Braveheart Inv Regulatory News (BRH)

23 Feb 2009 07:00



23 February 2009

Braveheart Investment Group plc

('Braveheart' or 'the Group')

Follow-on Investment in Pufferfish Limited

Braveheart, (AIM: BRH), the technology commercialisation and investment management company, announces that it has led a £430,000 financing into Pufferfish Limited ('Pufferfish'). The Group invested alongside Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Co-investment Fund and Pufferfish management as well as clients of the Group.

Pufferfish was formed in February 2004 to develop dynamic digital display systems using spherical projection for the events and exhibitions market. It is the developer of 'the PufferSphere®, a large inflatable sphere which projects digital content from within, providing vivid high quality imagery over the entire viewing surface.

The PufferSphere has reached a global audience through rental and sales to events ranging from trade shows to award ceremonies and corporate functions. The company recently made its largest sale to a tier 1 stage production company for use on the recent Coldplay tour.

Braveheart first invested in Pufferfish at the seed round, providing matched funding for a SMART award through its SMART Equity Scheme. Subsequent investment was provided through Braveheart's Alpha Fund.

Commenting, Geoffrey Thomson, Chief Executive of Braveheart said, "Pufferfish is an exciting company with a strong product range that is utilised at awards ceremonies and functions worldwide. The company is steadily being recognised for its innovative approach to developing new platforms for the display of digital content outside the confines of traditional flat screen media. Braveheart first invested in Pufferfish at the seed round and, as a result of the company's sales performance and continued ambition, we are proud to demonstrate our commitment with this further investment".

Oliver Collier, CEO of Pufferfish, added, "Braveheart has an excellent background in supporting early-stage technology companies and has instinctively understood our innovative approach and technology right from the beginning. The proceeds of this financing will be used to strengthen the management team, drive down productions costs and increase the product range. We are delighted that Braveheart has recognised the continuing potential of Pufferfish and look forward to establishing the Pufferfish brand at all events on the global stage".

For further information please visit www.braveheart-ventures.co.uk and www.pufferfishdisplays.co.uk or contact:

Notes to Editors

Braveheart

Braveheart Investment Group is a technology commercialisation and investment management company based in Perth, Scotland. Since its formation in 1997 it has made the transition from start-up angel syndicate to fully listed company. Braveheart's shares listed on AIM in March 2007.

Investments are made in young, emerging, unlisted companies where there is potential for significant growth through successful commercialisation of IP and Braveheart enjoys close relationships with several universities to identify emerging technologies. Investments are predominantly technology-focused; however the Group also maintains limited exposure to more traditional businesses.

Braveheart's diverse portfolio currently comprises over 30 companies and it has completed over 80 deals in its eleven year history, including six IPOs, three trade sales and eight write-offs and has an exit IRR of 33%.

At the 2008 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Awards (Scotland) Braveheart CEO Geoffrey Thomson was given a special award recognising his contribution and support of emerging technology businesses in Scotland over the past decade.

Pufferfish

Pufferfish was formed in February 2004 to develop spherical displays for the events and exhibitions market. The core ideas were based on undergraduate research carried out by the founders while based at the University of Edinburgh.

The company has developed a spherical display referred to as 'the PufferSphere®' - a large inflatable sphere which projects digital content from within, providing vivid high quality imagery over the entire viewing surface. The design of the PufferSphere is visually engaging and attracts attention making it an ideal medium for events and exhibitions. The PufferSphere has reached a global audience through rental and sales with events ranging from trade shows, award ceremonies and corporate functions.

The Company's business model is to establish a distribution network to increase unit sales worldwide and reduce the Company's need to provide local support and consultancy services to customers. Discussions are ongoing with potential distributors and a reseller agreement has recently been signed covering the US.

The Company is customising the standard PufferSphere design to form a series of products that will address a range of market requirements. The Company's next product, the PufferSphere v2.0, is a more versatile and simpler to operate display and is expected to be on the market by April 2009.

Pufferfish's future plan is to continue their expansion into the digital signage market, optimising product for permanent installation into high value spaces and this is expected to be available for sale by July 2010.

The Scottish Co-investment Fund

The Scottish Co-investment Fund (SCF) is a £72 million equity investment fund established by Scottish Enterprise, and partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), to invest from £100,000 to £1 million in company finance deals of up to £2 million.

Unlike a standard Venture Capital (VC) Fund or a business angel, the SCF does not find and negotiate investment deals on its own, instead it forms contractual partnerships with active VC fund managers, business angels and business angel syndicates from the private sector.

The private sector partner finds the opportunity, negotiates the terms of the deal and offers to invest its own equity cash. If the opportunity needs more money than the partner can provide, it can call on SCF to co-invest alongside on equal terms. The partner determines how much the SCF can invest in any new deal, however, the SCF cannot invest more than the private sector.