Pires Investments : Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

PIRES INVESTMENTS PLC

Annual Report and Financial Statements

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Company Information

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PIRES INVESTMENTS PLC

Review of Activities

Annual Report and Financial Statements

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Highlights

Financial highlights

• Net asset value ("NAV") of £7,822,000 as at the year‐end (31 December 2021: £7,223,000), an increase of 8.3% compared to the prior year figure
• NAV per share of 4.28 pence per share (2021: 4.56 pence) a decrease of 6.0% compared to the previous year
• Loss of £0.37 million for the year (year ended 31 December 2021: profit before taxation of £1.49 million)
• Placing to raise £500,000 before expenses in August 2022
• Two‐year debt funding facility amounting to £1.235 million announced on 22 December 2022
• The Pires share price is currently at a 57% discount to its NAV per share of 4.28 pence

Portfolio highlights

• Getvisibility - raised €10 million from two new venture capital investors at a significantly increased valuation
• Investment in a second Sure Valley Ventures ("SVV2") fund, alongside the British Business Bank ("BBB"), an investment arm of the UK Government SVV managed funds made new investments in Everyangle, Jaid and Retinize
• Portfolio companies continue to attract international investors such as Alpha Intelligence Capital, Fortino Capital Partners, Act Venture Capital and Furthr VC.
• Smarttech247 successfully achieved a listing on AIM, at a significantly higher valuation compared to the original investment cost.
• Sure Valley Ventures Fund ("SVV1") enters realisation phase of its investment cycle

Review of activities

Pires Investments plc is an investment company focused on next generation technology with a focus on AI. Pires invests in its portfolio companies directly, or indirectly through (i) its investment in two funds managed by SVV and (ii) its investment in Sure Ventures plc.

2022 was a testing year for small‐cap listed companies and for those companies with a technology focus. However, a significant uplift in value was achieved both from the Company's investment in Getvisibility, and Smarttech247 achieved a listing on AIM, notwithstanding difficult market conditions. More generally, the Company has taken a prudent view on the value of its investment portfolio and adjusted the value of certain of its investments downwards to reflect the current weak economic background. Consequently, the net effect of these non‐cash adjustments has, unfortunately, led to an overall loss for the year.

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PIRES INVESTMENTS PLC

Review of Activities (continued)

Annual Report and Financial Statements

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

1. Investments in SVV funds

1. Sure Valley Ventures Fund ("SVV1")

SVV1 is SVV's first fund which has completed its new investment phase and has now entered its realisation phase. It has already achieved three realisations/liquidity events to date, including the recent listing of Smarttech247, with more expected in the short term.

Within the SVV1 portfolio, highlights during 2022 include:

• Getvisibility raised €10 million from new investors including Alpha Intelligence Capital, a global venture capital firm which invests in deep artificial intelligence/machine learning technologybased companies and Fortino Capital Partners, a leading B2B software venture capital and growth equity firm.
• Admix, the leading In‐Play monetisation company that bridges the gap between gaming content and brands, merged with LandVault Inc ("LandVault") (https://landvault.io/), a builder of virtual experiences in metaverse worlds aimed at attracting people into blockchain and metaverse ecosystems, in order to enter into the Web3 space.
• A new investment was made in Everyangle. Everyangle is a Dublin‐based computer‐vision company that helps physical retailers, hospitality venues and convenience service stations optimise operations. Everyangle raised €2.7 million in a seed fundraise in October 2022. This fundraise marked the final new company investment within SVV1, and the funds will be used to accelerate sales, invest in ongoing product development, and drive further expansion in the US and UK. The funding round was led by SVV, Act Venture Capital and Furthr VC (formerly DBIC Ventures), with participation from Enterprise Ireland.
• Smarttech247 Group plc ("Smarttech247") (AIM: S247) is an established global artificial intelligence‐based cybersecurity business, specialising in automated managed detection and response. It has a successful track record of revenue growth and profitability and is positioned at the intersection of three major cyber security growth markets: security threat incidents, growth of cloud adoption and proliferation of cyber security data generation that needs to be integrated.
  On 15 December 2022, the company's shares were admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market raising gross proceeds of £3.7 million through a placing at a price of 29.66 pence per new ordinary share. Smarttech247's share price as at 19 June 2023 was 34.5 pence per share, representing an increase of approximately 16% since listing and a significant uplift compared to the level at which the investment was initially made. The recent full year and interim results of Smarttech247 support the company's growth trajectory.

As at the year end, SVV1 had a portfolio of 15 investee companies at different stages of development spanning a range of sectors. This portfolio provides Pires with exposure to a number of key, cutting‐edge and rapidly growing technology sectors. Further details of the portfolio companies and recent developments are set out below:

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