Molten Ventures Share Discussion Threads

[w13ken] 22/9/2021 14:36

Thought Machine scores JP Morgan as a client. Another positive surprise. Many of the companies in GROW's portfolio are getting big wins.

"JP Morgan has selected UK fintech Thought Machine to overhaul its core banking systems across the banking giant’s entire US retail network.

The partnership will see JP Morgan’s Chase retail bank moved onto Thought Machine’s Vault platform in the US.

AltFi understands Thought Machine is also doing some work for JP Morgan on the recent launch of Chase in the UK.

It’s another big client win for Thought Machine, which in the last few months has provided the core banking for Standard Chartered launching its digital bank Mox in Hong Kong, and Sweden’s SEB launching UNQUO—a banking service for SMEs and entrepreneurs.

“JPMorgan Chase represents one of the most ambitious, powerful financial institutions in the world—and our joint work signals to the finance industry that cloud native core banking technology is the future for financial services,” said Thought Machine CEO and founder Paul Taylor.

[w13ken] 22/9/2021 11:53

"...Berenberg said Draper Esprit, which it selected as a top pick for 2021, had "not disappointed" thus far, yielding a return of 65% year-to-date and outperforming the FTSE 250 by 53% and the US and European tech indices by around 45% and 37%, respectively.

The German bank also highlighted that since June, markets had pushed on as valuations continue to expand in the technology sector, noting that this, combined with some new investment updates, gives it confidence that the company will outperform prior estimates with more capital deployed and the company achieving higher uplifts to its portfolio fair value..."

www.sharecast.com/news/broker-recommendations/berenberg-raises-target-price-on-draper-esprit--8111822.html

[w13ken] 22/9/2021 09:53

BERENBERG RAISES DRAPER ESPRIT PRICE TARGET TO 1,200 (1,000) PENCE - 'BUY'

[mike the mechanic] 17/9/2021 16:56

It depends on why the share price is at a premium to the declared asset value.
Most ITs hold quoted stocks which change daily but when the investment isn't quoted you have to wait for the revaluation

[nimbo1] 17/9/2021 13:40

Im holding some here btw, you really need exposure to these sorts of things for a chance of outperforming even though it can be uncomfortable at times

[w13ken] 17/9/2021 12:31

It could double or triple more quickly elsewhere but at what risk? If you know of others where the risk is lower then let me know :-)

I'm in since Jan 2020 and have topped up on numerous occasions so very happy with progress, management and the future outlook. My #1 portfolio holding.

[igbertsponk] 17/9/2021 12:24

This has traded at a premium for years, and always catches up each time they announce new investment values.

[nimbo1] 17/9/2021 12:23

in my experience buying anything at a premium to NAV is asking for trouble in the medium term - premiums hardly ever hold as the market suddenly screws you over to reverse how special something looks in the here and now. I think long term this is a great place to have money investing in innovation etc. Short term price probably needs to tread water for a bit, doesn't necessarily mean its a sell though and it might just go straight back up.

[p1nkfish] 17/9/2021 07:56

If you were in at the lows this has offered a 2.5x upside approx.
The question now becomes one of what next?
Could that money now double or triple quicker elsewhere?

[brexitplus] 17/9/2021 07:15

Draper Esprit plc

("Draper Esprit", "the Group" or the "Company")

Investment update

Draper Esprit (LSE: GROW, Euronext Dublin: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, today provides an update on recent developments in its portfolio.

Key highlights are as follows:
· Continued capital deployment in the increasing number of growth opportunities in the European venture capital market, investing a total of £130 million during the year to date including 8 new, and 6 follow-on, investments.
· Additional investments of £25m and £15m in existing portfolio companies Form3 and CoachHub, respectively.
· Existing portfolio company Cazoo lists on the New York Stock Exchange, receiving proceeds of over $1bn before expenses.

FORM3
Draper Esprit participated with a further £25m in a $160m Series C round in platform payment technology provider Form3. The round was led by new investor Goldman Sachs and also included existing investors Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, Barclays, Mastercard and 83North. Founded In 2016, Form3 is the leading platform payment technology provider and offers an alternative to the traditional payment infrastructure model, providing an always-on, cloud-native, Payments-as-a-Service platform. Form3 is trusted by some of the UK and Europe's biggest Tier 1 banks and fastest-growing Fintechs to handle their critical payments architecture.

Based on the valuation implied by the fundraising, the Company's gross fair value holding (before carry deductions) is approximately £58 million. Excluding the £25 million of newly invested capital, this is an uplift of approximately £23 million to the March 2021 gross fair value of £10 million.

