Tern Plc (AIM:TERN), the company focused on value creation from Internet of Things (“IoT”) technology businesses, is pleased to note that following the agreement for Tern to participate in the new Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund (the “SVV Fund”), announced on 2 March 2022, the new SVV Fund has undertaken its first investment.
The SVV Fund has led a £2 million seed investment round, with the SVV Fund providing a £1 million investment in RETìníZE Limited (“RETìníZE”), an award-winning creative-technology company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. RETìníZE is developing an innovative software product, Animotive, that is harnessing virtual reality technologies to transform the 3D animation production process. The investment is designed to drive RETìníZE’s growth plan for the next two-years and the global rollout of Animotive.
Tern’s contribution to the SVV Fund’s investment in RETìníZE will be covered by the approximately £90,000 initially invested by Tern in the SVV Fund, as previously announced.
The SVV Fund are joined in RETìníZE’s investment round by investors from the UK, USA, Ireland and the Netherlands, including: TechStart Ventures, who are following on from their 2019 pre-seed investment; VGC Partners; Clarendon/Co-fund NI; Lonely Horse Investments; Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, the multi Emmy award-winning producers behind the CBS hit show ‘the Amazing Race’; and Ben Morrow, Senior Product Manager, Adobe Aero (Adobe’s AR creation tool).
Commenting, Al Sisto, CEO of Tern said: “We are delighted to see the SVV Fund make their first investment. In RETìníZE they are investing in an exciting company developing innovative technology that fits very well with Tern’s existing participation in the virtual reality space. As a member of the SVV Fund’s Investor Committee, I look forward to working with RETìníZE, with a view to benefiting both RETìníZE and Tern’s wider network of companies.”
RETìníZE CEO, Phil Morrow, said: “We are thrilled to have Sure Valley on board as our lead investor – they have a deep knowledge of the creative tech sector and what impressed us most was the time they took to really understand and challenge our long-term goals and objectives. This investment will supercharge our growth trajectory and will allow us to take Animotive to the international market.”
Sure Valley Ventures Principal, Isabelle O’Keeffe, said: “We are delighted to be able to support RETìníZE as the first investment of our recently launched software fund, as it enters this exciting new phase. We recognise that the immersive software sector is poised for exponential growth, and the plans that RETìníZE has for Animotive will position the company at the forefront of this expansion. We will continue to identify new opportunities in Metaverse, AI and Cybersecurity as we deploy our Fund II capital, with a focus on companies, like RETìníZE, which are bringing a disruptive innovation to market.”
