Mercia Asset Management Share Discussion Threads

[sev22] 07/7/2020 15:48

MERCIA EIS FUNDS.
(7th July 2020)

SleepCogni has been awarded a third round of funding from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK in the form of a continuity grant. The funding will be used to pivot its existing, patented insomnia therapy device onto an online platform in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The grant will enable SleepCogni to expedite its vision for a virtual care pathway which combines a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) biofeedback device with real-time analytics; enabling clinicians to diagnose and treat sleep disorders remotely. Data visualisations and dashboards will support clinicians and therapists in the evaluation, management and personalisation of their relationship with patients, which will also remove geographical barriers to the delivery of care.

The pandemic has led to rapid adoption of virtual care and remote monitoring technology, helping patients and physicians stay connected whilst avoiding physical contact. In addition, Covid-19 has, for several reasons, pushed and in some cases, forced consumers to manage their own health and wellbeing via online resources and apps.

Since inception, SleepCogni has formed exciting collaborations with several organisations, including two prestigious universities and world-leading CBT-I specialists. To support this next phase of development, SleepCogni will collaborate with DareData Engineering and Amazon’s AWS Activate program to deliver cloud-based data collection, processing, analysis and visualisation.

This Innovate UK award, combined with an additional financial injection totals a six figure sum investment in the business over the last month. This follows on from SleepCogni’s ‘Biocatalyst grant funding’ award in September 2019 for its large-scale clinical trials in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University.

It is anticipated that this development will build on recent international recognition with SleepCogni being shortlisted for two highly coveted awards at the CogX Global Leadership Summit & Festival of AI & Emerging Technologies.

Good Health and Well-Being Award
Best Innovation in Diagnostics
Richard Mills CEO of SleepCogni says:

“This grant will allow us to rapidly pivot in order to meet the demand of the new world of virtual care and remote monitoring. We’re passionate about improving the patient experience and to this end, our focus will be on ensuring patients feel engaged and informed throughout the identification, assessment and management process by providing access to their physiological data – levelling out the information exchange and knowledge sharing between clinician and patient.

“We selected DareData as data partner because of their capability and experience in understanding physiological data. Their expertise will support the build of a robust, scalable and secure data infrastructure platform”.

Sam Hopkins, Co-Founder and Senior Data Engineer & Scientist at DareData Engineering;

“We are excited to assist in architecting the data infrastructure for SleepCogni’s unique wearable device. The number and granularity of the data streams that need to be gathered, processed, analysed, and turned into actionable information provide the type of rare technical challenge that we thrive on.

“DareData is committed to delivering a state-of-the-art technical solution built on top of Amazon AWS and Snowflake Data Warehouse. These technologies will provide us with everything that is required to safely encrypt, store, anonymise, and analyse the plethora of sensor data that is required to make a real difference in a person’s life”.

[sev22] 02/7/2020 10:36

@MERCIA_PLC

Join @Mercia_PLC's Investment Director, Jill Williams who will be discussing alongside @WardHadaway, the outlook for the future of investing in growth and the corporate transactions market. #supportinggrowth #businesssupport

[p1nkfish] 02/7/2020 10:02

longer its down at this price the higher the probability they reprice their options AGAIN.

[wan] 01/7/2020 07:20

Some good/interesting news announced today by Mercia regarding MIP Diagnostics and scaling the business and joining Mercia's direct investment portfolio.

Readers may recall that I have highlighted MIP Diagnostics previously. I don't think they will replace antibodies anytime soon, but it's definitely one to watch in terms of new applications and/or a robust alternative in challenging climate/situations.

[dennisbergkamp] 26/6/2020 22:09

Anyone get on the Zoom call today?

Totally forgot!

D

[sev22] 26/6/2020 18:46

@MERCIA_PLC

It has been described as “one of the most immersive VR games you’ll play this year”. 🎮 Congratulations to all at @nDreamsVR on the release of Phantom: Covert Ops today. #vr #gaming #Oculus pic.twitter.com/oIC7pE7hI8

[deltaham] 19/6/2020 14:35

Here's one posted on their site yesterday: "A Middlesbrough start-up which could revolutionise the way companies price their products has raised £650,000 from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and private investors.

