WeShop Nasdaq float boost for Aquis companies
Social commerce platform operator WeShop Holdings (NASAQ: WSHP) shares have started trading on Nasdaq. This is good news for two Aquis companies.
On Friday share trading started at $20.02 and ended the day at $30.21. The share price ended the normal trading day (4pm Eastern time) on Monday 30.8% higher at $39.31, which was well below the high earlier in the day, although it fell back to $35.01 after hours. That values the company at $383m. There were 248,701 shares traded on the day.
A shares are traded on Nasdaq and there are B shares issued to shoppers who use the platform.
Aquis investors
WeCap (LON: WCAP) owns 11.8% of WeShop. That is 806,022 shares directly and 2.08 million shares via a 23.5% holding in Community Social Investments Limited (CSIL). This direct and indirect stake is valued at $45.2m. WeCap has a discounted capital bond of £6.97m. Even taking this off, the valuation is 6.2p/share, according to Tennyson Securities.
The flotation has sparked additional interest in WeCap with 51.67 million shares traded on Monday. At 2.35p, the share price was 0.1p lower on the day and this valued the company at £10.9m. The share price had passed 3p at one point in the day. Even if the WeShop share price fell to $25, the value to WeCap would be 4p/share.
Hot Rock Investments (LON: HRIP) has a portfolio of shares, as well as 150,000 shares in WeShop. This stake is valued at $5.25m. At 1.2p. Hot Rocks Investments is valued at £2.8m.
The Smarter Web Company: compounding the utility of Bitcoin ownership
Jesse Myers, Bitcoin Strategy Consultant of The Smarter Web Company, joins Jeremy Naylor as part of the UK Investor Magazine Aquis Showcase Series running up to the event on 19th November.
Please register for the Aquis Showcase here using the code ‘UKINVEST’ for a 20% discount
The Smarter Web Company provides web design, development and online marketing services on a subscription model, comprising an initial setup fee, annual hosting charges and optional monthly marketing fees. The business has identified opportunities to expand these core service offerings to its existing client base.
Beyond organic expansion, The Smarter Web Company is pursuing a strategic acquisition programme to increase its client portfolio and recurring revenue streams. Management will evaluate potential acquisitions on a selective basis, proceeding only when market conditions and strategic fit align with their objectives.
FTSE 100 falls as investors brace for US economic data
The FTSE 100 was struggling to hold firm on Monday as investors braced for the return of key US economic data points after the government shutdown prevented the release of potentially market-moving data.
London’s leading index was down 0.2% at the time of writing after swings between minor gains and minor losses.
“Global markets are waiting on the overdue economic data from the US – which will potentially be released at the beginning of this week,” explained Emma Wall, Chief Investment Strategist, Hargreaves Lansdown.
“During the record long shutdown, inflation and jobs data for October was not collated or released, which has left policy makers in limbo.
“These two data points are key for the Fed to help determine whether they continue to cut rates when they meet next month. The S&P 500 fell on Friday, following a strong start to the week, as the market digested what the lack of data might mean for the dot plot.”
London’s market also largely shook off concerns from Asia, with investors facing fresh worries about Taiwan amid increasing tensions between China and Japan.
“The FTSE 100 managed a steady start on Monday despite volatility in Asian stocks and a lacklustre end to last week on Wall Street,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“Shares in Japanese consumer-facing stocks came under pressure as China warned its citizens not to visit the country amid simmering tensions between the two sides over Taiwan.”
There was weakness in China-focused stocks such as miner Anglo American and financials HSBC and Prudential.
But several upbeat stories helped keep the FTSE 100 flat on Monday.
WPP was the FTSE 100’s top riser after the Sunday Times report that competitor Havas was considering a bid for WPP, which is down 60% on the year. WPP shares were 4% higher.
Pershing Square Holdings was 2% after announcing a fresh $100m share buyback.
There was interest in defensive safer sectors such as utilities with SSE adding 1.5% and BATS rising over 2%.
