Tekcapital, the university technology focused investment company, has provided insight into their strategy of raising capital through IPOs as ‘public venture capital’ to compliment the pursuit of commercial opportunities for their portfolio companies.
Tekcapital have successfully floated AIM-listed Belluscura, and recently Innovative Eyewear on the NASDAQ, proving their prowess in securing capital, despite adverse market conditions.
Each of Tekcapital’s portfolio companies is the product of intensive evaluation of university technology by a network of scientific advisors monitoring over 250 universities.
Tekcapital have selected technologies that have the potential to help a broad range of people and established companies with world class management. Tekcapital’s technologies include autonomous vehicles, smart eyewear, foodtech and healthtech.
The investment company has the view the each one of their companies has the potential to become a $1 billion company and Tekcapital have the benefit of being intimately involved with the early stages of their portfolio companies.
In an environment typified by companies staying private for longer, the Tekcapital team has a clear strategy to take companies to market, not only to raise growth capital, but to also improve commercial opportunities.
“Capitalising on an intellectual property moat coupled with rapidly developing market traction is a strong case for exploring a public venture capital trajectory to solidify a first mover advantage,” says Dr. Clifford Gross, CEO of Tekcapital.
This was demonstrated with Innovative Eyewear’s partnership with global lifestyle brand Nautica. Innovative Eyewear has licensed the Nautica brand globally for smart eyewear.
Such agreements may have been possible if the company was private, but being a listed company raises the profile of the agreement and will play a part in future distribution agreements.
A public listing will also help attract talent to TEK’s portfolio companies. Innovative Eyewear have secured key sales and marketing executive hires since listing and signals their intent to drive rapid growth.
Portfolio Company Transparency
Pursuing a public listing also produces great levels of transparency for investors. Tekcapital’s investors have a clearer view of progress at their portfolio companies than those operating similar technologies privately.
By making this level of transparency possible earlier in a companies lifecycle builds a robust picture of the companies growth trajectory and will provide solid comparables as the companies grow.
Belluscura’s progress was evident in a 34% increase in this year’s first half revenues. Investors may have been hoping for greater sales of Belluscura’s portable oxygen units, but the growth was robust and figures were available for the market to scrutinise.
Tekcapital are listing early stage companies which will face the same pressures a private company would, but with the benefits of being able to attract a wider investor base as their portfolio companies grow.
Upcoming Tekcaptial IPOs
Recent interviews with Dr. Clifford Gross alluded to a potential IPO of MicroSalt in the coming months. This particular IPO will be highly anticipated following MircoSalt’s plethora of commercial updates.
The Tekcapital CEO said a MicroSalt IPO could come as soon as Q1 2023 which would be yet another validation of their strategy.
