RETìníZE Investment

RNS Number : 9569E

Sure Ventures PLC

16 March 2022

 

Sure Ventures plc ('Sure Ventures' or 'the Company')

First investment of the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund

Sure Ventures plc, a London listed venture capital fund which invests in early-stage software companies in the rapidly growing technology areas of Augmented Reality ('AR'), Virtual Reality ('VR'), Internet of Things ('IoT') and Artificial Intelligence (AI), is pleased to announce its first investment call from Sure Valley Ventures UK Software technology fund.

Further to the Company's announcement on 2 March 2022, RETìníZE Limited ("RETìníZE"), the award-winning creative-tech company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has successfully raised £2 million in a seed round led by the SVV Software Fund.

RETìníZE is developing an innovative software product called Animotive that is harnessing the latest VR technologies to transform the 3D animation production process. The proceeds of the seed round will drive the next two-year step in its growth and the global rollout of Animotive.

The seed round, led by the SVV Software Fund's £1 million investment, marks the first investment from this fund which recently announced its first close of £85 million, which included a cornerstone £50 million investment from the British Business Bank, an investment arm of the UK Government.

Other investors in the round, from the UK, USA, Ireland and the Netherlands, include:

· TechStart Ventures - leading investor of seed capital across Scotland and Northern Ireland, following on from their 2019 pre-seed investment in ​RETìníZE

· VGC Partners - London based investor building great companies at the intersection of physical and digital commerce

· Clarendon/Co-fund NI - equity fund based in Northern Ireland that co-invest with business angels and private investors

· Lonely Horse Investments - investor association based in the Netherlands

· Bertram van Munster & Elise Doganieri - multi Emmy award-winning producers behind the CBS hit show "the Amazing Race"

· Ben Morrow - Senior Product Manager, Adobe Aero (Adobe's AR creation tool)

The SVV Software Fund is a newly established venture capital fund, investing in a range of private UK software companies with a focus on companies in the Metaverse, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity sectors. The fund is run by the same SVV team which has been highly successful in achieving several cash realisations from, and upward revaluations of, companies in the SVV portfolio.

Gareth Burchell Quote: "Really pleased with the first investment made by the SVV software fund and RETìníZE fits in perfectly with the strategy of the fund. This is creative technology at its best and the £1m seed round will allow the team to rollout their ground-breaking VR animation process on a global basis. The round brings with it a number of highly regarded co-investors, which I believe is testament to the experience, capability and skill that the team at RETìníZE possess".

Enquiries:

Sure Ventures PLC

Gareth Burchell

Director

0207 186 9951

Corporate Broker

Damon heath

Shard Capital

0207 186 9952

 

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