AIM movers: Capital Metals resource upgrade and Polar Capital assets under management jump
Mineral sands company Capital Metals (LON: CMET) has upgraded its mineral resource estimate for the proposed initial mining area of the Taprobane minerals project in Sri Lanka. Maintaining a 5% heavy minerals bottom cut means that the resource tonnes rise from 897kt to 4.3Mt at an average resource grade of 10.5%, but if it is reduced to 2% the resource jumps from 897kt to 13.1mt at an average resource grade of 5.5%. The share price increased 9.62% to 5.7p.
OptiBiotix Health (LON: OPTI) has received its first order of SlimBiome and WellBiome products from a well-known European weight management company. The value for these appetite reduction products is in low six-figures. The share price recovered 6.45% to 8.25p.
Medical imaging analytics services provider Ixico (LON: IXI) has won a contact to provide imaging services to a global pharmaceutical company to support a phase 3 Huntington’s disease clinical trial. The contract is worth more than £3.5m, which will be recognised over four years. The share price gained 4.65% to 11.25p.
Data analysis software provider Cirata (LON: CRTA) has won a $6.7m, three-year data integration software contract through IBM for a financial services company. This is the largest eve contract with IBM. The share price rose 3.64% to 19.95p.
FALLERS
Defence consultancy RC Fornax (LON: RCFX) raised £2.25m in a placing at 6p/share and raised £70,000 out of the £500,000 retail offer. The cash will fund development of the Procure X Marketplace to connect small companies with defence buyers and provide working capital. Directors and management are investing £156,800 in new shares. This includes Paul Reeves and Daniel Clark who raised £1m in the flotation back in February, when the company raised £5.2m at 32.5p/share. Cavendish has increased it 2025-26 forecast loss to £2m and expects a lower loss next year. The share price slumped 35.9% to 6.25p.
Vast Resources (LON: VAST) has repaid $1m of debt. Cash from the sale of a package of diamonds will be used to pay off more of the debt. The share price slipped 24.3% to 0.1325p.
Artemis Resources (LON: ARV) has commissioned a conceptual mining study for the Carlow copper gold project in Western Australia. This will cover open-pit and underground mining scenarios. There will also be a drilling programme. The share price is 10% lower at 0.45p.
Polar Capital (LON: POLR) grew assets under management by 25% to £26.7bn in the six months to September 2025. There was a small outflow, and the improvement came from investment performance, which exceeded the global markets. Interim net income rose 1% to £91.4m, but that does not include performance fees which should be much higher this year. Full year pre-tax profit is forecast to increase from £51.6m to £76.9m. Cash was £82.5m at the end of September 2025. The interim dividend is unchanged at 14p/share. The share price declined 4.74% to 522p.
RC Fornax shares tumble after heavily discounted placing
RC Fornax has completed a heavily discounted placing that raised £2.5 million before expenses through the issue of 37.5 million shares.
The UK-based defence consultancy, which delivers engineering solutions for critical military platforms, priced the shares at 6p each, a 39% discount on the price before the placing was announced.
RC Fornax shares are now down 80% since listing at 32.5p in January.
RC Fornax is conducting an additional retail offer to raise up to £0.5 million through the issue of up to 8.3 million shares at the same price. Results of the retail offer, which closes this morning, will be announced later today.
The company said the proceeds will support RC Fornax’s innovation strategy, particularly the development of Smart Scope, an AI-powered tool for automating compliant Statements of Work, currently at the MVP stage. RC Fornax is also developing Procure X, an intelligent marketplace that connects verified SMEs with defence buyers.
RC Fronax has made a series of disappointing announcements since listing, which is reflected in the heavy discount on the placement.
HICL and TRIG to merge in £5.3bn deal creating UK’s largest listed infrastructure fund
HICL Infrastructure and The Renewables Infrastructure Group have agreed to combine in a deal that will create Britain’s largest listed infrastructure investment company with net assets exceeding £5.3 billion.
The merger will be implemented through the reconstruction and voluntary winding up of TRIG. TRIG’s assets will transfer to HICL in exchange for new HICL shares and cash, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2026.
