
Network operators are facing the triple challenge of increasing capacity to fulfil exploding internet data needs, managing unrelenting downward pressure on Opex and Capex costs, and supporting variable and fast evolving service features and demand patterns that put a premium on network configuration flexibility. This leads to a requirement for very flexible optical switching that can operate at the wavelength level. Conventional switch architectures no longer meet this need as they cannot accommodate next generation 400 Gbps data rates.
The telecommunication industry is also migrating towards ‘flexgrid’ architectures where the capacity of each channel is moderated to satisfy fluctuating demands. Spare capacity freed up by this can accommodate additional or rerouted traffic flexibly and dynamically by matching channel bandwidths to each signal’s required data rate. This advance relies heavily on software based approaches and these have the added benefit of future proofing networks as the software defined network (SDN) can be remotely modified to accommodate changing demand and new service types, protocols or standards. This is all accomplished without hardware network upgrades or physical interventions, thus reducing costs. The market is expanding with new customers (such as Google and Amazon) joining the existing set of Telco’s and carriers.
Flex-grid networking places severe demands on the underlying hardware, especially optical switches within the network known as a Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers (“ROADMs”) which must be competitive and have good manufacturability whilst being able to accommodate the flexibility and programmable functionality required. Within ROADM the Wavelength Selective Switches (WSS) is the key component. The ROADM market has grown from zero to $5bn since 2002. The market has already chosen RoadMap’s core technology, namely Liquid crystal on silicon (“LCoS”) as the way in which WSS’s will be made as it has several major advantages. It allows nearly all parameters to be programmable and upgraded by software-remotely and efficiently.
Jukedeck – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund II investment
We have closed an investment in Jukedeck for the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund II.
Jukedeck provides unique, copyright-free music at the touch of a button. The product is based on a program that generates unique music algorithmically, built on three years of R&D by founder & CEO Ed Rex, who received a double-starred First in Music from Cambridge. Spun-out of the University, Jukedeck is now based on the Google Campus.
Video creators can choose a style of music and Jukedeck will write a soundtrack to the video. Producers own the rights to the soundtrack – so the video can be posted anywhere.
Games developers will be able to use Jukedeck’s API to generate unique, responsive music in games that react in minute detail to the gameplay with a couple of simple API calls.
Wired Magazine (January 2014) said: Ready for the robo-Rachmaninoff? “I’ve been trying to codify the process you go through as a composer,” says Ed Rex, founder of Jukedeck, software that writes music by itself, note by note. After each note, it makes a decision: based on what’s come before, what should come next? “That’s where probability comes in – it’s a way for the software to choose different avenues,” the 26-year-old says. “You code it in: so, it’s likely that the phrase will be this long and go to this nearby note, and more likely to move to this chord than that. If it were a case of just choosing between different numbers, the music would be random and wouldn’t sound like music.”
“With iPhones and Google Glass, you have hardware that is aware of its environment. So you can have music that is written for you directly, that can react – it can take inputs in real time,” Rex says. “It would be like everyone having a composer following them around, writing them a soundtrack.”
Vocal IQ – University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund II investment
We have closed an investment, in a seed financing round of £750,000 in VocalIQ for the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund II. The round was led by Amadeus Capital Partners. Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University of Cambridge, is also investing.
The spoken dialogue technology, which is being developed by VocalIQ, a spin-out from the University of Cambridge’s Dialogue Systems Group, was designed to enhance automated voice recognition interfaces, which rely heavily on predefined commands. VocalIQ’s software, which is based on more than 10 years of research, offers users the ability to talk more naturally with their smart devices. Instead of merely recognising speech, the technology is able to understand and interpret dialogue. It can also learn on-line so that when it makes mistakes, it learns from them and avoids making the same mistake again. The more the software is used the smarter it gets.
So, rather than merely digesting the user’s order to “find a restaurant,” the software learns to understand the nuances of a more natural conversation. A typical exchange might sound something like this, as a user tells his mobile “I don’t care where we eat but I need to find a nice restaurant for my girlfriend.” The software might then respond “There’s a really nice place to eat, it has good reviews, and it’s a 10 minute walk from your location. Are you OK with that?”
