IP Group gets involved in Ultrahaptics fundraising round

Developer of intellectual property-based businesses IP Group noted on Wednesday that its portfolio company, Ultrahaptics, had completed a fundraising of £17.9m.

The FTSE 250 firm said the funding, which would support Ultrahaptics’ commercial and research and development activities through its global expansion and entry into virtual and augmented reality markets, was supported both by existing shareholders - including IP Group and Woodford Investment Management - and new investors Cornes Group and Dolby Family Ventures.

“Ultrahaptics, a spin-out from the University of Bristol, has developed a unique technology that uses ultrasound to project sensations through the air, directly onto a user's hand,” IP Group explained in a statement.

“The technology enables entirely new user interfaces and experiences, making it possible to interact with virtual objects and applications in innovative yet intuitive and natural ways.

“Users can 'feel' buttons and interact with virtual objects in mid-air, using gestures to interface with technology.”

Following completion of the financing round, IP Group's direct undiluted beneficial stake of 27.5% in Ultrahaptics was valued at £19.4m, and IP Venture Fund II's 10.4% stake was valued at £7.3m.

The fundraising resulted in a direct unrealised fair value gain to IP Group of £8.8m and a fair value gain of £3.2m to IP Venture Fund II.

As a result of the group's 33% limited partnership interest in IP Venture Fund II, its effective beneficial interest in Ultrahaptics was approximately 31.0% and the net fair value gain was £9.8m.

IP Group and IP Venture Fund II committed £3.4m and £1.5m respectively to the fundraising.

“Ultrahaptics' technology is aimed at a variety of different applications in which touchless interfaces are being developed from automotive, where the company has developed concept vehicles with both BOSCH and HARMAN, to industrial controls, medical interfaces, and AR and VR environments,” the board added.