TIDMTERN
RNS Number : 8182I
Tern PLC
17 August 2021
17 August 2021
Tern Plc
("Tern" or the "Company")
Investment in FundamentalVR and Portfolio Update
Notice of Interim Results and Investor Presentation
Tern Plc (AIM:TERN), the investment company specialising in the
Internet of Things ("IoT"), announces that it has made a further
GBP530,000 investment in its portfolio company, FVRVS Limited
("FundamentalVR"), and provides an update on the recent activities
of the Company and its portfolio companies, together with
announcing the date of release of the Company's interim results for
the six months ended 30 June 2021 and a planned investor
webinar.
Highlights
-- Strong business momentum continues across all of Tern's principal portfolio companies.
-- Further investment by Tern of GBP530,000 in FundamentalVR in
the form of convertible loan notes as part of a wider fund raise by
FundamentalVR from its existing institutional and other
shareholders.
-- FundamentalVR has seen increased adoption of its virtual
reality simulation solutions and continues to gain traction as a
result of the challenges of social distancing and the reduction in
elective surgeries, together with the introduction of new
capabilities .
-- Device Authority has continued to accelerate its annual
recurring revenue growth through its subscription base and its
modularised licence platform, KeyScaler, aided by the increasing
focus on IoT security, the launch of product enhancements and the
securing of further distribution partnerships.
-- Wyld Networks has continued to make significant progress
following its IPO on NASDAQ First North in Stockholm on 2 July
2021, including the signing of further distribution partnerships in
South America and South East Asia, and an agreement with
Chevron.
-- InVMA continues to enjoy growing sales and a strong sales pipeline. The global deployment of AssetMinder(R) has been further aided by the opening of InVMA's US operation with global professional services firm DEXIS now offering AssetMinder(R) to customers in Belgium and France.
-- Talking Medicines has continued the role out of its
PatientMetRx(R) data service and a leading global pharmaceutical
company has recently signed a commercial agreement with Talking
Medicines to start using PatientMetRx (R) .
Commenting Al Sisto, CEO of Tern, said :
"I am very pleased that the positive business momentum
previously reported has continued and all of our portfolio
companies have performed well in the year to date. We expect this
momentum to continue, building on recent commercial successes, as
our portfolio of IoT focussed businesses seek to provide innovative
and practical solutions to meet real world needs. In many instances
the wide-ranging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated
the adoption of these solutions and we believe all of Tern's
portfolio companies are well positioned for the future.
"With the proceeds of the recent fundraise in July we are also
well positioned to support the further growth of our portfolio
companies, including the additional investment in FundamentalVR
announced today, and we look forward to providing additional
updates at the time of the release of our interim results on 14
September 2021."
Portfolio Update
FundamentalVR
FundamentalVR, of which Tern currently owns 26.9% of the equity,
has completed a GBP1,160,000 funding in the form of convertible
loan notes from Tern and its other existing institutional
shareholders who participated in the last FundamentalVR syndicated
funding round in October 2019. Tern has subscribed for GBP530,000.
In addition, FundamentalVR is anticipating raising further funds in
the form of advanced subscription agreements from certain of its
existing Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) investors.
Interest is payable by FundamentalVR on the convertible loan
notes at a rate of 10% per annum and they are convertible into
FundamentalVR equity at a 20% discount to the next equity fund
raising price, assuming it raises a minimum of GBP5 million.
FundamentalVR delivers virtual reality (VR) haptic 'flight
simulators' for surgery creating a safe, measurable and repeatable
space to refine skills. FundamentalVR's goal is to transform the
way surgeons prepare, practice, and refine their skills. It has
built an immersive, surgical simulation application platform,
Fundamental Surgery, to provide medical professionals with the
opportunity to rehearse, practice, and test themselves within a
safe, controllable space that is as close to real-life as
possible.
The proceeds of the fundraise will be used by FundamentalVR for
a number of initiatives targeted at the further growth of the
business and for general working capital purposes.
Based on FundamentalVR's latest statutory accounts for the year
ended 31 December 2019, as at that date it had net assets of
GBP3,393,976 and incurred a loss for the year of GBP1,603,520.
