Versarien Share Discussion Threads

[superg1] 13/5/2017 15:06

The wheat from chaff on NDAs is exactly what the CEO said he would do and is doing.

The beauty of the situation is that there is no temptation to take a cut throat deal as plenty want to talk.

[jointer13] 13/5/2017 12:38

well I for one am absolutely delighted he has that much interest in the company,very much a positive.

I am sure neill knows what he is doing.

horses for courses.

[serratia] 13/5/2017 11:54

The other thing to consider is that a number of applications would be the same just in different markets. If you made Graphene work in a polymer composite you could have an NDA say with a car company and an aircraft seat company, probably others as well.

[astralvision] 13/5/2017 11:37

No problems serratia, it's all about opinion and good to have these discussions.

[serratia] 13/5/2017 11:29

Well maybe/maybe not. I've run both start up and well established global companies, that's the way I see it.

[festario] 13/5/2017 10:58

VRS are going to need to build an annex, to store all the paper copies of all these NDA's.

[astralvision] 13/5/2017 10:42

I think you vastly underestimate what is required serratia .
imo
I have had practical experience of this sort of thing. Neill is very hands on and this is not a bog standard commodity they are dealing with, indeed the knowledge VRS are gaining is increasing almost on a daily basis.
It is simply not possible for Neill to effectively deal with 50-100 companies in any meaningful way.
It may be a cutting edge development but you may be surprised at how much business will be based on personal relationships, of which Neill is integral to that.
If this is to be a success he simply has to prioritise otherwise there will be a scatter-gun approach and real progress will be slow.
I'm sure Neill is aware of this and the reality probably is they are dealing, in a meaningful way, with a much smaller sub set of companies.
Investors may salivate at the thought of 50-100 transformational deals but a few moments thought, together with the relevant experience, should indicate that this is unlikely and not the correct or sensible path to follow.

[serratia] 13/5/2017 10:27

I wouldn't be as concerned. When I was selling a new product to a small company yes I had to go in and make it work on their plant and it was time consuming. When I sold to a major they did the work themselves I just provided samples. VRS NDA's are with the majors.
Also if the major has any technical questions Manchester/Cambridge step in.

[astralvision] 13/5/2017 09:43

With the small team and limited resources VRS has then talking to 50-100 companies does not sound a smart thing to do, imo. They need to urgently prioritize and get that list down to something more manageable, I would suggest around 10 should be a maximum.
Yes, field the initial enquiry and can put the others in the 'back burner' pot, but if VRS really are trying to deal with 50-100 enquiries where any of those deals could be transformational then I am seriously concerned for them and for my shareholding. I hope Neill is not doing a 'headless chicken' impersonation!

[superg1] 13/5/2017 07:37

Carbon fibre

He said that was at the forefront when asked the question and that 2 massive UK companies had signed NDAs this week on that topic.

So on the AIMs that get excited about one name chatting to them, here we have 50-100.

[superg1] 13/5/2017 07:35

So having listened to that podcast do folk still think VRS need to get busy cold calling trying to hit sales.

The CEO has said repeatedly they are run off their feet with interest. In start that has come to them not them chasing it. They attend events say what they have and it's seems the NDAs are coming in at a few per week going by the numbers since Nanene was launched.

On the big companies listed there were a few in the market cap range of £75 billion to £250 billion.

I can name just a few not listed but not the 50-100 large companies that are talking to them.

[superg1] 13/5/2017 07:23

Podcast Berlin and sales.

Plenty of mention here re when on sales. It's been said on here and now confirmed by the CEO that they are talking to many very large companies. Any one of the 50 to 100 big companies doing a deal would be transformational for VRS.


Around 19 mins 40 secs

He goes on about these big companies wanting products now, then later he goes on how VRS can deliver and the companies love that they have the backing and access to universities. He also describes how it's easily scalable to any level needed.

On the sales point and Berlin. Some keep saying when will they get sales. Well if you listen around 24 mins 47 into the podcast you will hear the CEO say that they had an enquiry from a company for smart clothing and the like. It sounded like sports and health. He only came back from Berlin yesterday and in the interview he said in 10 minutes he was having a meeting with that company.