“There are no commands for the user to learn,” said Blaise Thomson, CEO and co-founder of VocalIQ, who is an expert in machine learning and dialogue system design. “It’s about having a conversation.”
The applications for the new software are many, ranging from video gaming to wearables such as smart watches and glasses. VocalIQ is currently working on a prototype application for one of the world’s largest car manufacturers.
“There were a billion smart devices made last year,” said Thomson, noting that most of them are neither easy to use nor safe when a user is on the move. Each year in the United States, driver distraction (calls, texting, and emails, among the factors) contributes to 16% of all fatal crashes, leading to around 5,000 deaths, according to the AAA Foundation.
“For all of the many devices we use, we want to find a way to get what we need, in the easiest, safest way possible,” Thomson said. “That’s where voice comes in.”
Tracsis – acquisition
Tracsis confirms that on 16 May 2014 it acquired the entire issued share capital of Datasys Integration Limited the holding company of Datasys Limited (“Datasys”).
Based in Manchester, Datasys provides rail management software systems, business applications and hosting services for the majority of the UK’s train operating companies. Its client base includes all of the major transport owning groups such as First Group, Go-Ahead, Stagecoach, National Express, Arriva, and Virgin. The principle activity of the business is software development, sales and licensing with revenues predominantly derived from products that assist train operators capture, report and analyse the root causes of delays and other performance critical information. The vast majority of Datasys revenue comes from long term recurring software leases.
Datasys generated revenue of £2.27m, an EBITDA of £554k and a profit before tax of £298k in its unaudited accounts for the year ending 31 May 2013. The business is debt free, and has cash balances at completion of c. £1.3m, with tangible net assets of c. £400k. Datasys employs 17 staff, all of whom will remain with the business post transaction with the exception of departing shareholder directors who are not involved with day-to-day operations.
The proposed consideration comprises an initial cash payment of £4.15m and the issue of 126,775 ordinary shares of 0.4p each in Tracsis (“New Ordinary Shares”) at an issue price of 295.8p to give total consideration of £4.525m.
The New Ordinary Shares have been issued subject to a lock in agreement, whereby the Sellers have agreed not to dispose of any New Ordinary Shares for a period of 12 months post completion with orderly market arrangements applying for a further 12 months after the initial 12 month lock-in.
The directors of Tracsis believe that the products, services and development capabilities of Datasys are highly complementary to those of Tracsis, and the acquisition provides opportunities for further growth in the years ahead.
John McArthur, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We are delighted to have completed this acquisition, our sixth since IPO, which continues our trend of acquiring well run, profitable, technology businesses within the transport domain. Datasys is a well-established player within the UK rail market with a strong product suite, an excellent customer base and a great team.
There is a strong overlap between Datasys and Tracsis and both companies are respected providers of high value technology solutions within the transport industry. This partnership will strengthen our overall market position and bring benefit to our customer base. We welcome the Datasys team into the enlarged Tracsis Group and look forward to working with them in the future.”
The shareholders of Datasys Integration Limited are Andrew and Morag Ashworth, Ian and Margaret Bithell, Andrew Bithell and Glyn Williams (the ‘Sellers’). An application has been made for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM and dealings are expected to commence on 23rd May 2014. Following the issue of the New Ordinary Shares, the number of Ordinary Shares in issue will increase to 25,673,463. For the purposes of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules (“DTRs”), the issued ordinary share capital of the Company following this allotment consists of 25,673,463 Ordinary Shares with voting rights attached (one vote per Share). There are no Shares held in treasury. This total voting rights figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interests in, or a change to their interest in, Tracsis under the DTRs.
Tracsis – contract win
Contract award
Tracsis plc, a leading provider of software and technology led products and services for the transportation industry, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Sky High Technology Limited, which was acquired last year, has been selected to deliver a significant piece of traffic data collection work through a global engineering consultancy for a UK transport agency.
The work, which has already started to be delivered, has been secured under a two year contract and should be worth more than £1m per annum with the potential to be extended for a further period of two years.
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