Braveheart Investment Group plc
19 June 2007
19 June 2007
Braveheart Investment Group plc
('Braveheart' or the 'Group')
Alpha EIS Fund invests in PSI Electronics
Braveheart (AIM: BRH), the technology commercialisation and investment
management company, announces that it has made its 6th investment from its Alpha
EIS Fund. The Group and its clients have invested c£250,000 in PSI Electronics
('PSI') a spin-out from the University of Strathclyde.
PSI is developing an intelligent cable fault locator, the IFL1000p, for
detection of permanent and transient faults in low voltage power cables. The
device is particularly effective in areas of high population or transport
networks, where cables and cable joints are more prone to deterioration,
increasing the likelihood of faults and power cuts to large areas.
Pinpointing the exact location of a fault is currently difficult and expensive
due to the complex systems, which can confuse existing cable fault detection
technology. Often several excavations are required to pinpoint the fault, and
the costs of these, coupled with the penalties imposed by regulators for
downtime, can be substantial. PSI estimates that its simple to use technology
offers a 60%reduction in costs to locate the faults and a 50% reduction in
repair time. It is also expected to increase the number of faults detected and
rectified.
To date successful field trails have been carried out with major transport and
utility companies and it is anticipated the manufacture and sale of PSI's first
product will commence in September 2007, with future product launches and
applications planned.
The funds raised will be used to provide working capital to strengthen the
management team and infrastructure to allow PSI to exploit the market
opportunities for its technology. The proceeds will also be used to continue
product development on PSI's pipeline of products, as well as to enhance IP
protection.
Commenting, Chief Executive of Braveheart, Geoffrey Thomson, said, 'At present
there are no units on the market that can reliably calculate the distance to a
fault on low distribution networks and PSI is developing an innovative market
led technology. Having provided seed funding to PSI last year via our SMART
Equity Scheme, we are delighted to be supporting the company again in the
development of a commercial technology which could bring benefits to many cities
and rail networks world-wide.'
Martin Stewart at PSI Electronics, added, 'There is a clear unmet market need
for the accurate detection of faults in underground and power cables, which are
only likely to increase in the future as installations increase in both volume
and age. These new funds will enable us to move to new, larger premises and
expand our team to further exploit the commercial opportunities arising from
increased R & D in our technology.'
The Alpha EIS Fund ('the Fund')
Established in December 2005, the £2.5 million Fund was set up as a tax
efficient vehicle to invest in early-stage, university spin out companies, rich
in intellectual property, with potential for significant growth, through the
commercialisation of their IP. The Fund is managed by Braveheart and
participants in it include Bank of Scotland Corporate, Scottish Enterprise's
Co-investment Fund and Braveheart's own clients. The Fund will deliver a minimum
of ten EIS qualifying investments, sourced through the Group's unique framework
of strong formal relationships with Scottish universities and business parks.
To date the Fund has made six investments from the Alpha Fund, including a
recently announced investment in to Spiral Gateway Ltd.
For further information, please contact:
Braveheart Investment Group Tavistock Communications PSI Electronics
Geoffrey Thomson Richard Sunderland Martin Stewart
Chief Executive Rachel Drysdale
Tel: 01738 587555 Tel: 020 7920 3150 Tel: 0141 548 2108
rdrysdale@tavistock.co.uk www.psi-electronics.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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