Vela Technologies Regulatory News (VELA)

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")

4 October 2016

Vela Technologies plc

("Vela" or the "Company")

Investment of £200,000 in THEVIBE Ltd

Introduction

The Board of Vela (AIM: VELA), the investing company focused on early stage and pre-IPO disruptive technology investments, announces that, following the announcement of the loan note fundraising on 9 September 2016, it has been approached with regards to new potential investment opportunities.

As a result £200,000 of the funds raised pursuant to the loan note fundraising are being used specifically by Vela to invest in THEVIBE Ltd (trading as Vibe Tickets) ("Vibe Tickets"), a Lancashire-based disruptive ticketing platform. Vibe Tickets is currently undertaking a c.£600,000 equity fundraising through Crowdcube, the crowdfunding platform, (the "Vibe Fundraising"). Vela has agreed to invest £200,000 in the Vibe Fundraising. Vela's investment is binding in nature and the funds are being remitted by Vela to Crowdcube today. The investment by Vela is being funded from existing cash resources. The Vibe Fundraising is expected to complete during October.

Background on Vibe Tickets

Vibe Tickets is an open fan-to-fan ethical ticketing platform that allows fans to exchange tickets for face value or less with other trusted members of the Vibe community. Vibe Tickets helps to directly connect buyers and sellers of tickets to popular events across the world. Vibe has been recommended by Which? and, following the recent success in the Virgin Media Business VOOM competition (Vibe Tickets were rated as top 3), Vibe Tickets has won the support of Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Media who are continuing to provide promotional support to Vibe Tickets. Vibe Tickets has recently launched an "app" and has a stated strategy to disrupt the secondary ticket market. Vibe Tickets was founded in 2013 by Luke Massie.

Based on the unaudited management accounts for the year ended 31 March 2016, Vibe Tickets generated a net loss of £226,920 and had net liabilities of £158,812 as at 31 March 2016. Vibe Tickets is currently pre-revenue.

For further information on Vibe Tickets and to download the app please visit: www.vibetickets.co.uk.

Investment of £200,000 in Vibe Tickets

In mid-September 2016 the Company submitted an order into Crowdcube and, as of 3 October 2016, the investment by Vela in Vibe Tickets became binding in nature. Today the Company will transfer to Crowdcube the funds pursuant to the investment in Vibe Tickets. Completion of the Vibe Fundraising remains subject to certain documentation being entered into between the investors and Crowdcube.

On completion of the investment in Vibe Tickets it is anticipated that Vela would have a resultant c. 3.3% equity interest in the share capital of Vibe Tickets (on the assumption of Vibe raising c.£600,000 through the Crowdcube funding round at a pre-money valuation of £5.4 million).

In the announcement released on 9 September 2016 it was stated that the Company would have, following completion of the loan note fundraising of £400,000, sufficient working capital for approximately 2 years. Following the investment in Vibe Tickets, and assuming no more funds are invested, the Board expect that the Company will have sufficient working capital resources to meet ongoing overheads at current levels until the end of 2017.

Commenting on the new investment, Antony Laiker (Executive Director) said:

"Vibe Tickets fits perfectly the profile of a business that Vela likes to invest in. The multi-billion-pound primary and secondary ticket markets are dominated by big companies who effectively control the pricing and distribution of tickets often to the detriment to true music or sports fans. These fans are often priced out of the market and / or charged excessive fees. Vibe Tickets offers an alternative, allowing fans to use the Vibe app, to buy and sell tickets transparently at face value or less. 

Vibe was a finalist in the recent Virgin Media Business "VOOM 2016" competition which won them the support of Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Media who are continuing to provide promotional support to Vibe. 

Although the business started life 3 years ago, and is still pre-revenue, the recent launch of the Vibe "app" has allowed the business to scale up and grow more rapidly. We wish Luke Massie and his team all the best and look forward to working with and assisting Vibe in the future."

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