With an upper limit of 10%, the group told Portfolio Adviser it was looking to bring that percentage to around 7 to 8% over time. But, it said, there is also the likelihood that some of its existing unquoted holdings will come to market, which would once more change the equation.
According to the group’s October Fund Roundup, unquoted holdings now comprise positions in 10 companies.
“We are very excited about the long-term growth potential that this part of the portfolio represents,” the group said.
The four new holdings are Spin Transfer Technologies, EMBA, Viamet and Stratified Medical.
The first, a venture between Allied Minds and New York University, the firm aims to develop and commercialize so called magneto-resistive random access memory technologies.
According to a recent release, Spin Transfer Technologies said: “OST-MRAM has the potential to replace large segments of the Flash, SRAM and DRAM markets, which collectively had a combined estimated value of $60 billion a year worldwide in 2013.” The group has also just successfully raised $70m to accelerate the commercial development of its technology.
The other three are in one way or another associated with the healthcare market.
EMBA, is a medical device company incorporated in 2011 and formerly known as Intersect6. According to the team at Woodford Investment Management, the attraction of the company is its embolism device that is used to block blood flow in veins, which is in the final stages of regulatory approval.
Viamet, is another biotech firm, but this time focused on anti-fungal drugs. According to the group, it is in the latter stages of clinical trials on a new line of anti-fungal compounds.
According to a recent press release announcing the closure of a $60m round of financing provided by Brandon Point Industries in conjuction with WIM, Viamet said the financing “is expected to provide sufficient capital to fund operations through the achievement of several important clinical
milestones over the next number of years.”
The final of the four, Stratified Medicla is also in the drug discovery and disease monitoring game, but claims to unite “traditional pharmaceutical development methodology with powerful predictive analytical capabilities to reduce the friction inhibiting innovation and create a more efficient development process.”