Bubo.AI’s platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse customers’ behaviour to understand what they are willing to pay, then recommends the optimum price to sales staff. The company also supports sales staff to avoid them giving unnecessary discounts...."

[sev22] 18/6/2020 20:47

@MERCIA_PLC

We love gaming and this latest investment into @SockMonkeyLtd through our #npif equity fund is not only an exciting new addition to the portfolio it's also a great asset to the #northeast #digital scene. bit.ly/2BfG1tw pic.twitter.com/YescbLRCQF

While the rest of the economy has been in lockdown over the last three months, UK gaming is in rude health. The global market is forecast to grow at c9% annually for years into the future.

[varies] 10/6/2020 15:17

rambutan2
Thank you very much for posting these details

[rambutan2] 10/6/2020 14:51

Best to use original sources:

[varies] 10/6/2020 12:25

Would someone here kindly tell me whether Woodford Investment Management still has a significant stake ?
Morningstar shows Woodford as holding nearly 75 million shares and 24.72% of the capital.
This is plainly wrong as there are now about 450 million shares in issue.
If Woodford still held 75m shares, this would be under 17% but I suspect that W's stake is much lower. It may be, of course, that W holds no MERC shares at all.

[dennisbergkamp] 06/6/2020 17:11

Thanks for coming back to me Pink.

You’ve had a frustrating time!

Just hope things go where they should based on their investments

D

[p1nkfish] 06/6/2020 14:13

I was in and out since float. Recently added on substantial weakness. Average is about 21-22p. Lost some £ once and made it back. Had eye on their score card since about float.

Everything I have posted on their actions/performance cam be found to be true.

Very frustrating.

Dyor.

[waterfall city] 06/6/2020 12:58

Oakley did a discounted share issue to ironically woodford a few years ago and that upset a lot of PIs,afterwards it said it didn't intend to raise any more money and has gone from strength to strength since.
I'm hoping for a similar outcome here.

[dennisbergkamp] 06/6/2020 12:25

Pink,

How long have you been invested here?

I’ve only jumped on in the last month or so and I’m keen to know what length of time has allowed you to form your opinion

Thanks
D

[p1nkfish] 06/6/2020 11:06

I think we pi's are an inconvenience to the company in as much as we expect to see outward signs of progress by market cap increases. They have to.deliver some value that moves this up. I go back to the Science Warehouse exit, repricing of options and the funding round. Repeatedly disappointing behaviour by management.

Portfolio looks ok/good, there appears potential there. It's behaviour that disappoints.

Comments?

[p1nkfish] 06/6/2020 08:43

Shareholder - mentioned once in the article and not quoted as Payton having used the word, the author did.

Not sure the M25 comment is correct when OX, BS and CB are outside and summed with other regions make a very large difference.

It's a CEO talking his book as expected and not mentioning shareholders. What chance they do tap the market for another round if the share price does move up? Notice "ambition", didnt say they wouldn't.

[redartbmud] 06/6/2020 07:34

wan

Hopeful?
Sceptical!

[wan] 06/6/2020 06:47

5th June 2020
Mercia Asset Management aims to inject capital into under-served UK regions

Payton added that the company is now profitable and cash generative, well ahead of its target, adding that the firm has “an ambition” to move towards dividend payments and ‘evergreen’ its balance sheet without the need for a further public market fund raise.

For shareholders, one attraction of Mercia’s own business model is that around 80% of Mercia’s revenue is contracted recurring, meaning it can estimate future income “with confidence month-on-month and year-to-year”, the CEO said.

Full story -

Ambition is one thing, but investors will only be interested in that being effectively demonstrated by delivery! In this regard I remain hopeful.

[redartbmud] 05/6/2020 10:06

pink

Agreed.

[p1nkfish] 05/6/2020 10:01

I was lucky here and averaged down nicely but not satisfied with management communications nor attitude to pi's.

Certainly potential here (so I hold) but management look cosy and have already repriced options once.

It's more for them than PIs imho.

[dennisbergkamp] 05/6/2020 09:50

At least those running the company have some skin in the game. Something positive

D