Draper Esprit PLC Investment and exit update (3953U)
July 29 2020 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMGROW
RNS Number : 3953U
Draper Esprit PLC
29 July 2020
Draper Esprit plc
("Draper Esprit", "the Group" or the "Company")
Investment and exit update
-- Disposal of holding in TransferWise for GBP18m as part of a
secondary share sale at increased fair value
-- Fair value uplift of GBP12m as a result of UiPath Series E funding round
-- Led $20 million Series C investment in Ravelin
Draper Esprit (LSE: GROW, Euronext Growth: GRW), a leading
venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth
digital technology businesses, today provides an update on recent
developments in its portfolio.
TransferWise
Draper Esprit notes today's announcement from TransferWise, the
international money transfer platform, of its successful $319
million secondary share sale at a $5 billion valuation, a 43%
uplift since its May 2019 secondary share sale at a $3.5 billion
valuation.
TransferWise launched in 2011 and is now one of the world's
fastest growing payment firms. Today, over eight million people use
TransferWise which processes over GBP4 billion in cross-border
payments every month, saving customers over GBP1 billion a year in
bank fees.
Draper Esprit has sold its remaining holding in TransferWise as
part of today's transaction, for a total cash return of
approximately GBP18 million ($22 million), above the GBP15 million
fair value held in the year end March 2020 accounts. In total,
Draper Esprit generated GBP33 million across two realisations from
its investment in TransferWise.
Draper Esprit originally acquired a stake in TransferWise as
part of the acquisition of Seedcamp Funds I and II, for GBP18
million in October 2017. Cash realisations to date from Seedcamp I
and II total approximately GBP37 million with approximately GBP5
million of remaining fair value.
UiPath
On 13 July 2020, UiPath announced the completion of its Series E
investment round, raising $225 million at a post-money valuation of
$10.2 billion. The round was led by Alkeon Capital Management, with
participation from a range of funds including Sequoia Capital and
Tencent alongside funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price
Associates, Inc.
UiPath provides a comprehensive robotic software solution for
IT-based process automation of legacy processes and is one of the
fastest-growing enterprise software companies in the world.
Proceeds of the fundraising will be used for R&D to support
future growth.
Draper Esprit originally acquired its holding in UiPath in
January 2019 through the acquisition of interests in Earlybird
Digital East Fund I.
Draper Esprit's fair value holding in UiPath has increased by
approximately GBP12 million as a result of the fundraising to
approximately GBP40 million.
Ravelin
Draper Esprit led the recent $20m Series C investment round into
Ravelin; a fraud detection company. Ravelin has pioneered the use
of machine learning and graph network technologies to help online
businesses accept more payments with confidence.
Ravelin's early growth was focused on securing transactions for
large-scale food and cab-ride marketplaces. The company has since
expanded into travel, ticketing, entertainment, gaming, gambling,
and retail.
Martin Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Draper Esprit,
commented:
"TransferWise is a fintech leader that has scaled rapidly and
radically reshaped the forex industry, whilst UiPath continues to
build on its leading position in the fast-growing process
automation sector. Well before COVID-19, these companies were
already global leaders in their fields and, as the global economy
slowly emerges from crisis mode, companies like TransferWise and
UiPath and others in our portfolio are well placed to benefit from
the significant changes in the way we work.
"The TransferWise disposal highlights our focus on active
management in the portfolio and is also an excellent example of a
successful secondary transaction that has enabled us to generate a
healthy return on our initial investment in a relatively short
space of time. UiPath's latest fundraise reaffirms the huge
opportunity offered by our strategy of investing in high growth
private tech companies, as well as the quality of the companies
within the Earlybird Digital East Fund we acquired in January 2019.
The TransferWise transaction and Ui Path funding round provide a
further demonstration of value accretion in excess of fair value
holdings.
"Importantly, we continue our essential mission of identifying
and supporting the next generation of great technology companies.
To that end, we are delighted to have led the latest investment
round in Ravelin, a company with an excellent team and world-class
technology, serving a critical market need. We look forward to
working with them."
-ENDS-
Enquiries:
Draper Esprit plc
Martin Davis (Chief Executive Officer)
Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer) +44 (0)20 7931 8800
Numis Securities
Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker
Richard Thomas
Jamie Loughborough +44 (0)20 7260 1000
Goodbody Stockbrokers
Euronext Growth Adviser & Joint Broker
Don Harrington
Charlotte Craigie
Dearbhla Gallagher +44 (0) 20 3841 6202
Powerscourt
Public relations
James White
Elly Williamson
Jessica Hodgson +44 (0)20 7250 1446
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END
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