So that to me seems to be great evidence of company wanting it now and it shows how VRS pick up much interest at such shows. Then within 24 hours of being back in the UK he had such a company having a meeting with him.

That Imo was a to die for situation for any AIM company with so many big companies keen to talk and in talks with them.

I keep saying the have the products, they have the tech, it's scalable and viable on cost. They have the backing of the two main UK graphene universities. More importantly they have the proof that it works.

I get the feeling the companies talking to VRS realise they are not some hype AIM company on spin. They have something, it's real and it works, it's a genuine business that through it's breadth via the universities and the NGI they can deliver whatever a customer needs which is transformational for the customer.

It's not oil it's not gold but having just listened to that it's far far better than any of those.

Yes talks have to turn into deals but it seems inevitable that not just one large company is going to appear with VRS but perhaps many.

IF you want to gamble on the AIM then Imo due to what they have, the way the company has been put together and the team. This then this has got to be one of the best that has ever appeared on the AIM.

Much of the tech doesn't have the issue of being disruptive in the form of killing off other products. It's a way to significantly enhancing what those big companies have already and have solves problems that may exist. It also offers the chance to introduce products that don't yet exist.

[superg1] 13/5/2017 07:00

Jeez

I just listened to the podcast. I've not heard him that enthusiastic before. Where do you start with that lot.

I'll have to listen a few more times but a first point a few of us said VRS were talking to some big companies and showed 7 names some of which were huge. They also said it was a small number of a much bigger list.

At the end Justin asked if he could give an example of one that would be transformational. The answer was there are so many 50 to 100 of them. As said it's companies contacting them not them contacting companies.

The CEO stated they have signed 2 more NDAs this week with massive UK companies.

[superg1] 13/5/2017 06:10

The KLF

I had sales chat and the CEO said their vis no need to go looking for sales at this time as they have so many talking to them at present. It's a case of working to convert interest into deals.

He said at this time a proactive sales team is not needed or visibility via websites. Near all and significant interest is going for the tech events. EG at the Hipernano event they got over 100 enquiries.

As for a name as an AIM company yes it may help but the real deal is signing contracts and creating revenue. Too many AIMs chase share prices way beyond their near term means and that's often why investors get stung badly and SPs collapse. Surely it's best to have steady ship and the growth will sort out the share price.

Graphene investments are not catching the attention of the market. But if it does and it's on the back of progress and deals then interest can become substantial and many times the level we currently see. Gervais (Miton) And Katie (Herald) I'm told a very smart cookies when it comes to the small caps and they have good holdings here.

[theklf] 13/5/2017 03:55

Some thoughts on improving the business visibility and valuation

The graphene is the exciting part of the story in business and investment terms
Does the name Versarien convey that to outside observers?
Many successful UK tech companies started in Cambridge or had Cambridge in the title (ARM,Autonomy,Cambridge Silicon Radio,Cambridge Antibody Tech)

Would it be a good idea to change the name of the Company to Cambridge Graphene?
I appreciate this might put some Manchester noses out of joint so how about incorporating that into the name as 'Cambridge and Manchester' or CAM Graphene?

What do you guys think? I think one of the reasons Haydale Graphene and AGM have higher valuations is that they have 'graphene' on the tin as it were.

[john henry] 12/5/2017 22:41

Looking sweet cyberbub

[cyberbub] 12/5/2017 20:32

The chart is looking like it's making a flag pattern, ready for another leg up soon possibly? I think it will need news of sales (or at least sales agreement) to really break out, but if those are credible/sizeable then I would imagine 50p would be within reach fairly quickly. You have to think how much it would cost to buy a company with the patents and knowhow we have. I'm pretty sure it would be well over 100p, which would still be pocket change for the sort of multinational that could benefit...Just my simple strategic view. I don't claim to have the technical knowledge of some people on here (though I do have an engineering background to an extent).GLA NAI

[superg1] 12/5/2017 20:29

Roger

One VRS critisism knowing the AIM is thst they under do it.

