Last checked at 22 May 2020 07:00
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22 May 2020
Tekcapital Plc
("Tekcapital", the "Company" or "the Group")
Portfolio Company Update: Guident Ltd.
Tekcapital Plc (AIM: TEK), the UK intellectual property investment group focused on creating marketplace value from investing in university technology, is very pleased to announce that Guident Ltd, ("Guident") has won the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Tech Runway® Annual tech Launch competition as one of the most promising startups in South Florida.
The competition provides the most promising startups and talented entrepreneurs in South Florida with an opportunity to join a year-long program that offers competition winners "best-in-class" instruction, mentoring, networking, marketing, and capital-raising assistance, co-working space, events, intern support, and other vital programs.
A panel of judges, including successful entrepreneurs, technology investors, entrepreneurship professors, economic development professionals, philanthropists, and commercial bankers selected Guident as the winner of the competition. The judges were convinced that the company seeking to create a Remote Monitoring and Control Center, ("RMCC") in Florida for autonomous vehicles applying artificial intelligence, and their first use-case for 'zero-touch' ground-based delivery of groceries and medicines would be the right choice to create significant value in South Florida and Nationwide.
"The 2020 Florida Atlantic University Tech Runway Launch Competition was a huge success on all levels," said Rhys L. Williams, managing director of FAU Tech Runway®. "Entrepreneurs submitted a record number of applications and out of more than 200 contestants, Guident, a company that develops software solutions for the autonomous vehicle market with their first use-case of an advanced artificial intelligent-assisted, remote tele-monitoring and control center came out on top of the competition. We can't wait to work with this new group of entrepreneurs over the next year."
Guident's immediate objective is to use its proprietary IP to build and operate the first RMCC in the state of Florida for ground-based delivery drones and autonomous vehicles. Guident plans to use the FAU incubator to accommodate its near-term growth plans and testing of its pilot RMCC on commercial delivery drones.
The Market
According to Allied Market Research "the autonomous vehicle ("AV") market is expected to reach $556 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 39%.1 Contactless or "touch-free" delivery is in high demand due to the COVID 19 pandemic.2,3 Guident believes this increased demand will accelerate the roll-out of land-based delivery drones for food and medicines to improve their availability and reduce the costs of these deliveries.
Harald Braun, Guident's Chairman and CEO said, "The selection process was extremely challenging, given the very large number of strong entries with compelling business solutions and we are very pleased that Guident was selected as the winner of the competition. Our next step is to take full advantage of the brilliant program the FAU TechRunway incubator is providing to young companies."
Dr Clifford Gross, Executive Chairman at Tekcapital, commented: "We are delighted to see the significant progress of Guident Ltd and we are confident they have the right leadership, strategy and intellectual property to make a meaningful contribution to the safety of AV's and delivery drones."
Tekcapital owns 100% of the share capital of Guident Ltd.
About Guident, Ltd.
Guident commercializes new IP & technology to enhance the utility, safety, and enjoyment of autonomous vehicles and delivery drones. Using its proprietary IP, Guident is developing artificial intelligent Apps that allow users of AV's to dispatch, monitor and control their vehicles remotely when necessary. To learn more please visit www.guident.co. To learn more please visit www.guident.co.
About FAU Tech Runway®
FAU Tech Runway® is a public-private partnership formed to incubate and accelerate early-stage technology-based companies, under the purview of FAU's Division of Research. It has provided financial support, entrepreneurial education, free workspace, investor introductions, expert mentoring, marketing assistance, student interns, and a close-knit entrepreneurial community for 93 early-stage companies since its launch. In five years, 587 jobs and 199 internships have been created; 96 FAU students have been employed; $95 million in capital has been raised from all sources, and more than $109 million in revenue has been earned. For more information on FAU Tech Runway® visit www.techrunway.fau.edu.
About Tekcapital plc
Tekcapital creates value from investing in new, university-developed intellectual properties and provides a range of IP investment services to make it easy for organisations to commercialise university-developed technology. Tekcapital is quoted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange (AIM: symbol TEK) and is headquartered in Oxford, in the UK. For more information, please visit www.tekcapital.com
LEI: 213800GOJTOV19FIFZ85
For further information, please contact:
Tekcapital Plc | Via Flagstaff | |
Clifford M. Gross, Ph.D. | ||
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) | +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 | |
Richard Morrison/Charlie Bouverat (Corporate Finance) | ||
Abigail Wayne (Corporate Broking) | ||
Flagstaff Strategic and Investor Communications |
| +44 (0) 20 7129 1474 |
Tim Thompson/Andrea Seymour/Fergus Mellon
|
This press release is for informational purposes only. The information herein does not constitute investment advice nor an offer to invest and may contain statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Guident or Tekcapital that may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by words such as "expect," "look forward to," "anticipate" "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "will," "project" or words of similar meaning. We may also make forward-looking statements in other reports, in presentations, in material delivered to customers, stakeholders and in press releases. In addition, our representatives may from time to time make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements may be based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Guident' and/or Tekcapital's management. Please note that these are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and factors, including, but not limited to those described in various disclosures. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialise, or should underlying expectations not occur or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements of Guident or Tekcapital may vary materially from those described explicitly or implicitly in the relevant forward-looking statement. Neither Guident nor Tekcapital intends, nor assumes any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.
References
1 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/autonomous-vehicle-market
2 https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-safely-order-food-delivery-takeout-and-groceries-during-coronavirus-quarantines/
3 https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/01/uber-eats-beefs-up-its-grocery-delivery-offer-as-covid-19-lockdowns-continue/