Draper Esprit (LSE:GROW), a publicly-traded venture capital firm that has invested in multiple Fintechs, has distributed a full year update for the year ending March 31, 2021.
Draper Esprit states that the “fair value growth in the period reflects strong performance across the breadth of the portfolio. Despite currency headwinds of over £50 million, the fair value increase of over 47% is significant relative to the targeted 20% annual gross portfolio returns through the cycle. With £161 million of cash reflecting the strong realisation performance in the year of £206 million, the anticipated NAV per share of not less than 728p is a 31% increase on the 555p per share at 31 March 2020.”
Martin Davis, CEO Draper Esprit, said the market for tech investments has been especially strong due in part to the COVID health crisis:
“Our impressive fair value increase reflects that, as well as the ability of our Partners to identify companies with potential for high growth. The nature of venture capital means that investments must be made throughout the cycle. Today’s strong returns are partly down to investments made when things were less buoyant. It is gratifying to see the results of our long-term investments continuing to be demonstrated by portfolio value and realisations. We have been able to maximise our realisations and, alongside our capital raise, have been able to reinvest them into the next generation of opportunities. When we raised funds in October, we set goals to increase our investment cadence significantly, to capture more investment opportunities and take larger stakes in our established winners. All of which we have achieved. We look forward to strengthening the portfolio further to enable us to outperform throughout the cycle.”
Draper Esprit states that Gross Portfolio Value (unaudited) is expected to be not less than £955 million versus £703 million as of 31 March 2020. Gross Portfolio increase in fair value (unaudited) is expected to be not less than £330 million (47%) over the year (year to 31 March 2020: £59 million).
The company predicts a strong deal pipeline with over £50 million of deals approved by the investment committee and further visibility on over £75 million of near-term qualified pipeline.
Currently, Draper Esprit is a shareholder in a portfolio of 67 companies with 15 of those being part of their core portfolio which accounts for over 60% of their holdings. Core companies include UiPath, Aircall, Graphcore, and Revolut.
Draper Esprit provides an opportunity for retail investors to access fast-growing tech businesses, without having to commit to long-term investments with limited liquidity.
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