REG - TMT Investments - Portfolio Update

TMT InvestmentsAnnouncement

13/12/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 4308J  TMT Investments PLC  13 December 2022

13 December 2022

 

TMT INVESTMENTS PLC

("TMT" or the "Company")

 

Portfolio Update

 

TMT Investments Plc (AIM: TMT.L), the venture capital company investing in
high-growth technology companies, is pleased to announce the following
developments in the Company's portfolio since the publication of the Company's
interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2022 on 16 August 2022.

 

Revaluations and Exits

 

·    Muncher, a cloud kitchen and virtual food brand operator operating in
Central and South America (www.muncher.com.co (http://www.muncher.com.co) ),
has completed a new equity funding round.  The transaction represented a
revaluation uplift of 41% (of US$1.6 million) in the fair value of TMT's
investment, compared to the previous announced amount as of 30 June 2022.

 

·    In its 2021 Annual Report, the Company reported that Delivery Hero
SE, one of the world's leading local food delivery platforms, had announced in
October 2021 that it had entered into an agreement with TMT's portfolio
company Hugo Technologies Ltd. ("Hugo") (www.hugoapp.com
(http://www.hugoapp.com) ), to acquire Hugo's multi-category marketplace's
core food delivery and quick commerce business in Central America (the
"Original Disposal").  As a result of the Original Disposal, the fair value
of TMT's investment in Hugo rose to approximately US$3.8 million as of 31
December 2021.  Given the significant delays in the completion of the
Original Disposal, TMT decided to revert the fair value of its investment in
Hugo to the pre-Original Disposal level of approximately US$1.8 million in its
2022 Interim Report published in August 2022.  In November 2022, the Original
Disposal finally completed under amended terms (the "Final Disposal").  While
the final payment consideration amounts implied by the Final Disposal are
still being finalised, TMT now expects the fair value of its investment in
Hugo to be closer to the amount envisaged by the Original Disposal (i.e.
US$3.8 million), implying an NAV increase of approximately US$2.0 million from
the amount announced in the 2022 Interim Report.  TMT originally invested a
total of US$1.2 million in Hugo in 2019 and 2020.

 

Negative revaluations

 

·    Usual Beverage Co., currently trading as Usual
(https://usualwines.com (https://usualwines.com) ), and previously as Vinebox,
has completed a new equity funding round, in which TMT decided not to
participate.  As a result of this funding round being highly dilutive, TMT
expects the fair value of its investment in Usual to be reduced to
approximately zero, compared to the previous reported amount of US$0.45
million as of 31 December 2021.

 

New Investments

 

The Company has also made the following new and additional investments:

 

·    Additional £0.5 million in Laundryheap Limited, a marketplace for
on-demand laundry and dry-cleaning services (www.laundryheap.com
(http://www.laundryheap.com) );

·    Initial US$1.0 million in MedVidi Inc., an online mental healthcare
provider (www.medvidi.com (http://www.medvidi.com) );

·    Additional US$0.5 million in Bafood Global Limited, a hyper local
ready-to-eat food delivery and cloud kitchen operator in Eastern Europe
(https://bafood.app (https://bafood.app) ); and

·    Additional US$0.2 million in My Device Inc., trading as Whizz, a
device-as-a-service e-bike rental company (www.getwhiz.co
(http://www.getwhiz.co) ).

 

Alexander Selegenev, Executive Director of TMT, commented:

 

"The majority of TMT's portfolio companies, including its largest holdings,
continue to demonstrate good business progress and are adapting well to the
challenges of the current environment.

 

TMT's largest portfolio holding, ride-hailing and food delivery platform Bolt
(www.bolt.eu (http://www.bolt.eu) ) has been finding its lower-cost
competitive advantage very timely in today's environment, enabling it to
continue delivering notable revenue growth and margin improvements, with the
additional security offered by its very sizeable cash reserves following its
successful capital raise in January 2022.

 

Whilst the significantly reduced share prices of publicly traded technology
companies continue to negatively affect the value of TMT's equity stake in
NASDAQ-traded cloud storage company Backblaze (www.backblaze.com
(http://www.backblaze.com) ), TMT's second largest investment, its business
has been developing well, recording 27% revenue growth in the third quarter of
2022 compared to the same period of 2021 (or 6.8% growth compared to the
second quarter of 2022).  Backblaze remains well capitalised with
approximately US$80 million in cash, short-term investments and restricted
cash reported as of 30 September 2022.

 

Regarding the early and mid-stage component of TMT's portfolio, the recently
published State of European Tech 2022 report
(https://stateofeuropeantech.com/4.investors/4.1-fundraising#C4-2-cam-pac-dp)
indicates there is around US$44bn worth of "dry powder" available in Europe
alone for venture capital investment and an increasing level of private equity
funding available for growth companies, taking the total to over US$80bn.
Companies with strong business models are continuing to attract competitive
attention from investors and this bodes well for a number of TMT's early and
mid-stage portfolio companies. A good example is Muncher, TMT's portfolio
company, whose recent financing round of US$27.3 million resulted in a 41%
revaluation uplift of TMT's investment in Muncher.

 

TMT continues to make very selective investments into new and existing
portfolio companies when attractive opportunities arise.

 

As of 12 December 2022, TMT had approximately US$10.2 million (unaudited) of
cash and bank deposits with no debt. With over 55 companies in its portfolio
and an established 12-year track record as a publicly traded company, TMT
offers a diversified and liquid route to access some of the fastest-growing
technology companies globally. Our strategy of early stage investing into
exciting and innovative fast growth companies continues, with a focus on areas
with significant growth potential such as SaaS and the online delivery of
mental health services.

 

We look forward to keeping shareholders updated on relevant developments in
due course."

 

 

For further information contact:

 

 TMT Investments Plc                                      +44 (0)1534 281 800

 Alexander Selegenev                                      (Computershare - Company Secretary)

 Executive Director

 www.tmtinvestments.com (http://www.tmtinvestments.com)   alexander.selegenev@tmtinvestments.com

                                                        (mailto:alexander.selegenev@tmtinvestments.com)

 Strand Hanson Limited                                    +44 (0)20 7409 3494

 (Nominated Adviser)

 James Bellman / James Dance

 Cenkos Securities plc                                    +44 (0)20 7397 8900

 (Joint Broker)

 Ben Jeynes

 Hybridan LLP                                             +44 (0)20 3764 2341

 (Joint Broker)

 Claire Louise Noyce

 Kinlan Communications                                    +44 (0)20 7638 3435

 David Hothersall                                         davidh@kinlan.net (mailto:davidh@kinlan.net)

 

 

About TMT Investments Plc

 

TMT Investments Plc invests in high-growth technology companies across a
number of core specialist sectors and has a significant number of Silicon
Valley investments in its portfolio. Founded in 2010, TMT has a current
investment portfolio of over 55 companies and net assets of US$210 million as
of 30 June 2022.  The Company's objective is to generate an attractive rate
of return for shareholders, predominantly through capital appreciation.  The
Company is traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
www.tmtinvestments.com (http://www.tmtinvestments.com) .

 

Twitter (https://twitter.com/TMT_PLC)

 

LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/company/tmt-investments-plc)

 

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TmtInvestmentsPlc/)

 

 

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