REG-Augmentum Fintech plc: Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2025
Today 07:02
2 December 2025
Augmentum Fintech plc
Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2025
Augmentum Fintech plc (LSE: AUGM) (the "Company" or "Augmentum"), Europe's
leading publicly listed fintech fund, announces its unaudited Half Year
Results for the six months ended 30 September 2025.
Financial highlights
• NAV before performance fee 1 of
£282.3m (31 March 2025: £285.4 million).
• NAV per share after performance fee 2
of 159.5p (31 March 2025: 161.5p).
• Share price of 87.8p (31 March 2025: 85.0p),
representing a 45.0% discount to NAV per share after performance fee (31 March
2025: 47.4%).
• Cash reserves of £22.4 million 3
with no debt (31 March 2025: £29.3 million).
• The asset value of the top four positions plus cash
exceeds the market capitalisation, taking no account of the remaining 23
portfolio companies (with a current valuation of £125 million).
• Realisations of £102.9 million since IPO.
Portfolio and investment highlights
• As at 30 September 2025, the portfolio comprised 27
companies.
• Eight 4 exits since inception,
realising an average premium of 33% to last reported valuations, and
representing a combined IRR of 31%
• The top five assets, representing 53% of NAV,
provide:
ᵒ A blended profit growth rate of 160% 5
.
ᵒ A blended revenue growth rate of 34% 6
.
• Tide closed a $120 million funding round at a $1.5
billion valuation and now has more than 1.6 million customers globally.
• Zopa Bank continued its strong profit trajectory from
2024 and acquired payments platform Rvvup to enhance its product offering.
• iwoca delivered strong performance, generating £234
million in revenue (64.2% YoY growth) and £59 million in profit before tax
(41.2% YoY growth) in 2024, and is now a top three holding.
• Gemini, the digital asset platform, went public and
commenced trading on the NASDAQ exchange.
• The portfolio achieved combined annual revenue growth
of 24% (from £1.0bn to £1.2bn).
Investment activity
• During the period, a total of £5.8 million was
deployed. Of this, £4.1 million was invested in two new companies, including
our share of the £4.5 million funding round we led for RetailBook. The
remaining £1.7 million was deployed across three follow-on investments.
Post period end
• Partial exit of investment in Parafi, returning £2.7
million, equivalent to the total initial cost.
Notes
1. NAV before performance fee, NAV after performance fee is
£266.9m
2. The Board considers NAV per share after performance fee to be
the most appropriate measure of NAV per share attributable to shareholders.
3. As at 19 November 2025.
4. Excludes Parafi which was exited after period end.
5. Blended profit growth of the top 5 companies by Fair Value. PBT
used where available, otherwise next best reported profit metric used
6. Blended revenue growth taken as LTM to September 2025 vs LTM to
September 2024 of the top 5 companies by Fair Value. Any outliers (>250%) have
been capped to 250% for comparability.
William Reeve, Chairman of Augmentum Fintech plc commented
: “Fintech, our target market, has had a broadly positive six months, with
the IPO market showing signs of warming up. The continued disconnect between
our market value and the value of the underlying portfolio remains
frustrating and unjustified .”
“The fundamental strength of the portfolio provides a stark contrast to this
market valuation: our underlying private growth companies delivered solid
trading performance, achieving 23% revenue growth and an 8.5% EBITDA margin.
The fact that the valuation of our top four holdings plus cash exceeds our
entire market capitalisation, attributing no value to the remaining £125
million of assets, proves the significant undervaluation of the Company.
“We believe this combination of growing, profitable fintech leaders and a
significant discount gives patient shareholders a compelling opportunity.”
Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech Management Limited, commented:
“Europe’s fintech ecosystem is reaching new levels of maturity. We are
seeing repeat founders bringing valuable expertise and resilience into the
market, fostering a new generation of ventures that are more ambitious in
scale, sophisticated in execution and more globally minded. This is all
helping to reinforce Europe’s position as the leading centre for financial
innovation, and in which Augmentum is fully embedded.
“Since our IPO we have maintained our investment discipline. Evidence of
this can be seen in our realisations over the last seven years which now
exceed £100 million. All of our exits have been at or above their carrying
value with an average premium of 33% to last reported valuation and with a
combined IRR of 31%. We are confident that the portfolio will continue to
deliver growth and compelling realisations when the right opportunity presents
itself.”
Enquiries
Augmentum Fintech Tim Levene (Portfolio Manager) Nigel Szembel (Investor Relations) +44 (0)20 3961 5420 nigel@augmentum.vc
Woodrow Communications Henry Kirby, Juste Rekstyte (Press and Media) +44 (0)20 8636 8753 press@augmentum.vc
Peel Hunt LLP Luke Simpson, Huw Jeremy (Investment Banking) +44 (0)20 7418 8900
Singer Capital Markets James Moat, James Fischer (Investment Banking) +44 (0)20 7496 3000
Frostrow Capital LLP Paul Griggs (Company Secretary) +44 (0)20 3709 8733
About Augmentum Fintech
Augmentum invests in fast growing fintech businesses that are disrupting the
financial services sector. Augmentum is the UK's only publicly listed
investment company focusing on the fintech sector in the UK and wider Europe,
having launched on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 2018,
giving businesses access to patient capital and support, unrestricted by
conventional fund timelines and giving public markets investors access to a
largely privately held investment sector during its main period of growth.
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Augmentum Fintech plc
Half Year Report for the six months ended
30 September 2025
.
Chairman’s Statement
Introduction
Our target market – fintech – has had a broadly encouraging last six
months and remains an exciting place to be, with the IPO market showing
encouraging signs of warming up. Our portfolio of private growth companies has
delivered solid trading performance – with 24% revenue growth and an 8.5%
EBITDA margin, up from 0.7% in the prior year, thanks to strong operational
gearing coming through in the portfolio. However, our immediate environment as
a listed Investment Trust remains stuck in the doldrums, with our discount at
a still unacceptable 45% at 30 September 2025. As a result, our market
capitalisation was £147 million, a multiple of just 2.9x the £50 million
ownership-weighted revenues of our portfolio which fails to reflect the
opportunity, revenue growth and increasing profitability of the portfolio.
Whilst the Board has been actively engaged with the poor shareholder
experience, there is frustratingly little to show for it.
Our Mission and Strategy
Your company’s mission is to become Europe’s leading fintech venture
investor. Fintech is a growth sector that the UK/Europe region has particular
strengths in, as the continued progress of European leaders such as Revolut,
Klarna, Tide and Iwoca demonstrates.
We remain uniquely positioned as the only European fintech venture capital
fund that is an Investment Trust, and the only Investment Trust focusing on
fintech venture capital in and around Europe.
Our vision sees our portfolio growing over the medium-term to over €1
billion, with several investments having ‘graduated’ via an
IPO. On the journey, we expect to see our talent pool growing, and our
relationships deepening across the European fintech ecosystem of regulators,
capital providers, entrepreneurs and fintech supply chains.
Our strategy has four pillars:
• Focusing on fintech venture opportunities
. Early stage private fintech businesses in and around
Europe are what we are focused on. Such businesses are disruptive to and/or
help to digitalise the traditional financial services sector. A typical
investment will offer the prospect of high growth and the potential to scale
during their period of value creation. We are active investors with a team
that works closely with the companies we invest in, typically taking either a
board or an observer seat.
We target long-term returns, before costs, of 20% on invested
capital and for cash invested to return on average 3x at exit. In practice,
successful venture capital portfolios can expect to see a wide range of exit
multiples and rely for their strong returns on the outsized winners – which
are usually rare.
• Building a team and network
with a reputation for board-level expertise. As well as being strong
allocators of capital, we need to be appealing partners for top entrepreneurs
– bringing expertise, relationships and resources to the table.
• Operating with an owner's mindset
. We revere value-for-money, focus, and in our
operations we want maximum ‘bang for our buck’. We
cover the European market from an office in the City of London, and we deploy
AI and other technology to be as lean and efficient as possible.
• Operating as patient capital
. We aim to think and operate for the long term.
Performance
Our portfolio companies continue to make good progress. The private businesses
in our portfolio have grown their combined annual revenues by 23% from £1.0
billion to £1.2 billion, and their aggregate EBITDA profitability is now
£103 million per annum (up from £6.5 million), a margin of 8.5%. Six of our
businesses are now profitable, with the total EBITDA of these businesses now
at £166 million.
Our portfolio is diversified across different fintech sectors, European
markets and maturity stages. Its exposure to the companies’ strong trading
performance, weighted by our respective shareholdings, ensures it benefits
from the performance cited above. Our share of our companies’ revenues grew
approximately 16% last year to £50 million, and our share of EBITDA was a
breakeven performance.
Of course, trading performance does not directly map across to Net Asset
Value. Your board considers its governance role in the valuations process to
be of utmost importance and understands that shareholders and potential
investors can be sceptical of private equity valuations as they cannot be
readily verified in the way that public equities can. We consider and
challenge all of the investment valuations used for the full and half year
financial statements. These are also reviewed by Frostrow, our independent
AIFM. The valuations are arrived at using appropriate and consistent
methodologies in accordance with International Private Equity and Venture
Capital (“IPEV”) Valuation Guidelines and we sense check and debate our
conclusions on the assets themselves and their market
context.
Our NAV’s movement reflects several factors. Firstly, the portfolio’s
strong operating performance added £13.6 million. Secondly, markets recovered
significantly from the turmoil around President Trump’s “liberation
day”, with the NASDAQ-100, in sterling terms, up 23.2% and FTSE All-Share up
11.5% over the six months to 30 September 2025; these
market movements helped lift our NAV by £22.2 million. Against this our
valuation process resulted in a reduction of £30.1 million, with several
holdings impacted. Reasons varied, but changes in the valuation premium or
discount applied to quoted comparables to reflect either the more mature
nature of the business or a shortfall against plan was common to many. The
path to success does not always run straight in venture investing, but
prudence should not be confused with permanent impairment. A further £4.1
million was invested in two new companies during the period, and £1.7 million
in three follow-on rounds.
The overall impact of these changes, including the impact of exchange rate
movements and expenses, was a fall in the NAV after performance fee of £3.3
million to £267 million, 159.5p per share, at 30 September 2025, down 1.2%
from 31 March 2025.
Our own share price on 30 September 2025 closed at 87.8p per share, up
marginally from 85.0p at 31 March 2025 and representing a slight narrowing of
the discount to the NAV per share after performance fee to 45.0%. This market
capitalisation is less than the valuation of our top four positions (Tide,
Zopa Bank, Iwoca and BullionVault) plus cash, and attributes no value at all
to the other £125 million of our investments.
Cash Reserves, Discount and Share Buy-backs
The use of the Company’s cash reserves is a matter of regular Board review.
We aim to balance the benefits of highly accretive buybacks when discounts are
high against ensuring that we hold appropriate reserves to fund follow on
investments and capture the best of the new investment opportunities that we
continue to see.
Over the last six months, we have realised less than £1 million from our
existing assets, and we bought no shares back. We remain committed to the use
of share buy-backs, particularly when discounts are as high as they have been,
and you should expect to see us continue to do them as circumstances allow.