The adoption of FundamentalVR's haptics virtual reality
simulation solutions, as a credible alternative to in-person and on
human learning, has accelerated as a result of the challenges of
social distancing and the reduction in elective surgeries. Both
medical device and pharmaceutical companies are adopting the
platform to facilitate the introduction, sales and marketing of new
products that require repetition as part of training in the use of
these new devices and drug therapy. During the year to date,
FundamentalVR has experienced expanded interest in its platform
from new customers and repeat sales to its existing customer
base.
FundamentalVR has also continued to innovate and recently added
advanced simulated soft tissue capabilities with kinesthetic
haptics to its portfolio.
Device Authority Limited ("DA" or "Device Authority")
During 2021, Device Authority has continued to accelerate its
annual recurring revenue growth through its subscription base and
its modularised licence platform, KeyScaler. This has been aided by
Device Authority being part of the FIDO Alliance that has created a
new onboarding standard to secure the IoT, together with further
governmental pressure on major companies in a number of territories
to increase cyber security.
Device Authority continues to build on its success within the
automotive and transport markets with growing sales from a number
of existing clients as their components move to volume production
and the addition of new client wins in the automotive, automotive
supply chain and shipping industries. With smart connected
technologies being adopted in these markets, transfer of ownership
and public key infrastructure (PKI) management throughout the
lifecycle of the automobile or engine is becoming increasingly
relevant.
In addition to new customer wins, Device Authority have entered
into further distribution partnerships, including with Crossroads
Innovation Group, to expand its reach within the US public sector,
and with Medigate, an IoT device security and asset management
company dedicated to the healthcare sector.
Earlier this month, Device Authority joined the Ericsson IoT
partner ecosystem to help enterprises leverage the full Ericsson
IoT ecosystem value. This partnership incorporates the tools and
necessary processes with a view to increasing the return on
investment for IoT customers, using cellular connectivity as the
foundation . The partnership with Ericsson is in addition to Device
Authority's existing partnerships with leading IoT ecosystem
providers, including AWS, DigiCert, Entrust, HID Global, Microsoft,
PTC, Thales, Venafi and Wipro, amongst others.
Device Authority has also continued to enhance and expand its
product offering. It recently announced a new version of KeyScaler
which includes enhanced support for Microsoft Azure Key Vault with
its hardware security module (HSM) Access Controller. Cloud
deployments allow for easier management and scalability for IoT
devices and applications and the HSM Access Controller represents a
new technology feature that enables flexibility for cloud
deployment with secure key storage.
In addition, Device Authority has extended further the
interoperability of KeyScaler and Microsoft Azure IoT with the goal
of solving security problems and improving return on investment for
its joint customers, specifically to address Enterprise Edge
devices and sensor use cases in the retail, automotive, healthcare
and industrial sectors.
Device Authority has been gaining further industry recognition
and was highlighted in ABI Research's 'IoT Device Onboard and
Lifecycle Management Competitive Ranking' as a leader in its SPARK
Matrix(TM) and IoT Identity and Access Management (IoT IAM).
InVMA Limited ("InVMA")
During 2020, InVMA began to scale up its Industrial IoT
connected asset software as a service (SaaS) product,
AssetMinder(R), from several initial pilot customers to create
product adoption momentum which has continued in 2021. InVMA is
experiencing further interest from large industrial customers who
are looking to connect large numbers of assets to AssetMinder(R),
particularly as the Covid-19 crisis accelerated the need for
contactless monitoring of factory and remote assets. To facilitate
servicing this demand, particularly in North America, InVMA has
opened a US operation, AssetMinder USA, based in Durham, North
Carolina, USA.
InVMA continues to enjoy growing sales and a strong sales
pipeline. The global deployment of AssetMinder(R) has been further
aided by Dexis Consulting Group (DEXIS), the global professional
services firm which provides, amongst other things, industrial
maintenance solutions, now offering AssetMinder(R) to customers in
Belgium and France.
During July 2021, Tern advanced GBP100,000 of convertible loan
notes to InVMA, which carry a coupon rate of 8% per annum and are
convertible into InVMA shares at a 20% discount to any future third
party fundraising.