COACHHUB
In September, Draper Esprit participated with a further £15 million investment in an $80 million Series B extension round in CoachHub, supported by existing investors RTP Global, HV Capital, Signals Venture Capital, Partech and Speedinvest. CoachHub is the leading global talent development platform and enables organisations to create a personalised, measurable and scalable coaching program for the entire workforce, regardless of department and seniority level. CoachHub uses artificial intelligence to match individuals with more than 2,500 certified business and well-being coaches in 70 countries across six continents, with coaching sessions available in more than 60 languages.

CAZOO
In August, Draper Esprit portfolio company Cazoo announced its business combination with AJAX I and its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Cazoo (NYSE: CZOO) received $1bn in proceeds before expenses from the transaction, which will be used to further build out its brand and infrastructure. Cazoo is an online car retailer which, since being founded in 2018, has delivered over 35,000 cars to customers across the UK and mainland Europe. Following its recent acquisitions, Cazoo is also now Europe's leading car subscription player with thousands of subscribers across the UK, Germany and France.

Based on the share price of $9/share the Company's gross fair value holding (before carry deductions) is approximately £37 million, which is an uplift of approximately £11 million to the March 2021 gross fair value of £26 million.

Martin Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Draper Esprit, commented:

"Our recent activity has demonstrated the strength of our portfolio and our investment team, and we have been able to participate in follow-on rounds in some of the more established businesses in our portfolio, such as CoachHub and Form3. Cazoo's IPO is further evidence of this, as in only three years, it has established itself as one of the most significant players in the European used car market. As we recover from the pandemic, the technology sector continues to go from strength to strength and we are well positioned to continue to support the most promising companies."

[1318myl] 15/9/2021 15:51

Downtrend all the way to 950 if supported

[igbertsponk] 07/9/2021 11:17

Trebling won't take long at this rate!

[its the oxman] 03/9/2021 08:36

Give it 3 years then. Can only see massive growth here.

[jdman] 03/9/2021 06:09

It will take a while. Current ranking is 242nd . To get into the FTSE(100) will take at least a trebling of the current share price

[makinbuks] 02/9/2021 10:37

Do we know if Thought Machine is profitable? I am enjoying the ride here but have concerns that our stake gets marked higher just because someone else comes in at that level. That is a dangerous game in market with so much hot money. Everyone wants in and they just chase the prices up

[charlotte2020] 01/9/2021 22:21

next stop Ftse 100

[w13ken] 01/9/2021 22:16

The latest Trustpilot valuation by my calculations:
* £78.3m banked so far in March 2021
* 7.9% retained of 1.88billion (1st Sept valuation) = £148.5m.
I make that about £227m from their initial £29.7m investment!
They should be able to sell that 7.9% later this month when the 6-month tie-in expires and I believe that they will realise at least some of this investment prior to the H1 results coming out, in the way that they sold some prior to the FY results being released. Given Trustpilot's continued climb they may choose to sell off every 6 months prior to half-yearly results.

[w13ken] 01/9/2021 21:04

FTSE 250 entry confirmed, based on Wednesday's close. Never in much doubt but it will be interesting to see the effect it has, if we didn't already see signs of that this week. We can certainly expect to be featured in more financial news stories and, I hope, that there will be profiles written that introduce GROW to a wider audience and summarise its amazing potential. Have pension funds and trackers been able to buy in before now? Maybe not.

Hold on to your hats :-)

"Companies that were promoted to the FTSE 250 were: Endeavour Mining, Darktrace, Bridgepoint, Blackrock Throgmorton Trust, Draper Esprit and Baltic Classifieds."

[w13ken] 01/9/2021 18:45

Thought Machine is another GROW Unicorn and Revolut gets a mention too...

[brexitplus] 01/9/2021 17:27

Onwards and upwards.

[igbertsponk] 31/8/2021 19:37

Wouldn't be surprised to see some Chinese interest here.... easy access to the cream of European VC.

[the white house] 31/8/2021 14:48

Long DP, short Cazoo

[w13ken] 30/8/2021 19:15

rik, they are both worded badly and ambiguously. In the Evening Standard article below it says that Chesterman will make near a billion and DMGT north of a billion so the $80m may be solely for Draper. My original calculations for GROW had the value at nearer £30m but that was a little sketchy. Anyway we'll find out soon. H1 figures will be released in a few weeks, most probably with a new NAV figure and potential sales of Cazoo, UIPath and TrustPilot (where the 6-month tie-in is about to expire).
As for where GROW will spend existing cash and any cash from the above, it could be in Scandanavia as there is a big in-person show that Draper are attending in Helsinki in a few months:

[brexitplus] 30/8/2021 13:48

Could this be due to their investment in GROW, or do they have separate investments?

[rik shaw] 30/8/2021 11:59

Both of your extracts above imply that GROW will receive $80M in cash as a result of the flotation, but if you read each article they both associate the $80M with three existing shareholders.

'Founder and CEO Alex Chesterman and the existing shareholders...are poised to make $80m (£58.1m) as a result