Outlook
The fundamentals of our portfolio of businesses are good with strong top line
growth and improving profitability. We are confident this portfolio will
continue to grow in value as they continue to execute on their strategic
plans.
Despite this our shares have continued to trade at a substantial discount to
NAV. Your Board does not rely on resolving this issue through a ‘business as
usual’ approach, hoping that the pool of traditional public company
investors will close the gap. We plan to update shareholders in the new year
on how we can best proceed.
William Reeve
Chairman
1 December 2025
.
Investment Objective and Policy
Investment objective
The Company’s investment objective is to generate capital growth over the
long term through investment in a focused portfolio of fast growing and/or
high potential private financial services technology (“fintech”)
businesses based predominantly in the UK and wider Europe.
Investment policy
In order to achieve its investment objective, the Company
invests in early or later stage investments in unquoted fintech businesses.
The Company intends to realise value through exiting these investments over
time.
The Company seeks exposure to early stage businesses which are high growth,
with scalable opportunities, and have disruptive technologies in the banking,
insurance and wealth and asset management sectors as well as those that
provide services to underpin the financial sector and other cross-industry
propositions.
Investments are expected to be mainly in the form of equity and equity-related
instruments issued by portfolio companies, although investments may be made by
way of convertible debt instruments. The Company intends to invest in unquoted
companies and will ensure that the Company has suitable investor protection
rights where appropriate.
The Company may also invest in partnerships, limited liability partnerships
and other legal forms of entity. The Company will not invest in publicly
traded companies. However, portfolio companies may seek initial public
offerings from time to time, in which case the Company may continue to hold
such investments without restriction. The Company may also hold securities in
publicly traded companies, including non-fintech companies, that have been
received as consideration for the Company’s holding in
a portfolio company (“Listed Consideration Securities”).
The Company may acquire investments directly or by way of holdings in special
purpose vehicles or intermediate holding entities (such as the Partnership*).
The Management Team has historically taken a board or board observer position
at investee companies and, where in the best interests of the Company, will do
so in relation to future investee companies.
The Company’s portfolio is expected to be diversified across a number of
geographical areas predominantly within the UK and wider Europe, and the
Company will at all times invest and manage the portfolio in a manner
consistent with spreading investment risk.
The Management Team will actively manage the portfolio to maximise returns,
including helping to scale the team, refining and driving key performance
indicators, stimulating growth, and positively influencing future financing
and exits.
Investment restrictions
The Company will invest and manage its assets with the object of spreading
risk through the following investment restrictions:
• the value of no single investment (including related
investments in group entities or related parties) will represent more than 15%
of NAV, save that one investment in the portfolio may represent up to 20% of
NAV;
• the aggregate value of seed stage investments will
represent no more than 1% of NAV;
• at least 80% of NAV will be invested in businesses
which are headquartered in or have their main centre of business in the UK or
wider Europe; and
• the aggregate value of holdings of Listed
Consideration Securities may not exceed 2.5% of NAV.
In addition, the Company will itself not invest more than 15% of its gross
assets in other investment companies or investment trusts which are listed on
the Official List of the FCA.
Each of the restrictions above will be calculated at the time of investment
and disregard the effect of the receipt of rights, bonuses, benefits in the
nature of capital or by reason of any other action affecting every holder of
that investment. The Company will not be required to dispose of any investment
or to rebalance the portfolio as a result of a change in
the respective valuations of its assets.
For the purposes of the investment policy, “NAV” means the consolidated
assets of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries (together “the
Group”) less their consolidated liabilities, determined in accordance with
the accounting principles adopted by the Group from time to time.
Hedging and derivatives
Save for investments made using equity-related instruments as described above,
the Company will not employ derivatives of any kind for investment purposes,
but derivatives may be used for currency hedging purposes.
Borrowing policy
The Company may, from time to time, use borrowings to manage its working
capital requirements but shall not borrow for investment purposes. Borrowings
will not exceed 10% of the Company’s NAV, calculated at the time of
borrowing.
Cash management
The Company may hold cash on deposit and may invest in cash equivalent
investments, which may include short-term investments in money market type
funds and tradeable debt securities.
There is no restriction on the amount of cash or cash equivalent investments
that the Company may hold or where it is held. The Board has agreed prudent
cash management guidelines with the AIFM and the Portfolio Manager to ensure
an appropriate risk/return profile is maintained. Cash and cash equivalents
are held with approved counterparties.
It is expected that the Company will hold between 5% and 15% of its Gross
Assets in cash or cash equivalent investments, for the purpose of making
follow-on investments in accordance with the Company’s investment policy and
to manage the working capital requirements of the Company.
Changes to the investment policy
No material change will be made to the investment policy without the approval
of Shareholders by ordinary resolution. Non-material changes to the investment
policy may be approved by the Board. In the event of a breach of the
investment policy set out above or the investment and gearing restrictions set
out therein, the Management Team shall inform the AIFM and the Board upon
becoming aware of the same and if the AIFM and/or the Board considers the
breach to be material, notification will be made to a Regulatory Information
Service.
* Please refer to the Glossary on page 34.
.
Portfolio
as at 30 September 2025
Fair value of Net Impact of foreign currency rate changes Investment Fair value of % of
holding at investments/ £’000 return holding at Net assets
31 March (realisations) £’000 30 September after
2025 £’000 2025 performance
£’000 £’000 fee
Tide 65,217 - - (446) 64,771 24.3%
Zopa Bank^ 36,308 - - 207 36,515 13.7%
Iwoca 14,478 - - 3,189 17,667 6.6%
BullionVault^ 16,406 (799) - 769 16,376 6.1%
Volt 20,021 - - (5,021) 15,000 5.6%
Grover 14,058 - 531 (207) 14,382 5.4%
Anyfin 11,251 - 474 (473) 11,252 4.2%
XYB 12,619 817 - (2,280) 11,156 4.2%
Intellis 11,114 - 469 (469) 11,114 4.2%
Gemini 9,314 - (362) (430) 8,522 3.2%
Top 10 Investments 210,786 18 1,112 (5,161) 206,755 77.5%
Other Investments* 45,211 5,038 (761) 4,086 53,574 20.1%
Total Investments 255,997 5,056 351 (1,075) 260,329 97.6%
Cash & cash equivalents 32,256 22,428 8.4%
Net other liabilities (2,837) (498) (0.2)%
Net Assets 285,416 282,259 105.8%
Performance Fee provision (15,244) (15,404) (5.8)%
Net Assets after performance fee 270,172 266,855 100.0%
^ Held via Augmentum I LP
* There are seventeen other investments (31 March 2025:
fifteen). See from page 17 for further details.
.
Portfolio Manager’s Review
A Maturing Market
Over the past five years, the fintech industry has experienced a dramatic
series of highs and lows, often resembling a wave-like pattern of peaks and
troughs. In 2021 we witnessed rapid growth and lofty valuations followed by
the sharp corrections and company retrenchment of 2022. Now, reflecting on the
last few years, the sector appears to be finding equilibrium once again, with
stability returning and companies building with a measured pace of innovation
under stronger regulatory frameworks and with a renewed focus on creating
lasting value for customers and investors alike. Investors have, for the most
part, returned with a more disciplined, fundamentals-driven approach that has
seen fintech venture investment levels remain stable for the last three years
and, importantly, at levels above those seen in 2019 and 2020. As Europe’s
fintech ecosystem matures, this stability plays to our strengths as a
specialist investor, allowing us to deploy capital selectively into
high-conviction opportunities.
Our Seven-Year Journey
In September 2018, I wrote my first Manager’s Review for the Company’s
interim results. Augmentum Fintech plc had just floated, with a thesis built
on several core beliefs: that financial services were under-digitised and ripe
for disruption, that Europe was the place to be building enduring companies
and that to unlock the true potential value of fintech, a longer-term, more
patient approach to venture was required. Despite the last seven years being
more of a rollercoaster than we could have imagined, we have seen fintech
deliver on much of the promise that compelled us to launch Augmentum. However,
with fintech market share at only 3% of total financial services revenues, we
believe we are still early in this journey and there is still much to be done.
Seven years on, the Company’s portfolio of 27 companies validates this
thesis, with realisations exceeding £100 million since IPO and a maturing
cohort, many of which are poised for material exits.
The Thawing Exit Market
The last six months have seen the exit market for fintech start to thaw with
high profile IPOs in the US including Chime, Klarna, Circle, eToro and our own
portfolio company Gemini . We believe
this will set a clear precedent for exits increasing throughout Europe over
the coming years, both through IPOs and M&A. Post-period end there have been
further encouraging signs in the UK with the Shawbrook IPO and Nordic
Capital’s acquisition of BMLL. We believe this trend will only increase
through 2026 and 2027 and we are optimistic that many of the companies in the
portfolio are well positioned to capitalise on this newly re-opened exit
market.
In addition to traditional M&A and IPO exits, 2025 has seen an increase in
secondary market transactions, at both a company and a fund level, offering
liquidity to early investors and employees alike. These transaction structures
will serve as instructive precedents to other venture-backed companies who
will look to provide liquidity to those investors who bore the risk and backed
them at the earliest stages. We are hopeful that regulatory reforms will
further enable this with venues such as PISCES offering a clear framework for
secondary liquidity in the UK.
This thawing is timely, as M&A accounted for 85% of fintech exits in recent
years, providing resilient liquidity even in subdued IPO windows. With several
portfolio companies approaching profitability and scale, we anticipate
participating in this wave.
Policy and Long-Term View
We welcome the continued policy support that the UK government has pledged
towards both the fintech ecosystem and startup industry at large. It is
becoming increasingly clear that these industries can provide a catalyst to
drive productivity and growth in the UK and beyond and that the government
should therefore be doubling down on their promise to unlock capital and fuel
growth. While the time to implementation has been frustratingly slow,
initiatives such as the Mansion House Accord should further accelerate the
ability of venture capital investors to deploy into the most compelling
companies. However, we urge faster implementation to bridge the capital gap in
the UK and the rest of Europe, relative to the US, ensuring domestic pension
funds fuel and benefit from European fintech success stories.
Venture capital should always be viewed over a long-term time horizon, and we
believe that fintech companies specifically are showing signs of being able to
deliver compelling returns within the asset class. Typically, a venture fund
will have a lifecycle of 10 to 14 years. Cognisant of this, we feel positive
about the position many of the portfolio companies are in, having either found
scale or approaching inflection in their performance, setting themselves up to
exit well within this time horizon.
Portfolio Resilience & NAV
The Company's portfolio has shown resilience through some of the toughest
macroeconomic conditions in recent memory, and many of its constituents are
now well positioned to double down on their position as fintech market leaders
and deliver real returns to you as shareholders. None typify this more than
Tide , who raised one of the largest
European financing rounds this year at a US$1.5 billion valuation. We first
invested in 2018 when Tide was
serving just 30,000 customers in the UK, today they have over 1.6 million
across the UK, India, Germany and France. It is this potential for growth that
we strive to identify early as venture investors and we believe that, in
addition to the more established businesses you know well, we also hold many
exciting early-stage assets in the portfolio that are capable of following
this trajectory in the foreseeable future.
