Last checked at 7 Sep 2020 07:00
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). With the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
7 September 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 pleased to announce that portfolio company Guident has entered into a Strategic Alliance with Bestmile USA, Inc.
This strategic alliance with Bestmile will focus on several areas for collaboration in Europe and North America. This will include providing Guident's patented, advanced teleoperation for autonomous and human-driven vehicles to enhance customer safety and security, incorporating a reliable, low latency connection to any advanced mobile network solution. We believe this strategic alliance is a key milestone for both companies to address a critical need in the autonomous vehicle ecosystem and will enable both companies to provide a more complete solution to their customers.
Initially launched in 2014, Bestmile has pioneered the operations of autonomous vehicles into real-life mobility solutions. Today, Bestmile technology is deployed worldwide, powering cutting-edge mobility solutions moving thousands of people every day.
Rich Tehrani, CEO and Group Editor-in-Chief of TMC said, "Guident's SaaS solution providing AI-based autonomous services are perfect for a number of applications including zero-touch delivery companies, vehicle manufacturers, smart cities and fleet operators."
Guident provides patented artificial intelligence solutions for autonomous vehicles and drones including valet systems, concierge services, remote monitoring and control and connected vehicle data sharing for active safety. Additionally, Guident's teleoperation system is designed to integrate within smart cities to improve the safety and performance of transportation in the smart city environment.
"We are very excited to announce this strategic alliance with Bestmile and we believe that working together will enable the successful integration and application of Guident's advanced teleoperation and control system for autonomous vehicles with Bestmile's Fleet Orchestration Platform," says Harald Braun, Chairman & CEO of Guident.
The Market
According to Allied Market Research, "the autonomous vehicle 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.
About Bestmile SA
Bestmile's Fleet Orchestration Platform empowers mobility providers to deploy, manage and optimize autonomous and conventional vehicle fleets, supporting time-based and on-demand services, regardless of the vehicle brand or type. The Bestmile platform allows operators to support multi-service offerings in a safe and efficient manner by integrating new mobility services in the existing transportation ecosystem. Bestmile's Fleet Orchestration Platform is being used daily throughout the world in shared autonomous and conventional fleets in pedestrian areas and on public roads. Incorporated in 2014, Bestmile has global offices in San Francisco (USA) and Lausanne (Switzerland). To learn more please visit https://bestmile.com/
About Guident, Ltd.
Guident commercializes new technology to enhance the safety, efficiency and utility of autonomous vehicles and ground-based drones using its proprietary IP & software apps for remote monitoring and control. To learn more please visit www.guident.co
Tekcapital owns 100% of the share capital of Guident Ltd.
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 Joint 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/