Braveheart Inv Regulatory News (BRH)

13 Feb 2008 07:00

Braveheart Investment Group plc13 February 2008 13 February 2008 Braveheart Investment Group plc ("Braveheart" or the "Group") Investment in Elonics Braveheart (AIM: BRH), the technology commercialisation and investmentmanagement company, announces that it has led a £2 million funding round intoLivingston based Elonics Limited. Other investors included the Scottish VentureFund and private investors Sir Tom Farmer and Brian Souter. Elonics was founded in 2003 and is the developer of 'DigitalTune', a flexibleradio tuner chip technology platform that can be configured to support differentstandards and frequencies for a number of applications. Elonics' DigitalTunetechnology will initially be used to develop the E4000 chip, a flexible TV tunerfor portable and handheld devices such as smart phones, laptops, etc. The market for flexible tuner chips for mobile and handheld devices is currentlysmall but is predicted to grow rapidly over the next few years. Elonics has acomprehensive patent portfolio that places it in a strong position to capitaliseon future developments in this fast evolving field. The E4000 is currently undergoing prototype development and evaluation and thefunding is designed to provide working capital to enable Elonics to complete thedevelopment of the product and take it to market by the third quarter of 2008. Commenting on the investment, Geoffrey Thomson, Chief Executive of Braveheartsaid, "Elonics' DigitalTune technology will enable the company to provide a lowcost and flexible tuner chip that will place it in an ideal position to takeadvantage of future growth in the market for mobile TV. The size of theinvestment we have made demonstrates the confidence we have in the potential ofElonics' technology and management and consolidates Braveheart's reputation asone of the key supporters of innovation in this field." David Srodzinski, Chief Executive of Elonics, said; "We have worked tirelesslyover the last 3 years to refine our platform CMOS multi-standard RF technology.We have now moved from concept to successful evaluation at multiple prospectsites throughout the world with a multi-standard Tuner product. The fundingcomes at an excellent time for us as the markets are rapidly growing andprospect feedback is very good indeed". Neil Ross, head of the Scottish Venture Fund, commented, "Elonics is aninnovative Scottish company capable of becoming a world-leading business. TheScottish Venture Fund co-invests alongside the private sector to encourage moreinvestment in these exciting, growing Scottish companies." For further information, contact: Braveheart Investment Group Tavistock Communications (for Braveheart)www.braveheart-ventures.co.ukGeoffrey Thomson Rachel DrysdaleChief Executive Simon HudsonTel: 01738 587555 T Tel: 020 7920 3150 rdrysdale@tavistock.co.uk Elonics Limited Scottish Venture Fund/Scottish EnterpriseDavid Srodzinski Ruth Andrew, Scottish EnterpriseChief Executive Tel: 0141 228 2717Tel: 01506 402364 Mobile: 07768 615 154 ruth.andrew@scotent.co.uk Notes to Editors Braveheart was formed in 1997 by four Scottish businessmen as a co-investmentvehicle in order to pool their money and knowledge, increase diversification andalso reduce risk. It makes investments in young, emerging, unlisted companies where there ispotential for significant growth, through the successful commercialistion oftheir IP. Typically, Braveheart's investments are focused on British companieswith potential global technology solutions. However, the Group also maintainslimited exposure to more traditional businesses. Braveheart's portfolio ranges from start-up companies to businesses which areclose to an IPO or sale. Each year out of several hundred business plansreceived, around ten investments are made, all of which demonstrate attractiveexit potential. These opportunities emanate from Braveheart's network ofcontacts, which includes the Group's own clients, and close relationships withscience parks and universities. Braveheart has formal relationships with sevenuniversities and two business parks, giving it unique access to IP and start-upcompanies emanating from them. About ElonicsElonics was founded in September 2003 to specialise in the development of RF/Mixed Signal silicon chips for global high-volume markets. Elonics RF IC's are the most cost-effective in the market today. This is becauseall of our products are designed using sub-0.13um geometry CMOS technology anduse the DigitalTune approach to deliver additional cost, power, performance andsize advantages over competitors products. E4000 family of tuner ICs, enables efficient access to mobile TV over a widevariety of standards such as DVB-T, ISDB-T, T-DMB, DVB-H, ISDB-H (OneSeg),DMB-T, DAB and FM Radio. With its state of the art RF solutions Elonics iscommitted to enabling 'TV anytime anywhere'. www.elonics.com About the Scottish Venture FundThe Scottish Venture Fund provides investments of up to £2m per transaction inpartnership with the private sector on at least a matched funding basis insyndicated transactions, typically, between £2m and £10m. Further information onScottish Enterprise investments is available at www.scottish-enterprise.com/equity. About Scottish EnterpriseScottish Enterprise is the main economic development agency for Scotlandcovering 93% of the population from Grampian to the Borders. The ScottishEnterprise Network consists of Scottish Enterprise and 12 Local EnterpriseCompanies. Working in partnership with the private and public sectors theNetwork aims to build more and better businesses, to develop the skills andknowledge of Scottish people, and to encourage innovation to make Scottishbusiness internationally competitive. Further information on ScottishEnterprise is available at www.scottish-enterprise.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange