Investment Update

RNS Number : 0790M

Draper Esprit PLC

17 September 2021

 

17 September 2021

Draper Esprit plc

("Draper Esprit", "the Group" or the "Company")

Investment update

Draper Esprit (LSE: GROW, Euronext Dublin: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, today provides an update on recent developments in its portfolio.

Key highlights are as follows:

· Continued capital deployment in the increasing number of growth opportunities in the European venture capital market, investing a total of £130 million during the year to date including 8 new, and 6 follow-on, investments.

· Additional investments of £25m and £15m in existing portfolio companies Form3 and CoachHub, respectively.

· Existing portfolio company Cazoo lists on the New York Stock Exchange, receiving proceeds of over $1bn before expenses.

FORM3

Draper Esprit participated with a further £25m in a $160m Series C round in platform payment technology provider Form3. The round was led by new investor Goldman Sachs and also included existing investors Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, Barclays, Mastercard and 83North. Founded In 2016, Form3 is the leading platform payment technology provider and offers an alternative to the traditional payment infrastructure model, providing an always-on, cloud-native, Payments-as-a-Service platform. Form3 is trusted by some of the UK and Europe's biggest Tier 1 banks and fastest-growing Fintechs to handle their critical payments architecture.

Based on the valuation implied by the fundraising, the Company's gross fair value holding (before carry deductions) is approximately £58 million. Excluding the £25 million of newly invested capital, this is an uplift of approximately £23 million to the March 2021 gross fair value of £10 million .

COACHHUB

In September, Draper Esprit participated with a further £15 million investment in an $80 million Series B extension round in CoachHub, supported by existing investors RTP Global, HV Capital, Signals Venture Capital, Partech and Speedinvest. CoachHub is the leading global talent development platform and enables organisations to create a personalised, measurable and scalable coaching program for the entire workforce, regardless of department and seniority level. CoachHub uses artificial intelligence to match individuals with more than 2,500 certified business and well-being coaches in 70 countries across six continents, with coaching sessions available in more than 60 languages.

CAZOO

In August, Draper Esprit portfolio company Cazoo announced its business combination with AJAX I and its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Cazoo (NYSE: CZOO) received $1bn in proceeds before expenses from the transaction, which will be used to further build out its brand and infrastructure. Cazoo is an online car retailer which, since being founded in 2018, has delivered over 35,000 cars to customers across the UK and mainland Europe. Following its recent acquisitions, Cazoo is also now Europe's leading car subscription player with thousands of subscribers across the UK, Germany and France.

Based on the share price of $9/share the Company's gross fair value holding (before carry deductions) is approximately £37 million, which is an uplift of approximately £11 million to the March 2021 gross fair value of £26 million.

Martin Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Draper Esprit, commented:

"Our recent activity has demonstrated the strength of our portfolio and our investment team, and we have been able to participate in follow-on rounds in some of the more established businesses in our portfolio, such as CoachHub and Form3. Cazoo's IPO is further evidence of this, as in only three years, it has established itself as one of the most significant players in the European used car market. As we recover from the pandemic, the technology sector continues to go from strength to strength and we are well positioned to continue to support the most promising companies."

-ENDS-

Enquiries:

Draper Esprit plc Martin Davis (Chief Executive Officer) Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer)	[phone]
Numis Securities Joint Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker Simon Willis Richard Thomas Jamie Loughborough	[phone]
Goodbody Stockbrokers Joint Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker, Euronext Dublin Sponsor Don Harrington Charlotte Craigie Linda Clarke	[phone]
Powerscourt Public relations Elly Williamson Jane Glover	[phone] / [phone]

About Draper Esprit

Draper Esprit is one of the most active venture capital firms in Europe, investing in disruptive, high growth technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable of building the global businesses of the future. We fuel their growth with long-term capital, access to international networks and decades of experience building businesses.

As at 31 March 2021, Draper Esprit is a shareholder in a diverse portfolio of 70+ companies with 17 of those part of our core portfolio which accounts for over 60% of our holdings. Our core companies include UiPath, Aircall, Graphcore and Revolut. We invest across four sectors: Consumer Technology, Enterprise Technology, Hardware and Deeptech, and Digital Health and Wellness, with highly experienced partners constantly looking for new opportunities in each. We look for high-growth companies operating in new markets, with a serious potential for global expansion, strong IP, powerful technology, and management teams to deliver success. We also look for businesses with the potential to generate strong margins to ensure rapid, sustainable growth in substantial addressable markets.

Draper Esprit provides an opportunity for public market investors to access these fast-growing tech businesses, without having to commit to long term investments with limited liquidity. Since IPO to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange plc in June 2016, we have deployed circa £550m+ capital into fast growing tech companies and have realised over £300m.

For more information, go to https://draperesprit.com/

 

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