By Oliver Smith on Thursday 16 July 2020
The listed fintech investor says Covid-19 will trigger “a number of compelling investment opportunities”.
Coronavirus and changing consumer behaviours present a the fintech sector with “significant opportunity for further disruption,” Tim Levene, the CEO of listed investor Augmentum Fintech said today.
His comments came as Augmentum reported its full year results to 31 March which saw its net asset value per share jump up 5.9 per cent at 116.1p, sending shares in the investor up 2.7 per cent on the announcement this morning to 107p.
"Covid-19 has fundamentally changed behaviours,” said Levene. “This has accelerated the digitisation of financial services and has created significant opportunity for further disruption. Fintech per se finds itself at the centre of this change and we expect to capitalise on a once in a generation transformation in digital adoption.”
“We anticipate that over the coming 12 months there will be a number of compelling investment opportunities.”
Among the companies in Augmentum’s portfolio, the investor reported Farewill, BullionVault and Onfido have all seen “increased demand for their services” during the Covid-19 crisis.
Onfido was a standout star for the investor, with its earlier investment in the business seeing a 46 per cent uplift on the ID verification startup’s latest $100m round.
During the year Augmentum invested £17.8m in new portfolio companies including Habito, Grover and Receipt Bank, as well as £15m in existing portfolio companies.
“As the UK’s only publicly listed fintech fund, Augmentum Fintech is uniquely positioned to capitalise on these opportunities and provide investors with diversified exposure to some of Europe’s most exciting Fintech companies,” concluded Levene.
“With private companies staying private for longer, a trend that continues to persist, we expect to deliver compelling venture returns over time.”
21 March 2023
Daniel Lanyon