FastForward stock surges on investee company success

FastForward Innovations announced on Thursday that its investee company, Factom, has raised $4.2m in new funding in its Series A financing round, led by venture capitalist Tim Draper of Draper Associates.

The AIM-traded early-stage investment firm said that, having recently won a $0.2m grant from the US Department of Homeland Security, Austin, Texas-based Factom company plans to use the new funds to more aggressively grow the company, including building a series of unnamed new products for its blockchain data network.

FastForward's original investment in Factom was made 16 October 2015, with a reported value of £0.28m at the time of FastForward's annual report and accounts to 31 March 2016.

The firm’s board said Thursday’s Series A financing values FastForward's investment at approximately £0.56m, an increase of approximately 100%.

“We are ecstatic with this increase in valuation for our investment in Factom, which exemplifies what we believe to be true of much of our portfolio: that value continues to be created in our businesses, and that many of our investee companies are worth significantly more today than the amount we invested,” said FastForward CEO Lorne Abony.

At 1403 BST, shares in FastForward Innovations were up 6.42% at 14.5p.