Wyld Networks AB (publ) ("Wyld Networks" or "Wyld")
Wyld Networks has continued to make significant progress
following its IPO on the NASDAQ First North Growth Market in
Stockholm on 2 July 2021. In particular, it has continued with the
commercialisation of Wyld Connect, its terrestrial low-power
wide-area network (LPWAN) IoT module, securing further commercial
deals, specifically addressing one of the issues hampering the
growth and roll out of IoT applications, notably a lack of
affordable global wireless connectivity.
As satellite IoT adoption accelerates, particularly in emerging
markets, Wyld Networks has recently partnered with companies in
South America and South East Asia to deliver its
sensor-to-satellite solution, Wyld Connect, to the agriculture
market, facilitating the affordable implementation of IoT
connectivity and in line with Wyld's go-to-market strategy of using
resellers across the globe to help promote and commercialise Wyld's
solutions . In South America, agreement has been reached with two
well established partners, the Wezen Group and the Colombian Fruit
Group. In the Philippines, a partnership has been entered into with
East-West Seed Philippines, a tropical vegetable seed provider in
South East Asia, to bring remote sensor connectivity to the South
East Asian seed production market.
Additionally, Wyld Networks has entered into a partnership with
Chevron, the US-headquartered multinational energy company with
2020 revenues of over US$94 billion, to pilot Wyld's satellite IoT
solution to enable remote sensor connectivity within Chevron's IoT
infrastructure. Use of Wyld's solution by Chevron has the aim of
improving operational efficiency by cost-effectively collecting
data from IoT sensors in remote locations within the Chevron oil
and gas operational infrastructure, particularly where there is no
cellular or wireless coverage. This data provides insight and
information to help reduce equipment downtime and enable
preventative maintenance to ensure improved operational efficiency
within complex infrastructure in the oil and gas environment.
Wyld Networks also continues to work with multiple other
resellers, including ASCOM, a global ICT solution vendor, and
Alliance Corporation, based in North America.
Wyld also continues to promote its Wyld Mesh and Fusion
solution, launched in 2020, which is an innovative solution for
delivering location-aware, relevant and actionable content over 4G,
WiFi and mesh networks for a range of applications in retail,
venues, hospitality, transportation and smart factories. With the
gradual opening up of venues following Covid-19 related
restrictions, Wyld is seeing increased interest in Wyld Mesh and
Fusion.
Talking Medicines Limited ("Talking Medicines")
As previously announced, Talking Medicine's ambition in 2021 is
to establish its PatientMetRx(R) data service as the gold service
standard provider of intelligence on patient experience by
medicine. Tern is pleased to report that a leading global
pharmaceutical company has recently signed a commercial agreement
with Talking Medicines to start using PatientMetRx (R) .
Talking Medicines also entered into a strategic partnership at
the end of July 2021 with Closing Delta, a large US headquartered
digital transformation consultancy and advisory firm, that helps
pharmaceutical companies accelerate digital transformation, in
particular now utilising PatientMetRx (R) to measure patient
confidence .
Notice of Interim Results
The Company advises that its interim results for the six months
ended 30 June 2021 will be announced on Tuesday 14 September
2021.
Online Investor Presentation and Q&A Session
Tern's management and senior management from two of Tern's
portfolio companies, Device Authority and FundamentalVR, will be
hosting an online presentation and Q&A session at 5.30 p.m. BST
on Tuesday 14 September 2021. This session is open to all existing
and prospective shareholders. Those who wish to attend should email
tern@investor-focus.co.uk and they will be provided with access
details. Participants will have the opportunity to submit questions
during the session, but questions are welcomed in advance and may
be submitted to: tern@investor-focus.co.uk .
Enquiries
Tern Plc via IFC Advisory
Al Sisto (CEO)
Sarah Payne (CFO)
Allenby Capital Limited Tel: 0203 328 5656
(Nominated Adviser and Broker)
David Worlidge / Alex Brearley (Corporate
Finance)
Matt Butlin / Kelly Gardiner (Sales
and Corporate Broking)
IFC Advisory Tel: 0203 934 6630
(Financial PR and IR) tern@investor-focus.co.uk
Tim Metcalfe
Graham Herring
Florence Chandler
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
UPDDGGDIBSBDGBL
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 17, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Tern (LSE:TERN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Tern (LSE:TERN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