I find myself staring at huge companies involved in NDAs with a very sober snd under-stated head on.

I've already but carefully mentioned some names without pointing them out directly.

Some BBs would be going absolutely beserk over things I've picked up on.

I would rather it stays level-headed and what will be, will be. That is the way of VRS.

[rogerbridge] 12/5/2017 19:31

N. R. in excellent form, I also hope that he is not over doing it.

That brings me on to another subject, BREXIT, if Mrs May is successful, we are heading for BREXIT in some form, like it or not.

There are many very highly paid CEO's have upto two years to get their teams off their backsides and do an N.R. and go looking to open up new markets. I wonder how many companies in two years time will start blaming BREXIT and issuing profit warnings.
It is so easy to export to countries in the E.U. but how many of these overpaid CEO's are going to look ahead and diversify into new markets?

I was listening to an owner of an Italian company when the banking crisis was on, lots of the companies he supplied could not get credit from the banks. He said that he had no choice but to get on a plane and look for mew markets, or go under. He was successful and now the majority of his customers are outside Italy and the E.U.

I am sure that this does not apply to VRS!

[astralvision] 12/5/2017 16:16

Yes, excellent podcast.

[jointer13] 12/5/2017 15:57

good podcast lucky

neill usually sounds positive.....but he just seemed to have that extra bit of sparkle there
I get the impression we are just about to get going...fingers crossed.

feeling quite excited about vrs

[luckyorange] 12/5/2017 15:31

Podcast 15mins 40secs in

[superg1] 12/5/2017 08:24

The things mentioned in various reports about Nokia and Cambridge on the ink seem to be the various demonstrations we were shown. That included a touch screen phone, strain and various other sensors, the graphene glove and so on.

No doubt at all then that Nokia are heavily involved with VRS graphene ink.

[superg1] 12/5/2017 08:22

Nokia

I just had a quick look and you literally trip over various items about Nokia and the Cambridge graphene centre with big references to the ink. It's quite an array of uses Nokia are looking at.

With Nokia info it's easy to pick up as Cambridge ink and Nokia feature heavily before VRS came along.

EG here is an early comment in the media featuring Nokia and professor Ferrari.

South Korean mobile phone makers LG and Samsung were previously said to be the pioneers in the field, with smartphones set to hit shelves in early 2013, but it seems that Nokia is no stranger to the matter either.

In fact, the Finnish handset vendor is said to be already testing flexible displays in prototype devices, and to doing it quite successfully.

“We are working on flexible, bendable and transparent displays and surfaces that could in future be part of flexible phones, tablets, TVs and solar cells,” Prof Ferrari, who is working with Nokia, told BBC.

“Samsung is really quite advanced in this field, but we here in Cambridge have done some great work on Nokia's prototypes as well.”

While Samsung is said to be working on the release of flexible OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens, which are expected to prove highly popular among users, Nokia is looking into other technologies that would enable it to deliver flexible panels, it seems.

[superg1] 12/5/2017 08:06

A web page from the last 24hrs re 20 uses for graphene. Various uses and some interesting.

I said Nokia are still live with Cambridge ink (now VRS) and mentioned the strain sensors they demonstrated.

For those that went you may recall the model hand with sensors attached. It's in the list on the web page under the header of graphene gloves.

The comment with it

"It’s not often said, but virtual reality is not very convincing. It needs movement sensors to become so, and what better than a pair of super-responsive gloves that are sensitive to tiny changes in motion and temperature?"

“Graphene flakes printed in very thin layers are very sensitive to strain,” says Dr Darryl Cotton, Senior Researcher, Nanotechnology, Nokia Research Center in Cambridge.

Being a bit cheeky I did ask which area the first ink order went to and all I was told was the Nordic region.

So absolutely no doubt for me that Nokia are actively interested in the ink. It was said that the Nokia link is live and the bits and pieces tends to prove that. As demonstrated before in the science papers Nokia could be seen doing destruction tests on Cambridge ink Rfids.