Overall, despite these strong foundations being laid, the NAV after
performance fee of £266.8 million has remained broadly flat in the period. As
you will read in the portfolio section, there has been significant progress
made at many portfolio companies; we believe there is true momentum and many
of the portfolio constituents are set up to deliver compelling exit events in
the coming two years. Frustration remains that the progress made by some has
not yet been reflected in the NAV, but we are confident that these quality
companies will reward investor patience in the long run.
Our top 10 holdings grew revenues by 18% over the last 12 months, with four
achieving profitability. At current levels, our market cap implies zero value
for 23 positions beyond the top four plus cash.
Market Update
When we wrote to you in June as part of the annual results, we were cautious
of the macro environment that was evolving in the face of broad uncertainty
driven by market volatility, geopolitical disruption and shifting global
dynamics. Overall, investor sentiment has improved since then with many global
stock indices reaching all-time highs in the fourth quarter of 2025. While
some commentators are beginning to ask questions of the sustainability of some
of the valuations observed, particularly in those assets relating to AI
infrastructure, at the time of writing the broader market appears largely
stable.
Despite the recent boom-and-bust cycle we have observed, fintech companies
globally have shown their resilience and ability to drive tangible value. The
industry has grown from generating US$233 billion in revenues in 2021 to
US$378 billion in 2024 1 ; this growth rate of 18% CAGR far
outstrips the 6% growth seen by incumbent financial services firms in the same
period.
European fintech continues to attract a meaningful share of investor attention
and capital allocation; we view the resilient macro environment and thawing
exit market as positive for overall momentum in the market. Continued trends
such as talent recycling, regulatory clarity and political stability mean that
Europe remains as compelling a place as any to be building a fintech business
and we have seen this translated into the quality of founders leaving large
financial institutions to build companies.
The trend of fintechs focusing on profitability and sustainable growth has
continued and has clearly been accelerated with the efficiency gains provided
by AI. According to a recent BCG report 1 , listed fintech
businesses have seen double-digit revenue growth from 2022 to 2024 while
increasing EBITDA fourfold over the same period. Much of this efficiency gain
is rightly being directly attributed to the ability of AI to reduce costs
across many fintech verticals.
Many generalist funds have continued to pull back from fintech investing, with
their focus clearly shifting towards AI. As a result, we have observed a
bifurcation in early stages of venture funding and valuation levels. A very
small minority of businesses, often those that tell a compelling AI story,
have been able to raise capital with valuations resembling the fundraising
highs of 2021. While we fully recognise the transformational potential of AI,
we believe that as a fintech investor we must focus on propositions that are
truly solving complex issues with AI, like Artificial
is doing in the insurance industry.
Despite much of this observed value creation driven by AI, we have seen some
scepticism start to enter the market in relation to both the development and
implementation of AI. Some investors have highlighted the circular nature of
many AI investment deals that have taken place recently, while a recent MIT
study of generative AI usage at some 300 US companies found that 95% of AI
pilots were failing. We see these as apt reminders of the time it can take
transformative technologies to translate into value across the broad economy;
however, it also reinforces our conviction in backing companies at the
earliest stages who are able to iterate and implement AI efficiently.
Used correctly AI can be a powerful tool and we are seeing efficiency gains
across many portfolio companies; the Company’s top five assets have
increased profit margin by an average of 59.2% in the period with the
efficient use of AI helping this trend. An increasing focus for the portfolio
in recent months has also been an increase in the usage of agentic AI, which
is helping companies drive both top line performance and bottom-line margin.
Internally we continue to iterate on our technology stack and ensure that we
are working as efficiently as possible while also surfacing compelling
opportunities. Our investment team has been working with AI start-ups building
at the bleeding edge of technology and leveraging the latest, most advanced
models to help us improve internal efficiency and also surface the most
compelling investment opportunities. Our proprietary ADA platform, now
tracking over 8,000 organisations, exemplifies this, allowing us to maintain
extensive coverage of the European fintech ecosystem while operating a lean
and nimble team.
1 BCG and QED Investors’ June 2025 Global Fintech Report
Portfolio Highlights
As mentioned above, despite limited uplifts to NAV, we believe that there has
been substantial progress made by many key portfolio companies that set them
up for future success. Success in a venture portfolio should be viewed over a
long time horizon and, seven years in, many of the portfolio’s constituents
are now either at substantial scale or reaching a stage of inflection. The top
five, representing 56.3% of NAV after performance fee, are growing revenues at
a rate of 34% year-on-year, far outstripping incumbent comparables given the
scale that these businesses are at.
The aforementioned BCG report estimated that of the 37,000 fintechs globally,
less than 100 were generating more than US$500 million in annual revenue. I am
pleased to inform you that two portfolio companies now meet this criterion and
have joined the exclusive “100 Club” and we expect one more to join early
in 2026. This is testament to the progress that has been made at these
companies while Augmentum has been invested. While somewhat arbitrary, it is
useful to reflect on milestones such as these as they help to demonstrate the
fundamental growth and progress that has been made at so many portfolio
companies.
The portfolio now comprises 27 companies, having recently backed UK based
RetailBook , which offers retail investors
access to primary capital issuance across equity and debt capital markets.
Tide remains the portfolio’s largest holding and has
kept up strong momentum over the last 6 months culminating in closing a US$120
million funding round led by TPG at a US$1.5 billion valuation. This funding
round sees Tide join the ranks of UK
fintech unicorns and will help the company expand internationally while
continuing to invest in agentic artificial intelligence. Commercially the
business has also gone from strength to strength and now serves 1.6 million
customers globally, with exceptional growth in India in particular.
Tide continues to diversify its product offering
and recently surpassed the milestone of helping over 30,000 businesses secure
£1.25 billion in funding.
Zopa Bank continued strong commercial traction following a
doubling of their profits in 2024 to £31.6 million and this traction has
continued into 2025. Gross loans on the balance sheet stood at £3.1 billion
at the end of 2024 and savings balances at £5.4 billion. In June 2025
Zopa Bank started offering its new current
account, ‘Biscuit’, offering market leading interest rates. The bank
believes that it will see a continuation of the trend whereby more and more
customers holding multiple products on the platform allow it to execute its
vision of becoming the ‘Home of Money’ for its customers providing
everyday banking services and products. In September 2025 the company
announced they had acquired payments platform Rvvup which will enable
Zopa Bank to offer merchants multi-channel
checkout experiences across all payment methods.
One of the top performing companies in the portfolio this period has been
iwoca which continues its mission to
finance 1 million small businesses. Through its Flexi-Loan, which offers
financing from £1 thousand up to £1 million, iwoca
represents 1.5% of bank lending flows to UK SMEs by value,
leaving substantial potential for further growth. In the first half of 2025
they funded 36,000 SMEs across the UK and Germany. In 2024
iwoca generated £234 million in revenue and £59 million
in profit before tax, representing their most successful year to date. This
performance has translated to an uplift in our valuation of £3.2 million and
iwoca is now in our top three
companies by value.
Following the tragic loss of founder and chairman Paul Tustain earlier this
year the BullionVault management team
he put in place over a decade ago has continued to excel. With gold hitting
new records driven by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, more investors
view the asset class as an important piece of a diversified portfolio, and
this has allowed BullionVault to
thrive. 2024 was a record year for the business and 2025 should match the
performance of the previous year.
Volt continues to refine its business model and focus. The
company has streamlined its team, with a 25% cost reduction, while
strengthening its compliance and risk capabilities, and adding licencing to
support entry into regulated verticals. Operationally,
Volt now processes 90% of traffic through its own
“rails”, improving margins and reducing third-party dependency. The
pipeline remains promising, with new partnerships including DaoPay and
Paylado, as well as upcoming integrations with tier 1 merchants across
multiple verticals. Despite these encouraging initiatives, we have marked down
our holding in Volt by £5.0 million
to reflect a disappointing period of growth.
Grover has now completed its restructuring and has a new
Chairman and management team in place led by Rob Straathof (ex-CEO of Liberis)
who the Augmentum team have known and admired for many years. The business now
has a more appropriate capital structure and a more disciplined and focused
offering. Grover paid a heavy price
for growth at all costs and we have as well, with a valuation decrease over
the 2 years ending March 2025. We are now excited by the opportunity ahead and
have confidence in the team tackling it.
Anyfin has maintained strong momentum, with solid growth
across Sweden, Finland and Germany. The business continues to strengthen its
unit economics and is operating close to breakeven. Future growth efforts will
be focused on new product expansion, alongside increased focus on the German
market. Governance and compliance continue to mature post its banking licence,
led by a newly appointed Head of Compliance from Klarna and the Swedish
Financial Supervisory Authority.
XYB continues to pioneer a new category of Adaptive
Financial Infrastructure (“AFI”), enabling banks to evolve legacy systems
without the need for full replacement. For their efforts they have been named
a Finovate Awards 2025 finalist and designated a trusted provider by Google
Cloud. The company is also seeing the benefits of its internal AI driven
approach, having seen a 400% increase in tech output with a smaller team. The
company has also delivered on a number of key initiatives that will support
its global go-to-market efforts, including recent SOC 2 compliance and the
setting up of a US entity. The potential for XYB
remains high. However, they are operating in a space that requires
patience due to long sales cycles. We remain confident that 2026 will be a
breakout year.
Intellis has spent considerable time in the last six
months developing and testing new proprietary artificial intelligence models
that will allow their success in FX trading to be translated into other
markets such as commodities and digital assets later in the year. The team has
also spent considerable time working through fund structuring to ensure they
have the greatest leverage when they deploy their AI strategies into new
markets or asset classes.
Wematch continues to grow strongly as adoption of its
platform expands across the global total return swap and securities lending
markets. The company now supports over 1,300 individual users, with notional
volumes up 52% year-on-year to US$1.4 trillion. Its Sales-to-Trader product
has surpassed US$175 billion in matched notional volume globally, including
over US$100 billion in the US, driving further efficiency in TRS workflows.
New clients such as ING and ClearStreet reflect growing institutional
traction.
The digitisation of the insurance market remains a high priority for
participants across the ecosystem. Artificial
is emerging as one of the leading businesses facilitating this via
their cutting-edge technology platform enabling algorithmic underwriting,
something that has been impossible to deliver at scale across the industry
with outdated legacy systems. Commercial traction continues to progress with
Artificial signing multiple enterprise
contracts with some of the largest stakeholders in the space; AON, Apollo,
Axis, Gallagher and more. In October, they announced a partnership with McGill
who will become the first broker to embed Artificial
’s smart placement technology end-to-end. The company’s
prominence in the industry continues to accelerate with recent recognition in
FinTech Global's prestigious InsurTech100 list as further validation.
In September, Gemini went public and
commenced trading on the NASDAQ exchange in New York. The IPO was upsized
following strong investor demand and highlighted the growing mainstream
appetite for exposure to digital asset platforms. We are subject to a “lock
up” for six months, which stopped us from selling into the IPO. While the
first few weeks of trading have been disappointing, this has aligned with a
significant sell-off in the crypto market more broadly. We continue to observe
increased institutional adoption of blockchain technologies across key themes
and use cases such as stablecoin based payments and tokenisation of real-world
assets.
Investments
Amid the market volatility observed, we maintain a disciplined approach to
investing, focusing on category leaders with robust fundamentals that are able
to deliver financial performance across stages in the cycle. We are also
conscious to ensure the Company’s balance sheet remains robust in order to
support portfolio constituents as and when they require capital for further
growth. With a current cash position of around £22 million we will largely
focus on supporting the existing portfolio until further exits materialise
from the portfolio.
In June, we announced that we led a funding round of £4.5 million into retail
investment platform RetailBook . The
company addresses the challenge of limited retail investor access to primary
capital markets by providing a platform for participation in investment
opportunities, including IPOs, follow-on placings, and bond offerings, on the
same terms as institutional investors. The service is accessed through
established retail investment platforms such as Hargreaves Lansdown,
interactive investor and AJBell. Post our investment,
RetailBook has been able to benefit from the partial
re-opening of the IPO market in London, helping facilitate retail
participation in the IPOs of Shawbrook, Princes and Beauty Tech Group. They
have also seen strong traction in government debt issuance and welcome the
regulatory changes that will unlock access to the corporate debt market in
2026.
Exits and Realisations
There were no material exits during the period. However, post period end we
announced the partial exit of our investment in Parafi
, which returned £2.7 million, equivalent to our initial
total cost. At our last year end Parafi
was valued at £4.3 million and after this sale our residual holding value
will still be at £3.9 million.
As mentioned above, we expect to see the exits from the portfolio accelerate
in the next two years and these will build on our nine exits since IPO, which
have averaged a 33% uplift on prior valuations, demonstrating our ability to
maximise value.
Performance and Valuation Discipline
While we have seen a drop in the Company’s NAV per share of 2.0p over the
past 6 months, which on the surface is disappointing, it masks the progress
made across the portfolio by many key holdings. As at 30 September 2025, the
Company’s NAV per share, after performance fee, stood at 159.5p (31 March
2025: 161.5p).
Valuation remains a rigorous process governed by objective methodologies and
approved by the Company’s Valuations Committee and Board. Public market
comparables are used for 86% of the portfolio. Downside protections in the
form of preferred shares and anti-dilution provisions are in place for 19 of
the 27 companies, ensuring that investor capital is appropriately safeguarded.
Outlook
As Europe’s fintech ecosystem continues to evolve and reach new levels of
maturity, we are witnessing the emergence of repeat founders who bring
valuable experience and resilience, as well as a growing pool of highly
skilled talent drawn from both established financial institutions and
cutting-edge technology firms. These dynamics are fostering a new generation
of ventures that are more ambitious in scale, more sophisticated in execution,
and more globally minded in outlook. The confluence of these forces positions
Europe as a leading hub for financial innovation, where the foundations are
being laid for enduring success.
We believe that the highest performing vintages are still to be delivered. The
lessons learned from earlier cycles, combined with improved access to capital,
regulatory support, and a more connected investor ecosystem, create an
environment where innovation can thrive sustainably. Guided by patience,
disciplined investment strategies, and a clear sense of purpose, we are
committed to identifying and supporting the companies that will define the
next era of fintech.
Our focus over the coming year will be to deliver realisations when a
compelling opportunity presents itself. We hope this will further demonstrate
the quality and resilience of the portfolio while also reducing the
significant discount that has frustrated both manager and shareholders alike.
Thank you for your continued support.
Tim Levene
CEO
Augmentum Fintech Management Limited
1 December 2025
.
Investments
Tide
Tide’s (www.tide.co) mission is to help small and mid-sized businesses
(“SMEs”) save time and money in the running of their businesses. The
company continues to build a comprehensive suite of digital banking services
for its members, including automated accounting, savings, credit, business
loans, card readers, invoicing and, following its acquisition of Onfolk in
2024, a payroll solution. Tide is also expanding geographically, with a
significant business now established in India and launches in Germany and,
more recently, France. Tide has more than 14% market share of small business
accounts in the UK and has more than 1.6 million members worldwide. In
September 2025, Tide secured a US$120 million investment round, led by TPG,
taking the company’s valuation to US$1.5 billion. This additional funding
will enable them to accelerate their international expansion, support rapid
product development and advance investment into agentic AI.
Augmentum led Tide’s £44.1 million first round of Series B funding in
September 2019, alongside Japanese investment firm The SBI Group. In July 2021
Tide completed an £80 million Series C funding round led by Apax Digital, in
which Augmentum invested an additional £2.2 million and into which the £2.5
million loan note was converted. Augmentum invested a further £4.2 million in
October 2023 and £2.0 million in May 2024 through a combination of primary
and secondary transactions.
Source: Tide
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 19,376 19,376
Value 64,771 65,217
Valuation Methodology^ Rev. Multiple Rev. Multiple
As per last filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to 31
December 2024:
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Turnover 190,498 119,351
Pre tax loss (25,711) (43,714)
Net assets 27,300 19,372
^ See note 7 on pages 25 to 28.
Zopa Bank
Founded in 2020, with a full banking licence and backed by some of Silicon
Valley’s most iconic investors, digital bank Zopa (www.zopa.com) is building
the “Home of Money”. Zopa Bank secured its banking licence in just over 4
years, and has grown to 1.6 million customers. In September 2025, Zopa Bank
acquired payments platform Rvvup to bolster their retail financing offering.
Zopa Bank achieved its first full year of profitability in 2023, swinging to a
pre-tax profit of £15.8 million for the financial year ending 31 December
2023. It again doubled pre-tax profits to £34.2 million in FY2024. Zopa Bank
has lent more than £13 billion to consumers in the UK to date and takes care
of over £5 billion in savings.
Zopa Bank was again voted the UK’s best Credit Card Provider at the 2025
British Bank Awards. Zopa Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential
Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the
Prudential Regulation Authority.
Augmentum participated in a £20 million funding round
led by Silverstripe in March 2021, added £10 million in
a £220 million round led by SoftBank in October 2021, and in February 2023
invested a further £4 million as part of a £75 million
equity funding round alongside other existing investors. In September 2023
Zopa Bank raised £75 million in Tier 2 Capital to support further scaling,
and in December 2024, raised £68 million in an equity round led by A.P.
Moller in which Augmentum participated.
Source: Zopa Bank
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 33,670 33,670
Value 36,515 36,308
Valuation Methodology Earnings & Rev. Multiple Rev. Multiple
As per last filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to 31
December 2024:
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Operating income 298,612 223,544
Pre tax profit 28,774 10,828
Net assets 496,446 410,385
Iwoca
Founded in 2011, iwoca (www.iwoca.co.uk) uses award-winning technology to
disrupt small business lending across Europe. Since launch, iwoca has provided
over £3.5 billion in loans to SMEs across the UK and Germany, solidifying its
role as a key funding partner for small businesses.
In February 2023 iwoca hit profitability and has sustained its growth
trajectory since, almost tripling profit in 2024, reinforcing its position as
one of Europe’s most scalable and reliable fintech lenders. With £1.5
billion in investment across equity and debt, iwoca stands among Europe’s
best-funded fintech success stories and continues to demonstrate the strong
profit potential of tech-enabled lending through the use of machine learning
and digital infrastructure.
Augmentum originally invested £7.5 million in Iwoca in 2018 and has since
added £0.35 million. Iwoca has raised over £1 billion in debt funding from
partners including Barclays, Pollen Street Capital, Värde, Citibank and
Insight Investment.
Source: Iwoca
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 7,852 7,852
Value 17,668 14,478
Valuation Methodology Earnings Multiple Earnings Multiple
As per last filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to 31
December 2024:
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Turnover 234,160 142,584
Pre tax profit 59,133 21,784
Net assets 94,686 54,976
BullionVault
BullionVault (www.bullionvault.com) is a physical gold and silver market for
private investors online. It enables people across 175 countries to buy and
sell professional-grade bullion at competitive prices online. BullionVault
currently has £5 billion of assets under management, with over £75 million
worth of gold and silver traded monthly.
Each user’s property is stored in secure, specialist vaults in London, New
York, Toronto, Singapore and Zurich. BullionVault’s unique daily audit then
proves the full allocation of client property every day. The company generates
monthly profits from trading, commission, custody fees and interest. It is
cash generative, dividend paying, and well-placed for any cracks in the wider
financial markets.
The BullionVault holding was one of the seed assets acquired by the Company at
its IPO in March 2018, for £8.4 million.
Source: BullionVault
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 8,424 8,424
Value 16,376 16,406
Valuation Methodology Earnings Multiple Earnings Multiple
Dividends paid 799 400
As per last filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to 31
October 2024:
2024 2023
£’000 £’000
Turnover 336,297 288,113
Pre tax profit 18,937 13,023
Net assets 53,307 46,323
Volt
Volt (www.volt.io) is building the infrastructure for global real-time
payments. Launched in 2019, its payment network is the first to unite domestic
account-to-account schemes to a single interoperable standard. Scaling and
enterprise businesses use it to accept real-time payments (via a Pay by Bank
option at checkout), initiate payouts and manage funds. In doing so, they
benefit from faster settlement times, lower fees, and full visibility of
payment value chains.
Headquartered in London, Volt – which is live in 31+ markets across the UK,
the EU and Australia – has offices in Warsaw, Kraków and Sydney. Having
secured its Polish Payment Institution licence in 2023 and adding its UK EMI
licence in early 2025 it can offer virtual accounts alongside payment
initiation services.
Recent milestones for Volt include partnerships with Farfetch and Pay.com, the
development of its one-click checkout in Australia, and the launch of virtual
IBANs to enable merchants to automatically reconcile high volumes of user
deposits. It also partners with Worldpay, the world’s largest merchant
acquirer, and Shopify, the global ecommerce platform.
Augmentum invested £0.5 million in Volt in December 2020, £4 million in its
June 2021 US$23.5 million Series A funding round and £5.3
million in its US$60 million Series B funding round in June 2023.
Source: Volt
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 9,800 9,800
Value 15,000 20,021
Valuation Methodology Rev. Multiple Rev. Multiple
As per last filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to 31
December 2023:
2023 2022
£’000 £’000
Turnover 12,887 3,885
Pre tax loss (11,542) (16,886)
Net assets/(liabilities) 38,724 (1,222)
Grover
Berlin-based Grover (www.grover.com) is the leading consumer-tech subscription
platform, bringing the access economy to the consumer electronics market by
offering a simple, monthly subscription model for technology products. Private
and business customers have access to over 1,500 products including
smartphones, cameras, laptops, virtual reality technology, gaming, wearables
and smart home appliances. The Grover service allows users to keep, switch,
buy, or return products depending on their individual needs. Rentals are
available in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Spain. Grover is at the
forefront of the circular economy, having circulated 1.9 million devices since
founding.
Augmentum participated in multiple funding rounds, initially investing in
2019, with four follow on investments up to 2024. Augmentum invested a further
€3.5 million in March 2025 following Grover's strategic review and
restructuring.
Source: Grover
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 13,745 13,745
Value 14,382 14,058
Valuation Methodology Rev. Multiple Rev. Multiple
As an unquoted German company, Grover is not required to publicly file audited
accounts.
