Pires joins EUR 10m funding round for investee Getvisibility

Technology investor Pires announced the completion of a €10m (£8.38m) funding round by one of its investments, Getvisibility, on Friday, which it described as an artificial intelligence-based data discovery, classification and protection platform company.

The AIM-traded firm said Getvisibility raised €10m in equity, primarily from new investors Alpha Intelligence Capital (AIC) and Fortino Capital Partners.

Some existing investors, including Pires, Sure Valley Ventures (SVV) and Manifold Investments, also made follow-on investments alongside AIC and Fortino, and other new investors.

As part of the funding round, Pires said it was investing an additional €50,000 from its existing cash resources.

Pires made its original investment of €0.25m in March 2020, with a follow-on investment of €62,000 in June 2021.

Since then, Getvisibility had made “significant progress”, and based on the post-funding round valuation, Pires' direct stake in Getvisibility, including its additional investment, was now valued at €1.5m, or over four times its total cost since it made its first investment.

In addition, Pires has a further interest in Getvisibility through its 13% interest in SVV, and an indirect interest through its holding in Sure Ventures, which together were now valued at around €1.33m.

Pires' interest in Getvisibility, in total, was therefore now valued at about €2.83m.

The company said the funds raised would be used to build out the senior management team, further develop the route-to-market, and deliver the company's near-term strategic plan.

“We are very excited about the progress that Getvisibility has made to date and the significant increase in the value of our investment,” said Pires director Nicholas Lee.

“The products and services offered by Getvisibility are becoming even more critical in today's world given the rapid growth in cybercrime and constant attacks on IT systems and data that are taking place globally on a daily basis.

“This latest funding round to raise €10m, led by global venture capital investors AIC and Fortino, clearly validates the excellent investment that Getvisibility has represented to date and strongly endorses the company's business prospects going forward.”

Lee said Getvisibility was now “well funded”, and set on a path to make “even greater progress” with its new funds.

“We look forward to providing further updates on Getvisibility's progress in due course.

“This is yet another example of the exciting results that are being achieved by Pires from its investment portfolio, indicating the potential of this portfolio going forward.”

At 1100 GMT, shares in Pires Investments were up 3.08% at 6.03p.