TIDMVELA
RNS Number : 6211T
Vela Technologies PLC
16 October 2017
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR")
16 October 2017
Vela Technologies plc
("Vela" or the "Company")
Investment of GBP200,000 in THEVIBE Ltd
The Board of Vela (AIM: VELA), the investing company focused on
early stage and pre-IPO disruptive technology investments,
announces that, following the announcement on 4 October 2016
regarding an investment in THEVIBE Ltd (trading as Vibe Tickets)
("Vibe Tickets"), the Company has agreed to invest a further
GBP200,000 in Vibe Tickets as part of a follow-on funding round
being undertaken.
Vibe Tickets has raised c.GBP750,000 of follow-on funding,
comprised of GBP618,450 of equity funding and the balance being the
conversion of a loan note and associated interest (the "Vibe
Fundraise"). The total funds raised to date by Vibe Tickets, a
pre-revenue business, stands at c.GBP1.7 million. The Vibe
Fundraise is being carried out to provide Vibe Tickets with
additional working capital to enable Vibe to expand its offering
into new verticals, build up its user base and enable Vibe Tickets
to add to its headcount.
On completion of this investment in Vibe Tickets it is
anticipated that Vela will have a resultant 5.17% equity interest
in the share capital of Vibe Tickets.
In addition, as part of the Vibe Fundraise, the investors in the
current funding round, including Vela, will be issued with warrants
to acquire additional new ordinary shares in Vibe Tickets for
nominal consideration. The warrants will only be exercisable if and
when the next funding round is undertaken by Vibe Tickets and
providing this funding round raises in excess of GBP1,000,000. The
exercise price of the warrants will equate to a 25% discount to the
value of this next funding round.
Based on the last published accounts for the year ended 31 March
2016, Vibe Tickets generated a net loss of GBP226,931 and had net
liabilities of GBP158,822 as at 31 March 2016. Vibe Tickets is
currently pre-revenue.
Background on Vibe Tickets
Vibe Tickets is an open fan-to-fan ethical ticketing platform
that allows fans to exchange tickets with other trusted members of
the Vibe community. Vibe Tickets helps to directly connect buyers
and sellers of tickets to popular events across the world. Vibe has
been recommended by Which? and, following the recent success in the
Virgin Media Business VOOM competition (Vibe Tickets were rated as
top 3), Vibe Tickets has won the support of Sir Richard Branson and
Virgin Media who are continuing to provide promotional support to
Vibe Tickets. Vibe Tickets has recently launched an "app" and has a
stated strategy to disrupt the secondary ticket market. Vibe
Tickets was founded in 2013 by Luke Massie.
For further information on Vibe Tickets and to download the app
please visit: www.vibetickets.co.uk.
Vibe's press release in relation to the fundraising round is
copied below
GBP1.7m raised to date for disruptive social marketplace
Vibe Tickets raises additional funds as it expands London-based
team with three new appointments including two former-Ticketmaster
industry specialists
Transparent social marketplace Vibe Tickets has raised a further
GBP750k of follow-on funding, meaning total investment to date for
the pre-revenue business stands at GBP1.7m.
Since 2013, founder and managing director Luke Massie, now 24,
has raised over GBP1.7m through a combination of crowdfunding, seed
capital and private investment. In his second round of funding,
Luke aims to raise in excess of GBP2m from new investors, which
would value the business at over GBP10m. Founder Luke is the
majority shareholder of the business and has made it his aim to
maintain controlling stake as the company scales and takes on new
investment. Conversations with global venture capitalists,
early-stage tech funds and family offices are in the latter stages,
with a number of offers already on the table.
Those backing in the company's ambitious plans for further
global expansion, as a result of its successes to date, include
current investors and technology entrepreneurs Scott Fletcher MBE
and Matt Newing, along with AIM investment company Vela
Technologies PLC.
This additional funding follows the recent announcement of Vibe
Tickets' new London office and a string of new appointments who
left industry players, including Ticketmaster and Sky Tickets to
join the disruptive business. The newest recruits include Steph
Maxwell and Daniel Gould as senior business development managers,
and Chelsea Sargautis as senior social strategist. The latest
investment will provide Vibe with operating capital, enabling it to
expand its offering into new verticals, build its user base and
continue to headhunt and recruit the best talent from across the
industry.
Vibe Tickets is transparent, trusted and dynamic, allowing fans
to exchange and negotiate on the price of tickets for live events.
The disruptive fan-to-fan app has organically built a following of
more than 70,000 users across eight countries since 2013 and has
also been backed by serial entrepreneur and Virgin boss Sir Richard
Branson, in addition to a range of other investors.
Commenting on this news, Luke Massie said: "Vibe has massive
potential to completely transform the way people buy and sell live
event tickets and share experiences with others. We've generated
exponential growth over the last year both in terms of our user
base and the size of our team, and our new London office is
enabling us to recruit the brightest minds in the industry.
"Scott, Matt and Vela Technologies' confidence in myself and the
business has been reinforced by their recent investment and this
will be used to accelerate the business at an even greater rate.
I'm determined to see our offering further expand beyond tickets
and increase our user base to over two million in the next two
years. Our goal is to become the number one destination for live
events for fans across the globe."
Scott Fletcher added: "Vibe Tickets is a force to be reckoned
with in the secondary ticketing market and offers something
completely unique that others in the market just don't have the
vision to foresee.
"At its core, Vibe is about creating transparency for the
people. It's a young and dynamic business that is attracting the
best talent and constantly evolving its platform to create a
seamless experience for its users. Luke's ambitions are boundless
and he has a fantastic team behind him. I have no doubt that Vibe
has the potential to revolutionise the market."
For further information please contact:
Vela Technologies plc
Brent Fitzpatrick, Non-Executive
Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 7802
Antony Laiker, Director 262 443
Allenby Capital Limited
(Nominated Adviser)
Nick Athanas / Katrina Perez Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328
/ Asha Chotai 5656
Smaller Company Capital Limited
(Broker)
Rupert Williams / Jeremy Woodgate Tel: +44 (0) 20 3651
2910
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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