Anyfin
Anyfin (www.anyfin.com) was founded in 2017 by former executives of Klarna,
Spotify and iZettle, and leverages technology to allow creditworthy consumers
the opportunity to improve their financial wellbeing by consolidating and
refinancing existing credit agreements with improved interest rates.
Anyfin is currently available in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Germany, with
plans to expand across Europe as well as strengthen its product suite in
existing markets. With more than one million app downloads to date, Anyfin has
saved its customers a combined €103 million, lowering the average user’s
loan costs by 40%. In July 2024 Anyfin announced UC-kollen, a new service in
the Anyfin app providing daily credit rating updates and tips to improve
scores. In June 2025 Anyfin was granted a banking licence in Sweden, which
should open a wider finance base and lower borrowing costs.
Augmentum invested £7.2 million in Anyfin in September 2021 as part of a
US$52 million funding round, a further £2.7 million as part of a US$30
million funding round in November 2022 and £0.8 million in July
2024.
Source: Anyfin
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 10,768 10,738
Value 11,253 11,252
Valuation Methodology Rev. Multiple Rev. Multiple
As an unquoted Swedish company, Anyfin is not required to publicly file
audited accounts.
XYB
XYB (www.xyb.co) offers a platform for modern adaptive financial
infrastructure. Launched by Monese in May 2023 and spun out as a separate
business in May 2024, XYB empowers banks and non-banks to provide
comprehensive financial services to individuals and businesses. XYB also
enables banks to transform and modernise their legacy systems, integrate new
services, and help them prepare for regulatory change with minimal risk.
In 2024, XYB partnered with IBM to provide technologies and consulting
expertise that can help financial services organisations address the growing
requirements for core modernisation initiatives. The BaaS sector shows strong
growth as established banks and fintech companies continue to bring innovative
digital products to market.
Augmentum invested £1 million specifically into the spun-out business via a
secondary transaction in September 2024, bringing total investment made by
Augmentum as part of the separation of XYB and Monese to £3.5 million.
Source: XYB
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost* 11,452 10,635
Value 11,156 12,619
Valuation Methodology Rev. Multiple Rev. Multiple
* Includes legacy Monese investment costs attributable to the XYB business.
As per last filed audited accounts of the investee company for the year to 31
December 2023:
2023 2022
£’000 £’000
Turnover 35,557 n/a
Pre tax profit 13,758 n/a
Net assets/(liabilities) 1,076 n/a
Intellis
Intellis (https://intellis.ch), based in Switzerland, is an algorithmic
powered quantitative hedge fund operating in the FX space. Intellis’
proprietary approach uses artificial intelligence and takes a conviction-based
assessment towards trading – a position which is uncorrelated to traditional
news and macro/trade-driven investment patterns. The company operates across a
range of global trading venues with a regulated Investment Trust fund
structure on behalf of multiple external investors.
Following an initial investment of €1 million in 2019, Augmentum exercised
its option to invest a further €1 million in March 2020 and a further €1
million in March 2021.
Source: Intellis
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 2,696 2,696
Value 11,114 11,114
Valuation Methodology Earnings Multiple P/E Multiple
As an unquoted Swiss company, Intellis is not required to publicly file
audited accounts.
Gemini
Gemini (www.gemini.com) enables individuals and institutions to safely and
securely buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies. Gemini was founded in 2014 by
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and has been built with a security and regulation
first approach. Gemini operates as a New York trust company regulated by the
New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) and was the first
cryptocurrency exchange and custodian to secure SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2
certification. Gemini entered the UK market in 2020 with an FCA Electronic
Money Institution licence, becoming one of only ten companies to have achieved
FCA Cryptoasset Firm Registration at that time. Gemini is available in more
than 70 countries.
In September 2025, Gemini launched its IPO on the NASDAQ exchange under the
ticker GEMI, joining the ranks as the third US-listed crypto exchange.
Following its IPO, Gemini continues to focus on product development, including
the roll-out of the Gemini Credit Card and Gemini Wallet, and broadening its
global footprint, launching in Australia and securing the MiCA licence in
Europe.
Augmentum participated in Gemini’s first institutional funding round through
ParaFi Capital in November 2021 with an investment of £10.2
million.
Source: Gemini
30 Sept 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Cost 10,150 10,150
Value 8,522 9,314
Valuation Methodology Closing price Rev. Multiple
Artificial
Artificial (www.artificial.io) is an established underwriting technology
provider for the London Insurance Market. This London-based insurtech partners
with global insurers and brokers to facilitate algorithmic placement of
commercial and specialty risk, backed by their powerful contract builder and
underwriting platform. Artificial continues to show strong commercial
traction, signing multiple enterprise contracts with some of the largest
brokers and underwriters globally. Artificial works with top performing global
brokers and carriers like Chaucer, Convex, The Ardonagh Group, Lockton, BMS
and many more. Artificial was recently named in the 2024 CB Insights’ list
of the 100 most innovative fintech startups. Artificial recently announced a
collaboration with McGill and Partners, to create a single integrated digital
platform where brokers can manage the full placement life cycle, from
submission to bind, and streamline downstream processing. McGill and Partners
is the first broker to adopt Artificial’s Smart Placement platform
end-to-end.
Augmentum led Artificial’s £8 million Series A+ round in January 2024 with
a £4 million investment, alongside existing investors MS&AD Ventures and
FOMCAP IV.
ParaFi Capital
ParaFi Capital (www.parafi.com) is an investor in decentralised finance
protocols that address tangible use cases of the technology and demonstrate
signs of product-market fit. Founded in 2018, ParaFi was among the earliest
institutional investors in the blockchain industry and has evolved into a
trusted partner by leading institutions globally, with over US$1 billion under
management. They have drawn on their domain expertise developed in both
traditional finance and crypto to identify and invest in leading decentralised
finance protocols such as Compound (lending and interest accrual), Aave (asset
borrowing), Uniswap (automated liquidity provision), Synthetix (synthetic
asset trading) and MakerDAO (stablecoins). ParaFi also supports its protocols
as a liquidity provider and governance participant.
Augmentum invested £2.8 million in ParaFi in January 2021. Co-investors
include Bain Capital Ventures and Galaxy Digital.
Wematch
Wematch (www.wematch.live) is a capital markets digital trading and workflow
platform that helps financial institutions transition liquidity to an orderly
electronic service, improving productivity and de-risking the process of voice
broking. Their solution helps traders find liquidity, negotiate, trade,
optimise and manage the lifecycle of their portfolios of assets and trade
structures in the securities trading space.
Created in 2017, Wematch is headquartered in Tel Aviv and has offices in New
York, London and Paris. Wematch is helping 85+ financial institutions
digitally transform their trading operations and has reached $1.4 trillion+ in
ongoing notional volume.
Augmentum invested £3.7 million in September 2021 and £0.4 million in August
2024.
Tesseract
Helsinki based Tesseract (www.tesseract.fi) is a forerunner in the dynamic
digital asset sector, providing digital lending solutions to market makers and
other institutional market participants via regulated custody and exchange
platforms. Tesseract was founded in 2017, is regulated by the Finnish
Financial Supervisory Authority (“FIN-FSA”), and was one of the first
companies in the EU to obtain a 5AMLD (Fifth Anti Money
Laundering Directive) virtual asset service provider (“VASP”) licence. It
is the only VASP with an express authorisation from the FIN
FSA to deploy client assets into decentralised finance or “DeFi”. In
September 2025, Tesseract was granted the MiCA licence from the FIN-FSA.
Tesseract provides an enabling crypto infrastructure to connect digital asset
lenders with digital asset borrowers. This brings enhanced capital efficiency
with commensurate cost reduction to trading, in a space that is currently
significantly under-leveraged relative to traditional capital markets.
Augmentum led Tesseract’s Series A funding round in June 2021 with an
investment of £7.3 million.
Pemo
Founded in 2022, Pemo (www.pemo.io) provides an expense management and
business payments solution, via corporate cards, to SME businesses in the UAE
and Saudi Arabia.
Headquartered in Dubai, Pemo also has offices in Saudi Arabia and Egypt,
making it well positioned to expand into key high-growth markets across the
Middle East where corporate card-based solutions are underdeveloped compared
to Europe and where SMEs are expected to contribute to significant economic
growth. Pemo was named in Forbes Middle East’s Fintech 50 2025 and hit
$AED1.4 billion in transactions in November 2024.
Augmentum led a US$7.0 million funding round with a US$4.0 million investment
in January 2025.
Baobab
Berlin based Baobab Insurance (www.baobab.io) is redefining digital specialty
insurance in an increasingly connected and vulnerable world. From cyberattacks
and system failures to digital fraud, Baobab Insurance equips businesses with
tailored insurance coverage and real-time risk mitigation against emerging
digital risks.
Operating as a data-first MGA (Managing General Agent), Baobab Insurance is
leveraging proprietary technology to deliver automated underwriting, dynamic
pricing and continuous portfolio management. This approach has resulted in
loss ratios significantly below market average and strong partnerships with
global carriers including Zurich, ERGO, Liberty Specialty Markets, Tokio
Marine Kiln, Argenta (part of Hannover Re) as well as Talbot (part of AIG).
In August 2024, Baobab launched their IT liability insurance offering, aimed
specifically at IT, software, technology and telecommunications companies in
Germany and Austria, with capacity provision from Zurich. In March 2025,
Baobab launched a new joint e-crime insurance product with Liberty Specialty
Markets (LSM).
Augmentum invested £2.6 million in January 2023 and £0.6 million in July
2024. Post period end, Augmentum invested €0.4 million in Baobab’s €12
million Series A round in June 2025, led by Viola Ventures and eCapital
Entrepreneurial Partners.
RetailBook
RetailBook (www.retailbook.com) is an FCA regulated platform that powers
inclusive capital markets, enabling retail investors to participate in primary
capital market transactions on the same terms as institutional
investors.
RetailBook pioneered retail access to primary markets in the UK, launching its
first IPO to retail investors in 2015, and has strategic partnerships with
Crowdcube, Hargreaves Lansdown, Jefferies, Deutsche Numis and Rothschild & Co.
Augmentum led a £4.5m funding round in RetailBook in May 2025.
Epsor
Epsor (www.epsor.fr) is a Paris based provider of employee and retirement
savings plans delivered through an open ecosystem, giving access to a broad
range of asset management products accessible through its intuitive digital
platform. Over 200,000 savers use Epsor to manage their employees and
retirement savings, and the provider now has €1 billion in assets under
management. In September 2023, Epsor announced its B Corp certification. Epsor
partners with top-tier global asset managers such as Fidelity, Amundi,
Allianz, Edmond de Rothschild and Lazard. They serve over 1,200 major
blue-chip clients, including Santander, Bpifrance, Sotheby’s and Veepee, and
their employees. In March 2025, Epsor announced its €16 million Series C
fundraise to prepare for future external growth operations.
Augmentum invested £2.2 million in Epsor in June 2021.
LoopFX
LoopFX (www.theloopfx.com) is a London-headquartered independent venue leading
innovation in the $7 trillion-a-day FX market, building tools for
practitioners, by practitioners. LoopFX enables traders to match, in
real-time, with other asset managers and banks without information leakage and
at a mid-market rate, reducing trading costs and improving best execution
processes.