Plans are for the new entity to bolster shareholder payouts through a 9 pence quarterly dividend.
Strategic rationale
The merged entity will pursue a reinvigorated investment strategy spanning the full spectrum of infrastructure sectors, from core assets to renewables. The aim is to capitalise on infrastructure megatrends as traditional sectors increasingly converge with energy transition opportunities.
“The combination of HICL and TRIG represents a unique opportunity to capture the key megatrends shaping the infrastructure market today, which increasingly straddle both core infrastructure and the energy transition,” said Mike Bane, Chair of HICL.
“By combining two complementary portfolios and teams, the combined company will have the profile, expertise and access to capital to seek enhanced returns from a reinvigorated investment strategy.”
HICL, listed since 2006, has evolved from its initial focus on PFI and PPP social infrastructure to encompass regulated utilities, transport concessions and digital assets across eight geographies. Its portfolio comprises over 100 essential infrastructure assets valued at approximately £3.0 billion as at 31 March 2025.
TRIG, launched in 2013, provides exposure to the energy transition through 2.3GW of capacity across more than 80 renewable assets. The company has built over 20 per cent of its current portfolio over the past five years and maintains a 1GW project pipeline alongside its net asset value of approximately £2.6 billion as at 30 September 2025.
HICL shares were down 7% on Monday while TRIG rose 5%.
VC investing in the age of agentic AI
The venture capital playbook is being rewritten by agentic AI. Speaking at Web Summit, Larry Li, Founder and Managing Partner at Amino Capital and Forbes Midas List honoree, outlined how agentic AI is fundamentally transforming both startup formation and VC investment strategies.
The solo founder renaissance
Traditional VC wisdom held that diverse founding teams with complementary technical skills and international expertise were essential.
The introduction of AI has turned that on its head. Li now sees opportunities in startups led by single founders and recent graduates without technical backgrounds, a shift that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
The reason? Agentic AI has become the co-founder who never argues, never quits, and instantly fills capability gaps.
“Six-year-olds can now build apps,” Li observed, highlighting the democratisation of software development through AI coding tools. This isn’t hyperbole, it’s the reality of “vibe coding,” where natural language replaces traditional programming barriers.
Li believes software itself will become worthless. Li emphasised that creativity is now more important than ever. When MVPs no longer require software builders and enterprise productivity gains can reach 80% (though employees cautiously claim only 30%, fearing redundancy, according to Li), the competitive moat shifts entirely to creativity and problem identification.
Looking at the wider AI investment landscape, Li highlighted his interest in teams using AI to solve specific pain points for underserved customers.
Large language models have become utilities, and the chatbots and APIs that provide access to them have become commoditised tools competing on cost. The value lies not in the technology itself but in data, context, and understanding user behaviour. Li cited Meta’s algorithms, which know users better than their own mothers, demonstrating how contextual intelligence creates sustainable advantage.
VCs must deploy their own agents
This democratisation creates a paradox for venture capitalists. When millions can become entrepreneurs overnight, how do VCs identify winners? Li’s answer: build AI agents for deal sourcing and evaluation.
With accelerators like Y Combinator producing 600 companies annually, human-only analysis is impossible. To tackle this, Amino Capital has developed AI-driven scoring systems that analyse founder relationships, employment history, and cultural backgrounds. Li said startups with an international background and a deeper understanding of the world tend to produce better results. This is a key parameter accessed by Amino’s AI agents.
The winning strategy
For founders, Li’s advice is surgical: go narrow and deep. Solve specific problems that large companies won’t touch. Serve customers nobody else wants—the SMEs, immigrants, and underbanked populations that established players ignore. He pointed to Chime Financial, which built a unicorn serving low-income customers and new immigrants without credit history.
The AI age hasn’t eliminated challenges for founders, but it has redistributed them. Technical execution is solved. Now success belongs to those who identify the right problems and serve overlooked markets with relentless focus. For VCs, the challenge is equally clear: deploy agentic AI or risk missing the next generation of breakout companies.