Strategic Investment in Vivacity Labs Limited

RNS Number : 4403B

Tracsis PLC

04 April 2017

 

4 April 2017

Tracsis plc

("Tracsis" or the "Group")

Strategic Investment in Vivacity Labs Limited

Tracsis plc, a leading provider of software and services for the traffic data and transportation industry, is pleased to announce it has made a strategic investment of up to £1.3m into Vivacity Labs Limited ("Vivacity"), a provider of smart, hyperlocal data for smart cities and intelligent transport systems, in return for up to a 28.1% equity stake.

Vivacity has developed novel machine learning software and sensor technology which is applied to solve a wide range of traffic and transport issues, most specifically for the automatic counting and classification of pedestrian and vehicle flows in a variety of environments.  In the past 12 months the business has secured a number of client wins and pilot projects with local governments, infrastructure owners and transport providers and in March 2017 was successful in winning a significant Smart Cities grant with a value of £1.7m.

Adoption of the Vivacity technology has the potential for Tracsis to significantly reduce its existing costs for processing video footage within the Traffic & Data Services Division whilst also leading to improvements in operational performance such as increased accuracy of traffic counts and the reduction of turnaround times for clients.

As part of a broader investment round for Vivacity, Tracsis has agreed to invest up to £1.0m via a tranched equity funding (subject to performance milestones) in return for 23.3% of the enlarged share capital of Vivacity.  In addition, Tracsis has been granted a warrant to subscribe for a further 4.8% of the then enlarged share capital for an additional £0.3m.  A Tracsis executive will join the Board of Directors of Vivacity to help further grow the business and promote their offering to the Tracsis customer base.  The investment round also included Downing Ventures EIS Fund and the London Co-Investment Fund with Tracsis being lead investor.  For more information on Vivacity Labs please visit www.vivacitylabs.com.

 John McArthur, Chief Executive Officer of Tracsis plc, commented: 

"We are delighted to have agreed this investment into Vivacity Labs and are excited by the potential of this technology both for our business and the wider traffic and transport market.  The potential of machine learning technology is very significant and the Vivacity offering is highly complementary to our Traffic and Data Services division."

 Mark Nicholson, Chief Executive Officer of Vivacity Labs Limited, commented: 

"We are pleased to join forces with Tracsis having worked with them for some time now on joint projects.  The combination of Tracsis' experience and extensive customer list, combined with our technology makes for a great partnership.  With this investment in place and the support of Tracsis, we look forward to accelerating our penetration into the market."

For more information please contact:

John McArthur/Max Cawthra, Tracsis plc	Tel: [phone]
Dominic Emery/Matt Lewis, Investec Bank plc	Tel: [phone]
Rebecca Sanders-Hewett / Sam Modlin, Redleaf Communications	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

The information communicated in this announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

Notes to editors: 

§ The Group specialises in solving a variety of data capture, reporting and resource optimisation problems along with the provision of a range of associated professional services.

§ Tracsis' products and services are used to increase efficiency, reduce cost and improve the operational performance and decision making capabilities for clients and customers. 

§ The Company offers the following services:

-  Rail Technology & Services: Software and technology led consulting, and Remote Condition Monitoring: Industry strength software that covers a variety of asset classes working alongside consulting and related professional services across the operational and strategic planning horizon, plus Technology and reporting for critical infrastructure assets in real time, to identify problems and aid with preventative maintenance.

-  Traffic & Data Services: Collation, analytical services, and event management within traffic and pedestrian rich environments.

§ Tracsis has a blue chip client base which includes the majority of UK transport operators.  The business also works extensively with Network Rail, the Department of Transport, multiple local authorities, Silverstone, Goodwood, and a variety of large engineering/infrastructure companies.

§ The business drives growth both organically and through acquisition and has made eight acquisitions since 2008.

§ Tracsis listed on AIM in 2007 under ticker TRCS.

§ For more information visit http://www.tracsis.com

 

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