LoopFX has secured integrations with major trading platforms, including State
Street’s FX Connect, FactSet’s Portware, and FlexTrade’s FlexFX. These
integrations mark a significant step toward reshaping institutional FX trading
infrastructure.
Augmentum invested £2.6 million in June 2024.
Sfermion
Sfermion (www.sfermion.io) is an investment fund focused on the metaverse.
Their goal is to accelerate the emergence of the open metaverse by investing
in the founders, companies, and entities utilising technologies such as web3,
artificial intelligence, and augmented and virtual reality to create the
infrastructure and environments forming the foundations of our digital future.
Augmentum committed US$3 million in October 2021, to be drawn down in
tranches.
Kipp
Kipp (www.letskipp.com) is an Israeli fintech company that enables card
issuers and merchants to reduce non-sufficient funds (NSF) declines through
smarter collaboration. Its platform helps both parties make better approval
decisions by sharing context and aligning incentives, ultimately increasing
approved transactions, creating new revenue, and improving the cardholder
experience.
In May 2025, Kipp announced their partnership with FIS. Through this
collaboration, Kipp’s NSF authorisation solution will be made available to
thousands of debit card issuers, helping to create a more predictable and
efficient payment experience for consumers.
Augmentum invested £4 million in May 2022.
Wayhome
Wayhome (www.wayhome.co.uk) offers a unique part-own part-rent model of home
ownership, requiring as little as 5% deposit with customers paying a market
rent on the portion of the home that they don’t own, with the ability to
increase the equity in the property as their financial circumstances allow.
Wayhome launched to the public in September 2021, following closure of the
initial phase of a £500 million pension fund investment. Wayhome’s first
fund helped over 650 people leave the private rental sector and live in a home
of their own.
Wayhome opens up owner-occupied residential property as an asset class for
pension funds, who will earn inflation-linked rent on their investment.
Augmentum invested £2.5 million in 2019, £1 million in 2021, a further £0.9
million in the Company’s financial year to 31 March 2023, £0.2 million in
July 2024 and a further £0.5 million in the Company’s financial year to 31
March 2025.
Habito
Habito (www.habito.com) is reshaping the United Kingdom’s £1.3 trillion
mortgage market by removing complexity, hidden costs, and friction from the
home financing experience. The company’s mission is to make homeownership
across the UK simpler, fairer, and less stressful.
Since launching in 2016, Habito has supported over 500,000 customers and
facilitated more than £11 billion in mortgages. The business combines
proprietary technology with expert advice to deliver a transparent, efficient
alternative to the traditional mortgage process. Building on its core broking
proposition, Habito has expanded into a fully integrated home-buying platform.
Habito Plus offers customers an end-to-end solution – combining mortgage
broking, conveyancing, and surveying – into one seamless, digital-first
experience. In 2025, Habito was awarded Best Broker for Digital Innovation at
the Mortgage Strategy Awards, recognising its continued leadership in
transforming how UK consumers navigate the home-buying journey.
In August 2019, Augmentum led Habito’s £35 million Series C funding round
with a £5 million investment and added £1.3 million in the Company’s
financial year ended 31 March 2023.
Castelnau Group
Castelnau Group Limited is a listed investment company that is now held
following the share-for-share acquisition of Farewill, which was introduced to
the portfolio in 2019, by Dignity Funerals (in which Castelnau Group Limited
has a controlling stake). The acquisition was announced in October 2024 and
the Castelnau shares were received in February 2025. The Company now holds
1,606,166 shares in Castelnau Group and continues to have an interest in
Farewill via this holding for the time being.
Augmentum led Farewill’s £7.5 million Series A fundraise in January 2019,
with a £4 million investment, participated in its £20 million Series B, led
by Highland Europe in July 2020, with £2.6 million, and in its further £4.8
million fundraise in March 2023, with £0.8 million.
WhiskyInvestDirect
Founded in 2015, WhiskyInvestDirect (www.whiskyinvestdirect.com), was a
subsidiary of BullionVault and is a Scotch whisky industry online trading
platform for buying and selling Scotch whisky as it matures in barrel. It
provides the Scotch whisky industry with a utility which allows distillers to
make whisky and, when demand oscillates over the period of maturation, to
balance their books by selling and re-acquiring the whisky via an efficient
trading platform.
By aggregating their demand into a crowd capable of participating as a market,
WhiskyInvestDirect provides retail investors with access to the high average
returns of owning whisky during its maturation. The business is changing the
way some of the three billion litres of maturing Scottish whisky is owned,
stored and financed, giving investors, distillers, and independent bottlers
the ability to trade 24/7. The company's clients hold over 12 million LPA
(Litres of Pure Alcohol) of spirit.
Augmentum’s holding derives from WhiskeyInvestDirect being spun out of
BullionVault in 2020.
.
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the six months ended 30 September 2025
Six months ended Six months ended
30 September 2025 30 September 2024
Notes Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
£’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
Losses on investments held at fair value - (724) (724) - (4,295) (4,295)
Investment income 486 - 486 894 - 894
AIFM and Performance Fees 2 (287) - (287) (303) - (303)
Other expenses (2,626) (6) (2,632) (2,630) (138) (2,768)
Loss before taxation (2,427) (730) (3,157) (2,039) (4,433) (6,472)
Taxation - - - - - -
Loss attributable to equity shareholders of the parent company (2,427) (730) (3,157) (2,039) (4,433) (6,472)
Loss per share (pence) 3 (1.4) (0.5) (1.9) (1.2) (2.6) (3.8)
The total column of this statement represents the Group’s Consolidated
Income Statement, prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the UK.
The revenue and capital columns are supplementary to this and are prepared
under guidance published by the Association of Investment Companies.
The Group does not have any other comprehensive income and hence the total
return, as disclosed above, is the same as the Group’s total comprehensive
income.
All items in the above statement derive from continuing operations.
All returns are attributable to the equity holders of Augmentum Fintech plc,
the parent company.
.
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
For the six months ended 30 September 2025
Six months ended 30 September 2025
Group Ordinary Share Special Other Revenue Total
share premium reserve capital reserve £’000
capital account £’000 reserve £’000
£’000 £’000 £’000
Opening shareholders’ funds 1,810 105,383 77,933 124,046 (23,756) 285,416
Loss for the period - - - (730) (2,427) (3,157)
At 30 September 2025 1,810 105,383 77,933 123,316 (26,183) 282,259
Six months ended 30 September 2024
Group Ordinary Share Special Other Revenue Total
share premium reserve capital reserve £’000
capital account £’000 reserve £’000
£’000 £’000 £’000
Opening shareholders’ funds 1,810 105,383 80,609 135,293 (19,778) 303,317
Purchase of own shares into treasury - - (2,210) - - (2,210)
Loss for the period - - - (4,433) (2,039) (6,472)
At 30 September 2024 1,810 105,383 78,399 130,860 (21,817) 294,635
.
Condensed Consolidated and Company Statement of Financial Position
as at 30 September 2025
Note 30 September 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Non current assets
Investments held at fair value 7 260,329 255,997
Property, plant & equipment 123 1559
Current assets
Right of use asset 213 288
Other receivables 117 218
Cash and cash equivalents 22,428 32,256
Total assets 283,210 288,914
Current liabilities
Other payables (685) (3,161)
Lease liability (266) (337)
Total assets less current liabilities 282,259 285,416
Net assets 282,259 285,416
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 4 1,810 1,810
Share premium account 4 105,383 105,383
Special reserve 77,933 77,933
Retained earnings:
Capital reserves 123,316 124,046
Revenue reserve (26,183) (23,756)
Total equity 282,259 285,416
NAV per share (pence) 5 168.7 170.6
NAV per share after performance fee (pence) 5 159.5 161.5
.
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
For the six months ended 30 September 2025
Six months Six months
ended ended
30 September 30 September
2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Cash flows from operating activities
Purchases of investments (8,734) (12,590)
Sales of investments 748 9,930
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment (7) (7)
Interest received 528 945
Operating expenses paid (2,363) (2,681)
Net cash outflow from operating activities (9,828) (4,403)
Cash flow from financing activities
Purchase of own shares into Treasury - (2,327)
Net cash outflow from financing - (2,327)
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents (9,828) (6,730)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period 32,256 38,505
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period 22,428 31,775
.
Notes to the Financial Statements
For the six months ended 30 September 2025
1.a General information
Augmentum Fintech plc is a company limited by shares, incorporated and
domiciled in the UK. Its registered office is 25
Southampton Buildings, London WC2A 1AL, UK and its principal place of business
is at 4 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4UP. Its shares are listed on the London
Stock Exchange.
These condensed interim financial statements were approved for issue on 1
December 2025. These condensed interim financial statements do not comprise
statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act
2006. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025
were approved by the board of directors on 30 June 2025 and delivered to the
Registrar of Companies.
The report of the auditors on those accounts was unqualified, did not contain
an emphasis of matter paragraph and did not contain any statement under
section 498 of the Companies Act 2006.
The financial statements have been reviewed, not audited.
1.b Basis of preparation
This condensed consolidated interim financial report for the half-year
reporting period ended 30 September 2025 has been
prepared in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of
the Financial Conduct Authority and International Accounting Standard IAS 34,
‘Interim Financial Reporting’, as adopted in the UK.
The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those of the previous
financial year and corresponding interim reporting period, except for the
adoption of new and amended standards as set out below.
1.c New and amended standards adopted by the Group
No new or amended standards became applicable for the current reporting period
that have an impact on the Group or Company.
1.d Going Concern
The Directors believe that it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis
in preparing these condensed consolidated financial statements, as the Board
considers the Group has sufficient financial resources to continue in
operation for at least the next 12 months from the date of signing of these
financial statements.
1.e Segmental Analysis
The Group operates a single business segment for reporting purposes and is
managed as a single investment company. Reporting is provided to the Board of
Directors on an aggregated basis. The investments are all located in the UK,
continental Europe, the Middle East and the US.
1.f Related Party Transactions
There have been no changes to the nature of the related party arrangements or
transactions during the period to those reported in the Annual Report for the
year ended 31 March 2025.
1.g Events after the reporting period
There have been no significant events since the end of the reporting period
requiring disclosure.
2 AIFM and Performance Fees
Revenue Capital Six months Revenue Capital Six months
£’000 £’000 ended £’000 £’000 ended
30 September 30 September
2025 2024
£’000 £’000
AIFM fees 287 - 287 303 - 303
Performance fee - - - - - -
287 - 287 303 - 303
A performance fee is payable by the Company to AFML when the Company has
realised an aggregate annualised 10% return on investments (the
hurdle’) in each basket of investments. Based on the
investment valuations and the hurdle level as at 30 September 2025 the hurdle
has been met, on an unrealised basis, and as such a
performance fee of £15,404,000 has been accrued by the Company, equivalent to
9.2 pence per share (31 March 2025: £15,244,000; 9.1
pence per share). This accrual is reversed on consolidation and not included
in the Group Statement of Financial Position.
The performance fee is only payable to AFML if the hurdle is met on a realised
basis. See page 25 and Note 18.9 of the 2025 Annual Report for further
details.
