What it does
PLC () is an AIM-listed firm that provides funding and advisory services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
Formed in 1997 as an investment syndicate, it now specialises in four areas – equity financing, debt financing, advisory services and fund management.
What it owns
Braveheart now holds six strategic investments in its portfolio alongside other historical investments.
These included biotechnology firm Kirkstall, UV light detection group Paraytec, propeller and rotating shaft monitoring group Gyrometric Systems, microscope imaging firm PhaseFocus and Sentinel Medical, a spin-out of Paraytec developing technology to detect cancer cells in urine.
The company also has a 51.72% stake in Pharm2Farm Limited (P2F), a plant nutrients specialist.
How it’s doing
In a January, Braveheart said Paraytec (100%) has started the second round of user trials.
Paraytec is part of an Innovate UK funded R&D project (NEXUS) that includes Malvern Panalytical, the University of Central Lancashire, GSK, Medimmune and Fujifilm Diosynth.
Aggregates are an impurity that must be controlled and must stay within product specifications, so measurement is essential to ensure they meet the requirements of regulatory agencies.
Pharm 2 Farm (51.72%) has sent samples of silicon micronutrient and turf to potential customers.
Biotechnology company Kirkstall (64.67%) has appointed new distributors in South Korea and China.
Gyrometric Systems (19.95%) has developed shaft monitoring and measurement systems for revolutions as low as 0.25 revolutions per minute, which is useful for wind turbines.
Its ship drive monitoring systems, meanwhile, will be exhibited next year in September at SMM Hamburg, the world’s largest exhibition for ship technology.
Phasefocus Holdings (21.20%) has recently been granted a new US patent for a fundamental improvement in its underlying ptychography imaging technology.
The method protected by the new patent has the potential to speed up Phasefocus’s systems by a factor of 10 times.
Sentinel Medical (38.40%) is to revise the trial protocols for its prototype instrument to detect bladder cancer from urine after initial work at Sheffield University.
In the first half of the current financial year (to October) Braveheart made a loss of £122,000 ( £114,000 profit).
There was an interim dividend of 0.5p.
What the boss says: Trevor Brown
Progress continues across a broad front and we remain optimistic that this will eventually be reflected in enhanced returns to shareholders.
Inflexion points
- New round of user trials for Paraytec
- Commercial orders for Gyrometric
- Pharm 2 Farm converts interest into orders
