Further Investment in Elonics

RNS Number : 1632S

Braveheart Investment Group plc

06 September 2010

 



6 September 2010

Braveheart Investment Group plc

Further Investment in Elonics Ltd

Braveheart (AIM: BRH), the technology commercialisation and investment management company, today announces that it has made a further investment into Livingston-based Elonics Ltd ('Elonics' or 'the Company'). The investment, by Braveheart and its clients, was part of a £6.1m funding round led by Scottish Equity Partners. Octopus Investments, the Scottish Venture Fund and Sir Tom Farmer also contributed to the funding, alongside other private investors.

Elonics was founded in 2003 as a fabless mixed-signal semiconductor company specialising in the design and development of multi-band radio frequency (RF) silicon tuners for use in high volume consumer electronics applications in the broadcast TV industry. RF tuners can be found at the core of every television receiver and are important for picture quality. The Elonics tuner is flexible in that it can be digitally re-programmed post-manufacture to accommodate different broadcast frequencies. The platform architecture behind the technology is referred to as 'DigitalTune' and this allows the performance of the tuner to be adjusted according to signal conditions and enables the electronics manufacturers to improve reception quality while supporting multiple broadcast standards.

The Company is addressing a high growth opportunity in the broadcast TV industry, with the market for RF tuners worth an estimated $1bn in 2013, fuelled by the digital TV revolution and the increase in TV on wide range of consumer devices. The current product roadmap is focused on tuners for mains powered appliances in the home such as PCs, TVs and set top boxes. Elonics' first product, the E4000 for PC-TV applications, is currently in production, to be followed by a second product, the E4005, for standard definition TVs and set-top boxes, which is in the final stages of development.

Proceeds from the financing will be used to fund additional sales and marketing activity, and to roll-out the product roadmap.

Geoffrey Thomson, Braveheart Chief Executive said: ""This is a significant fund raising and an important milestone for Elonics. We are pleased that the business is now well capitalised to go forward."

David Srodzinski, CEO of Elonics added, "The quality and size of the investment is a testament to the very exciting prospects for Elonics and comes at a great time for the company. Sales from our first tuner products are gathering increased momentum in the PC and mobile markets, and this investment will allow us to accelerate our growth as we further expand our reach into the mainstream consumer electronics business."

 For further information please visit www.braveheartinvestmentgroup.co.uk or www.elonics.com or contact:

Braveheart Investment Group	Tavistock Communications (for Braveheart)
Geoffrey Thomson, Chief Executive	Simon Hudson/ James Midmer
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	[e-mail] [e-mail]
Elonics Ltd
David Srodzinski, CEO
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

Notes to Editors

Braveheart Investment Group is a technology commercialisation and investment management company based in Perth, Scotland. It was founded in 1997 by a small group of investors in order to encourage and syndicate investments in privately held companies that offered opportunities for significant growth. Thirteen years on, Braveheart is a public company with offices in Perth, London and Yorkshire, and a demonstrable track record in early stage technology investing, as well as an established client base of high net worth individuals. Service offerings include bespoke EIS portfolios, fund management, investment facilitation and management services.

Investments are made in young, emerging, unlisted companies where there is potential for significant growth through successful commercialisation of IP. Through close relationships with a number of leading universities and innovation centres Braveheart has access to a wide variety of emerging commercial opportunities at early stages. The Group had 27 companies in its equity portfolio as at the last year end (31 March 2010).

On 18 August 2010 Braveheart announced its proposed acquisition of the business and assets of Envestors LLP.  Established in 2004, Envestors is a specialist corporate finance advisory business that matches high growth companies with private investors. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the Financial Services Authority and the satisfaction of a number of completion formalities.

 

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