3 Loss per share
The loss per share figures are based on the following figures:
Six months Six months
ended ended
30 September 30 September
2025 2024
£’000 £’000
Net revenue loss (2,427) (2,039)
Net capital loss (730) (4,433)
Net total loss (3,157) (6,472)
Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue 169,831,285 169,352,855
Pence Pence
Revenue loss per share (1.4) (1.2)
Capital loss per share (0.5) (2.6)
Total loss per share (1.9) (3.8)
4 Share capital
As at 30 September 2025 there were 167,280,902 (31 March 2025: 167,280,902)
ordinary shares in issue, excluding shares held in treasury, and 13,732,795
(31 March 2025: 13,732,795) shares held in treasury.
During the year to 31 March 2025: 2,550,383 shares were bought back into
treasury at an average price, including ancillary costs, of 104.9p per share.
No shares were issued or bought back during the six months ended 30 September
2025.
5 Net asset value (“NAV”) per
share
The NAV per share is based on the Group net assets attributable to the equity
shareholders of £282,259,000 (31 March 2025:
£285,416,000) and 167,280,902 (31 March 2025: 167,280,902) shares being the
number of shares in issue at the period end.
The NAV per share after performance fee* is based on the Group net assets
attributable to the equity shareholders, less the performance fee accrual made
by the Company of £15,404,000 (31 March 2025:
15,244,000), and the number of shares in issue at the period end.
* Alternative Performance Measure
6 Subsidiary undertakings
The Company has an investment in the issued ordinary share capital of its
wholly owned subsidiary undertaking, Augmentum Fintech Management Limited,
which is registered in England and Wales, operates in the United Kingdom and
is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
7 Financial Instruments
The principal risks the Company faces from its financial instruments are:
• Market Price Risk
• Liquidity Risk; and
• Credit Risk
Market Price Risk
Market price risk arises mainly from uncertainty about future prices of
financial instruments in the Group’s portfolio. It represents the potential
loss the Group might suffer through holding market positions in the face of
price movements, mitigated by stock diversification.
The Group is exposed to the risk of the change in value of its unlisted equity
and non-equity investments. For unlisted equity and non-equity investments the
market risk is principally deemed to be represented by the assumptions used in
the valuation methodology as set out in the accounting policy.
Liquidity Risk
The Group’s assets comprise unlisted equity and non-equity investments.
Whilst unlisted equity is illiquid, short-term flexibility is achieved through
cash and cash equivalents.
Credit Risk
The Group’s exposure to credit risk principally arises from cash and cash
equivalents. Only highly rated banks (with credit ratings above A3, based on
Moody’s ratings or the equivalent from another ratings agency) are used for
cash deposits and the level of cash is reviewed on a regular basis.
Further details of the Company’s management of these risks can be found in
note 13 of the Company’s 2024 Annual Report.
There have been no changes to the management of or the exposure to credit risk
since the date of the Annual Report.
Fair Value Hierarchy
Fair value is the amount for which an asset could be exchanged, or a liability
settled, between knowledgeable willing parties in an arm’s length
transaction.
The Group complies with IFRS 13 in respect of disclosures about the degree of
reliability of fair value measurements. This requires the Group to classify,
for disclosure purposes, fair value measurements using a fair value hierarchy
that reflects the significance of the inputs used in making the measurements.
The levels of fair value measurement bases are defined as follows:
Level 1: fair values measured using quoted prices (unadjusted) in active
markets for identical assets or liabilities.
Level 2: fair values measured using valuation techniques for all inputs
significant to the measurement other than quoted prices included within Level
1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly (i.e. as
prices) or indirectly (i.e. derived from prices).
Level 3: fair values measured using valuation techniques for which any
significant input to the valuation is not based on observable market data
(unobservable inputs).
Two investments were classified as Level 1 and valued at £9,759,000 as at 30
September 2025 (31 March 2025: one investment; £1,413,000). One of the level
1 investments listed during the year and was reclassified from a Level 3
investment. All other investments were classified as Level 3 investments as
at, and throughout the period to, 30 September 2025. Page
28 presents the movements on investments measured at fair value. Total gains
and losses on assets measured at Level 3 are recognised as part of Gains on
Investments in the Consolidated Income Statement, and no other comprehensive
income has been recognised on these assets.
When using the price of a recent transaction in the valuations, the Company
looks to ‘re-calibrate’ this price at each valuation point by reviewing
progress within the investment, comparing against the initial investment
thesis, assessing if there are any significant events or milestones that would
indicate the value of the investment has changed and considering whether a
market-based methodology (ie. using multiples from comparable public
companies) or a discounted cashflow forecast would be more appropriate.
The main inputs into the calibration exercise, and for the valuation models
using multiples, are revenue, EBITDA, AuM, and P/E multiples (based on the
most recent revenue, EBITDA, AuM, or earnings achieved and equivalent
corresponding revenue, EBITDA, AuM, or earnings multiples of comparable public
companies), quality of earnings assessments and comparability difference
adjustments. Revenue multiples are often used, rather than EBITDA or earnings,
due to the nature of the Group’s investments, being in fast-growing, small
financial services companies which are not normally expected to achieve
profitability or scale for a number of years. Where an investment has achieved
scale and profitability the Group would normally then expect to switch to
using an EBITDA or earnings multiple methodology.
The main input into the PWERM (‘Probability Weighed Expected Return
Methodology’) is the probability of conversion. This method is used for the
convertible loan notes held by the Company.
The fair valuation of private company investments is influenced by the
estimates, assumptions and judgements made in the fair valuation process. A
sensitivity analysis is provided below which recognises that
the valuation methodologies employed involve subjectivity in their significant
unobservable inputs and illustrates the sensitivity of the valuations to these
inputs. The inputs have been flexed with the exception of the Sales Price
valuation approach as it does not involve significant subjectivity. The table
also provides the range of values for the key unobservable inputs.
As at 30 September 2025
Valuation approach Fair value of Key Other Applied Multiple Range Weighted Sensitivity Change in
investments unobservable inputs unobservable inputs* average +/- valuation
£’000 multiple % +/(-) £’000
applied#
Market approach using 214,746 Revenue Multiple a, b, c, g 0.9x-25.7x 7.3x 10% 17,358/ (17,355)
comparable traded multiples Earnings Multiple a, b, c, g 7.4x-13.0x 10.1x 10% 7,032/
(7,032)
AUM Multiple a, b, c, g 0.1x 0.1x 10% 288/-
Illiquidity discount d, g 0%-88% 22.3% 30% 22,849/
(10,631)
Transaction implied premiums e, g 9.9%-223.4% 48.4% 30% 10,625/
(10,078)
Net Asset Value** 9,856 Discount to NAV a n/a n/a 10% (982)
PWERM 3,250 Probability of conversion a n/a n/a 25% 136/(136)
CPORT^ 21,150 Transaction price a, e, g n/a n/a 10% 2,939/(2,939)
Expected transaction price 1,566 Execution risk discount a,f n/a n/a n/a 157/(157)
Quoted Price 9,759 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
# Weighted average is calculated by reference to the fair value of holdings as
at the respective year-end. This therefore gives a clearer indication of the
typical multiple or adjustment being applied across the portfolio.
** LP (‘Limited Partnership’) investments are held at net asset values
provided by the relevant LP fund administrators. These are adjusted by
benchmark movements as appropriate.
^ Whilst a recent or expected transaction price may be the most appropriate
basis for a valuation, it will be corroborated by other techniques which
factor in the unobservable inputs noted below.
As at 31 March 2025
Valuation approach Fair value of Key Other Applied Multiple Range Weighted Sensitivity Change in
investments unobservable inputs unobservable inputs* average +/- valuation
£’000 multiple % +/(-) £’000
applied#
Market approach using 222,019 Revenue Multiple a, b, c, g 0.8x – 18.4x 6.2x 10% 21,398/ (21,812)
comparable traded multiples Earnings Multiple a, b, c, g 5.6x – 15.8x 9.8x 10% 3,659/
(3,359)
AUM Multiple a, b, c, g - - - -
Illiquidity discount d, g 7% - 80% 21.1% 30% 26,080/ (22,988)
Transaction implied premiums and discounts e, g 20% - 180% 62.4% 30% 7,209/ (8,393)
Net Asset Value** 6,509 Discount to NAV a n/a n/a 10% (350)
PWERM 8,756 Probability of conversion a n/a n/a 25% 319/(399)
Expected transaction price - Execution risk discount a,f n/a n/a n/a n/a
CPORT^ 16,351 Transaction price a, e, g n/a n/a 10% 1,710/ (1,710)
Sales Price 2,361 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
*Significant unobservable inputs
The variable inputs applicable to each broad category of valuation basis will
vary dependent on the particular circumstances of each private company
valuation. An explanation of each of the key variable inputs is provided
below. The assumptions and decisions process in relation to the inputs is
described in note 18.12 within the Annual Report.
(a) Application of valuation basis
Each investment is assessed independently, and the valuation basis
applied will vary depending on the circumstances of each investment. When an
investment is pre-revenue, the focus of the valuation will be on assessing the
recent transaction and the achievement of key milestones since investment.
Adjustments may also be made depending on the performance of comparable
benchmarks and companies. For those investments where a trading multiples
approach can be taken, the methodology will factor in revenue, earnings or
assets under management as appropriate for the investment..
(b) Selection of comparable companies
The selection of comparable companies is assessed individually for
each investment and the relevance of the comparable companies is continually
evaluated at each valuation date. Key criteria used in selecting appropriate
comparable companies are the industry sector in which they operate, the
geography of the company’s operations, the respective revenue and earnings
growth rates, operating margins, company size and development stage.
Typically, between 4 and 10 comparable companies will be selected for each
investment, but this can vary depending on how many relevant comparable
companies are identified. The resultant revenue or earnings multiples or share
price movements derived will vary depending on the companies selected and the
industries they operate in. Given the nature of the investments the Company
makes there are not always directly comparable listed companies, in such cases
comparables will be selected whose businesses bear similarity to the relevant
investment, in such cases the need for an additional discount / premium to the
comparables will be assessed at each valuation date.
(c) Estimated sustainable revenue or earnings
The selection of sustainable revenue or earnings will depend on
whether the company is sustainably profitable or not, and where it is not then
revenues will be used in the valuation. The valuation approach will typically
assess companies based on the last twelve months of revenue or earnings, as
they are the most recent available and therefore viewed as the most reliable.
Where a business has volatile earnings on a year-on-year basis, revenue or
earnings may be assessed over a longer period. Where a company has reliably
forecasted earnings previously or there is a change in circumstance at the
business which will impact earnings going forward, then forward estimated
revenue or earnings may be used instead.
(d) Application of illiquidity discount
An illiquidity discount may be applied either through the
calibration of a valuation against the most recent transaction, or by
application of a specific discount. The discount applied where a calibration
(see (e) below) is not appropriate is dependent on factors specific to each
investment, such as quality of earnings or revenues and potential exit
scenarios.
(e) Transaction implied premium and discount
Where there is an implied company valuation available as a result
of an external arm's length transaction, the ongoing valuation will be
calibrated to this by deriving a company valuation with reference to the
average multiple from a set of comparable companies and comparing this to a
transaction implied valuation. This can result in an implied premium or
discount compared to comparable companies at the point of transaction. This
discount or premium will be considered in future valuations and may be reduced
due to factors such as the time since the transaction and company performance.
