LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Financial technology venture capital investor Augmentum Fintech reported a fund size of £131.4m at the end of its half-year on Wednesday, rising from the £94.0m launch size of the fund on 13 March 2018.

The London-listed firm said its unrealised internal rate of return was 19% on investments for the six months ended 30 September, and reported that during the period, upward valuations of £14.9m were offset by a decrease in the valuation of Zopa, leaving an overall gain on investments of £4.6m.

Total investments were worth £101.0m in its diversified portfolio of high growth fintech companies, the board explained.

It said it had £29m of available cash, up from £25.6m on 31 March, while the company's net asset value per share rose to 112.2p, with its overall net asset value increasing to £131.4m from £103m during the period, including a £24.9m increase from July.

On the operational front, Augmentum Fintech said it reviewed more than 430 deals in the half-year, seeking over £1.2bn of growth capital.

It made two new investments in Habito and Grover, and four follow-on investments in Tide, Duedil, Monese and Previse.

The company said it managed to secure 100% of the deals where term sheets were offered, and added that its investment team was increased by one investment partner, one associate and one analyst.

"The pipeline of opportunities in fintech remains strong and your company raised an additional £25.8m in the period to provide funding for the best of these," said chairman Neil England.

"We have an excellent and experienced investment team and believe that we are well positioned to take advantage of the significant growth in fintech that is expected in the future."

Tim Levene, chief executive officer of Augmentum Fintech Management, added that deal flow remained "strong" throughout the reporting period.

"Since our initial public offering in March 2018, we have reviewed over 1,500 fintech opportunities across Europe.

Over this period the UK, and London in particular, has seen a dramatic increase in fintech investment.

"Augmentum is now well-positioned at the heart of Europe's fintech ecosystem and as such we see opportunities often long before other investors."

Levene said that, despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit throughout 2019, the company still believed that the UK would continue to be at the centre of European fintech investment - not least because of what it saw as the positive effect of the regulatory environment and infrastructure created by the combined actions of the Treasury, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England.

"The availability of capital extending further along the maturity curve and the impact this has on exits and investment realisation with companies staying private for longer fits well with Augmentum's core proposition."

At 1117 GMT, shares in Augmentum Fintech were down 4.61% at 102.07p.

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