Mirriad, a UK-based video technology developer backed by corporates Unilever, STV and Zee Entertainment, is targeting £26.2m ($35m) in gross proceeds in an initial public offering in London.
The company, which is set to float under the ticker symbol MIRI on the AIM market on December 19, will sell approximately 42.2 million new shares priced at £0.62 each, and the flotation will result in a market cap of £63.2m.
Commercialisation firm IP Group has committed £3.7m to the offering and will own a 27.2% stake following completion of the IPO.
Founded in 2008 as Mirriad Advertising before restructuring and rebranding in 2015, Mirriad has created native in-video advertising technology that allows for branded content to be inserted into existing media, making it appear as though they were always part of the scene.
The platform also makes use of artificial intelligence technology to automatically identify scenes that are most suitable for advertising.
Seraphim Capital, London Seed Capital, Oxford Technology Management, South East Growth Fund and private investors invested approximately $3.2m in Mirriad in 2007 before returning to inject the same amount the following year.
Asia Today, a subsidiary of media and entertainment group Zee Entertainment Enterprises, led a $5.6m funding round for Mirriad in 2013, after media company STV and venture capital firm Oxford Capital Partners had provided an undisclosed amount in 2010.
Parkwalk Advisors invested undisclosed amounts in May and December 2015, according to the firm’s website. Mirriad disclosed in the IPO filing that it secured a total of £10.5m in financing in 2015 from Parkwalk and IP Group subsidiary IP2IPO.
The company closed a $15m funding round in January 2016 co-led by IP Group and spinout-focused investment firm Parkwalk Advisors that included consumer goods producer Unilever’s corporate venturing vehicle, Unilever Ventures.
Multi-family office Sand Aire led a £1.4m funding round for the company in July 2017 that included unnamed additional backers.
Numis Securities is acting as nominated advisor, broker and joint bookrunner for the placing, with Baden Hill also serving as joint bookrunner.
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.