Where a calibrated approach is not appropriate, a discount for illiquidity may
be applied as noted in (d) above.
(f) Execution risk
An execution risk discount is applied to all investments where an
arm’s-length transaction is due to take place but hasn’t closed prior to
the reporting period end. The discount applied is dependent on the progress of
the negotiations and outstanding matters that may impact on the expected
price. When valuing in line with an expected transaction the arm’s-length
nature of the deal will be assessed, and term sheets will have been received.
(g) Liquidity preference
The company’s investments are typically venture investments with
downside protections such as liquidation preference and anti-dilution
provisions. Unlike ordinary share structures typically seen in the public or
private markets, these structures protect the value of the Company’s
position in the event of a reduction in the enterprise value of an investee
company from the price paid. Where a valuation indicates the enterprise value
of an investment has fallen the enterprise value will be fed into the investee
companies’ ‘waterfall’ (which ranks shares by seniority/preference in
the event of a liquidation event) to calculate the value of the Company’s
position.
The following table presents the movement of investments measured at fair
value, based on fair value measurement levels.
Level 3
Six months to Year to
30 September 31 March
2025 2025
£’000 £’000
Opening balance 255,997 265,083
Purchases at cost 5,804 18,878
Realisation proceeds (748) (16,882)
Losses on investments held at fair value (724) 11,082
Closing balance as at 30 September 260,329 255,997
.
Independent Review Report to Augmentum Fintech plc
Conclusion
Based on our review, nothing has come to our attention that causes us to
believe that the condensed set of financial statements in the half-yearly
financial report for the six months ended 30 September 2025 is not prepared,
in all material respects, in accordance with UK adopted International
Accounting Standard 34 and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of
the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority.
We have been engaged by the company to review the condensed set of financial
statements in the half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30
September 2025 which comprises the Condensed Consolidated Statement of
Comprehensive Income, Condensed Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity,
Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position, Condensed Consolidated
Statement of Cash Flows and the related explanatory notes that have been
reviewed.
Basis for conclusion
We conducted our review in accordance with the International Standard on
Review Engagements (UK) 2410, “Review of Interim Financial Information
Performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity” (“ISRE (UK) 2410”).
A review of interim financial information consists of making enquiries,
primarily of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters, and
applying analytical and other review procedures. A review is substantially
less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with International
Standards on Auditing (UK) and consequently does not enable us to obtain
assurance that we would become aware of all significant matters that might be
identified in an audit. Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.
As disclosed in note 1, the annual financial statements of the group are
prepared in accordance with UK adopted international accounting standards. The
condensed set of financial statements included in this half-yearly financial
report has been prepared in accordance with UK adopted International
Accounting Standard 34, “Interim Financial
Reporting”.
Conclusions relating to going concern
Based on our review procedures, which are less extensive than those performed
in an audit as described in the Basis for conclusion section of this report,
nothing has come to our attention to suggest that the directors have
inappropriately adopted the going concern basis of accounting or that the
directors have identified material uncertainties relating to going concern
that are not appropriately disclosed.
This conclusion is based on the review procedures performed in accordance with
ISRE (UK) 2410, however future events or conditions may cause the group to
cease to continue as a going concern.
Responsibilities of directors
The directors are responsible for preparing the half-yearly financial report
in accordance with the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the
United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority.
In preparing the half-yearly financial report, the directors are responsible
for assessing the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,
disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the
going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to
liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative
but to do so.
Auditor’s responsibilities for the review of the financial information
In reviewing the half-yearly report, we are responsible for expressing to the
Company a conclusion on the condensed set of financial statement in the
half-yearly financial report. Our conclusion, including our Conclusions
Relating to Going Concern, are based on procedures that are less extensive
than audit procedures, as described in the Basis for Conclusion paragraph of
this report.
Use of our report
Our report has been prepared in accordance with the terms of our engagement to
assist the Company in meeting the requirements of the Disclosure Guidance and
Transparency Rules of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority and
for no other purpose. No person is entitled to rely on this report unless such
a person is a person entitled to rely upon this report by virtue of and for
the purpose of our terms of engagement or has been expressly authorised to do
so by our prior written consent. Save as above, we do not accept
responsibility for this report to any other person or for any other purpose
and we hereby expressly disclaim any and all such liability.
BDO LLP
Chartered Accountants
London, UK
1 December 2025
BDO LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales
(with registered number OC305127).
.
Interim Management Report
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
A review of the half year and the outlook for the Company can be found in the
Chairman’s Statement and in the Portfolio Manager’s Review. The principal
risks and uncertainties faced by the Company fall into the following broad
categories: investment risks; portfolio diversification risk; cash risk;
credit risk; valuation risk; operational risk; and key person risk.
Information on these risks is given in the Annual Report for the year ended 31
March 2025.
The Board believes that the Company’s principal risks and uncertainties have
not changed materially since the date of that report and are not expected to
change materially for the remaining six months of the Company’s financial
year.
Related Party Transactions
During the first six months of the current financial year, no transactions
with related parties have taken place which have materially affected the
financial position or the performance of the Group.
Going Concern
The Directors believe, having considered the Company’s investment objective,
risk management policies, capital management policies and procedures, and the
nature of the portfolio and the expenditure projections, that the Group has
adequate resources, an appropriate financial structure and suitable management
arrangements in place to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable
future.
Directors’ Responsibilities
The Board of Directors confirms that, to the best of its knowledge:
(i) the condensed set of financial statements contained
within this Half Year Report has been prepared in accordance with Accounting
Standard IAS 34, ‘Interim Financial Reporting’, as adopted in the UK;
(ii) the condensed set of financial statements give a
true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and return
of the issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation; and
(iii) the Half Year Report includes a fair review of the
information required by 4.2.7R and 4.2.8R of the UK Listing Authority
Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
In order to provide these confirmations, and in preparing these financial
statements, the Directors are required to:
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply
them consistently;
• make judgements and accounting estimates that are
reasonable and prudent;
• state whether applicable IFRS have been followed,
subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial
statements; and
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern
basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Company will continue in
business;
and the Directors confirm that they have done so.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
William Reeve
Chairman
1 December 2025
.
Glossary and Alternative Performance Measures
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”)
Agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of the European
Union and transposed into UK legislation, the AIFMD classifies certain
investment vehicles, including investment companies, as Alternative Investment
Funds (“AIFs”) and requires them to appoint an Alternative Investment Fund
Manager (“AIFM”) and depositary to manage and oversee the operations of
the investment vehicle. The Board of the Company retains responsibility for
strategy, operations and compliance and the Directors retain a fiduciary duty
to shareholders.
Alternative Performance Measures (“APMs”)
The measures the Board of Directors uses to assess the Company’s
performance that are not defined under the International Financial Reporting
Standards but which are viewed as particularly relevant for investment trusts.
Definitions of the terms used and the basis of calculation are set out in this
Glossary and the APMs are indicated with an asterisk (*).
Convertible Loan Note
A convertible loan note is a loan which bears interest and is
repayable but may convert into shares under certain circumstances.
Discount or Premium
A description of the difference between the share price and the net
asset value per share. The size of the discount or premium is calculated by
subtracting the share price from the net asset value per share and is usually
expressed as a percentage (%) of the net asset value per share. If the share
price is higher than the net asset value per share the result is a premium. If
the share price is lower than the net asset value per share, the shares are
trading at a discount.
EBITDA
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortisation.
Gross IRR on Capital Deployed
Is the annualised return arising on investment related cash flows
taking account of the timing of each cash flow, and assuming all investments
are realised at their carrying value at the period end. It does not take
account of the Group's expenses or transactions with shareholders. It is
derived by computing the discount rate at which the present value of all
investment related cash flows are equal to the original amounts invested.
Initial Public Offering (“IPO”)
An IPO is a type of public offering in which shares of a company are
sold to institutional investors and usually also retail (individual)
investors. Through this process, colloquially known as floating, or going
public, a privately held company is transformed into a public company.
Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”)
Is the annualised return on an investment calculated from the cash
flows arising from that investment taking account of the timing of each cash
flow. It is derived by computing the discount rate at which the present value
of all subsequent cash flows arising from an investment are equal to the
original amount invested.
Performance fee – Company
AFML is entitled to a performance fee (previously referred to as
carried interest) in respect of the performance of the Company's investments.
Each performance fee operates in respect of investments made during a 24 month
period and related follow-on investments made for a further 36 month period,
save that the first performance fee shall be in respect of investments
acquired using 80% of the net proceeds of the Company’s IPO in March 2018
(including the Initial Portfolio), and related follow-on investments.
Subject to certain exceptions, AFML will receive, in aggregate, 15% of the net
realised cash profits from the sale of investments made over the relevant
period once the Company has received an aggregate annualised 10% realised
return on investments (the ‘hurdle’) made during the relevant period.
AFML's return is subject to a ‘’catch-up’’ provision in its favour.
The performance fee is paid in cash as soon as practicable after the end of
each relevant period, save that at the discretion of the Board payments of the
performance fee may be made in circumstances where the relevant basket of
investments has been realised in part, subject to claw-back arrangements in
the event that payments have been made in excess of AFML’s entitlement to
any performance fees as calculated following the relevant period.
The performance fee payable by the Company to AFML is accrued in the Company's
financial statements and eliminated on consolidation in the Group financial
statements.
NAV per share Total Return*
The theoretical total return on the NAV per share, reflecting the
change in NAV during the period assuming that any dividends paid to
shareholders were reinvested at NAV at the time the shares were quoted
ex-dividend. This is a way of measuring investment management performance of
investment trusts which is not affected by movements in the share price
discount/premium.
Net Asset Value (“NAV”)
The value of the Group’s assets, principally investments made in
other companies and cash being held, minus any liabilities. The NAV per share
is also described as ‘shareholders’ funds’ per share. The NAV is often
expressed in pence per share after being divided by the number of shares in
issue. The NAV per share is unlikely to be the same as the share price, which
is the price at which the Company’s shares can be bought or sold by an
investor. The share price is determined by the relationship between the demand
and supply of the shares.
Net Asset Value (“NAV”) per share after performance fee*
The NAV of the Group as calculated above less the performance fee
accrual made by the Company divided by the number of issued shares.
Net Asset Value (“NAV”) per share after performance fee total return*
The Directors regard the Group’s NAV per share after performance
fee total return as being the critical measure of value delivered to
shareholders over the long term. The Board considers that the NAV per share
after performance fee better reflects the current value of each share than the
consolidated NAV per share figure, the calculation of which eliminates the
performance fee.
Partnership
Augmentum I LP, a limited partnership registered in Jersey and a
wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.
Total Shareholder Return*
The theoretical total return per share reflecting the change in
share price during the period and assuming that any dividends paid were
reinvested at the share price at the time the shares were quoted ex-dividend.
Unquoted investment
Investments in unquoted securities such as shares and debentures
which are not quoted or traded on a stock market.
.
The half year report will shortly be available for inspection on the Company's
website (https://augmentum.vc) and the National Storage Mechanism website (
https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism
).
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