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Draper Esprit PLC - investor in digital technology firms - Notes USD14 million investment in series E funding round for investee Graphcore. Says fair value holding in Graphcore increased by GBP17 million. Also invested USD14 million as lead investor in a USD30 million investment round into new portfolio company CoachHub, a digital coaching platform. Thirdly, led GBP15 million investment as part of GBP15 million investment round into existing portfolio company Endomag, a breast cancer market treatment firm.
Finally, led a GBP5 million investment round in Agora, a London-based startup focused on the beauty industry through social commerce. Lakestar and Angel Capital Management also participated in the round alongside some other existing investors. Soft launched in April 2020, Agora already has 50,000 registered users on the app, mostly organically acquired, and content creators have produced in excess of 50,000 videos to date.
Chief Executive Martin Davis says: "When we announced our successful placing in October 2020 we communicated that we were looking to accelerate our investment strategy and increase our rate of investment, including through follow on opportunities within the portfolio. Benefiting from additional capital, our ability to lead investment rounds and back Europe's best high growth investment opportunities has been reinforced. The activity in recent months clearly supports the execution of this strategy and we continue to push for new opportunities into 2021."
Current stock price: 660.00 pence
Year-to-date change: flat
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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