Augmentum Fintech to more than double in size as CEO heralds “significant opportunities” ahead

Listed fintech investor Augmentum Fintech has announced plans to raise a further £150m in order to invest in “significant opportunities” the CEO says he is seeing in the market.

Tim Levene told AltFi that Augmentum had a “significant pipeline in terms of capitalising on the opportunity”, including £450m in dealflow which they are currently reviewing.

“To date we’ve looked at 675 companies [since IPO], and invested in 9, so we say no far more than we say yes.”

Levene declined to comment on the exact timing of the fundraise.

The news came as Augmentum posted its first set of annual results, which included valuation gains of £12.2m and a portfolio worth £77.6m as of 31 March.

Augmentum’s net asset value per share stands at 109.6p, versus 99p when the fund launched in March 2018.

It’s current portfolio’s largest holdings include Zopa (28.3% of the portfolio value), Interactive Investor (13% of the portfolio value) and Bullion Vault (9.8% of the portfolio value).

When asked if Augmentum would look to raise more capital, Levene said: “We don’t want to raise too much cash as a key risk factor of being listed is a danger of raising too much capital and creating a cash drag or perverse incentives.”

In a note to investors, Numis wrote: “Augmentum has a unique mandate among London-listed funds, and appears well-placed to exploit the rapid growth potential among European fintech companies…”

Looking ahead Levene said Augmentum’s ambitions “are pan-European, but our centre of gravity is here and to a lesser extent Germany.”