Investor Insights
February - 2021
Investment-enabled technology brings hope for a brighter future
A bright and positive welcome to our first newsletter of 2021.
After a transitional year, we are now beginning to see hope for a brighter future. Vaccines against COVID-19 being developed in record time remind us that medical science is finding solutions to some of the world’s most desperate health problems.
This month we bring you a glimpse of a new, brilliant solution for cancer. We know that you will want to know more, and both contribute to, and benefit from, this technology-driven initiative.
Inside this issue:
There is hope, too, on sustainability from both the White House and the World Economic Forum (WEF) with the Paris Climate Accord back on the global table (article). Powered by this growing awareness, the shift to electric-powered mobility has moved dramatically in the last year with EV-only Tesla becoming the world’s most valuable company. General Motors has recently announced a shift away from fossil-fueled vehicles, and Airbus is developing hydrogen-electric-powered planes. Below we remind you of our own modest support in that direction with e-powered water transport – a proven concept already selling well – and we invite you to get on board soon to benefit from a promising development of a further and profitable push towards making e-water-transport an everyday mobility solution.
A major emphasis at the World Economic Forum (WEF) has been the need for reskilling and upskilling as the world moves rapidly into a more digitized and interconnected world accelerated by the home-working revolution driven by the pandemic and with the advent of 5G enabling the quickening shift towards Industry 4.0. Reports have shown that about 40% of the world’s working population will need a re-education in the next few years (article). We have been following a fin-tech enabler to this revolution that aims to help firms and direct investors profitably participate in the income benefits accruing to reskilled/upskilled workers.
Figure 1: Additional GDP potential due to upskilling, 2020-2030 (2019 prices, billion $)
While we are here, it seems appropriate to mention a very recent change that the government of the UAE – where we have our home base – has issued guidelines that allow some of those living or working in the Emirates to acquire a second citizenship. This move recognizes the importance of ‘visitors’ to the local economy and targets specific categories including investors, doctors, specialists, inventors, scientists, and individuals with creative talents such as intellectuals and artists. If you wish to know more, please get in touch.
Medical Investment opportunity: Technology Device for Lung Cancer Treatment
As part of SDG’s Goal 3 (Health and Wellbeing), the Global Development Agenda for 2030 has announced that cancer care constitutes major health and development challenge (article). With a 28% rise in cancer disease globally in the last decade, we lost nearly 10 million people annually to cancer even before COVID- 19 (article). Care has been especially disrupted for these patients during the pandemic mainly due to the suspension of screening services and even delays in treatments. This pulls back any development progress the science has made towards fighting the cancer.
But we should not despair, there is hope in new research. A firm that we are supporting has developed a therapy that detects and treats the deadliest types of lung cancer. The concept is based on hyperthermia, the principle of killing cancer cells through heat.
Figure 1: Additional GDP potential due to upskilling, 2020-2030 (2019 prices, billion $)
The approach utilizes cancer-seeking nanoparticles that are heated (through the application of harmless radiofrequency applied from outside the body), significantly reducing cancer’s mass, preventing it from developing further, all without surgical intervention.
Already successful in repeated tests on mammals, the firm is seeking further investment to support human and efficiency phases before commercial launch. You will want to know more and be part of the solution. Talk to us today.
Electric Watercraft Investment Opportunity:
Taking to the waters, quietly and sustainable
After the EU’s €15 million investment proving that a 60-meter long electric ferry (article) is both financially and environmentally viable, the interest in electric powered watercraft of all types has grown to an estimated $20 billion global business potential. We are supporting a European firm at the smaller end of the market that is seeking some €5 million to move to volume production of their two seater sports model and create a water-ready prototype of the promising five-seater ‘car on the water’. Since we wrote about them back in September, they have continued to produce and ship the now customer-proven two-seater around the world. We invite you to get on board and ride the new wave of electric water mobility into the future with us. You have to see this – wet-suits are not required.
Creating a new investment opportunity:
Direct investment in human capital
Of course, all investments are indirectly in human capital, although routed through firms. Recognizing the now urgent push for upskilling (see Figure 1, above), a European fintech we are supporting has developed a platform to enable both employers and investors to benefit from the enhanced income of high-potential in demand individuals. Using investor-defined, and narrowly targeted, selection criteria the platform links investments with proven individuals matching those criteria. Investor rewards come from a fair percentage of the investee’s income for years to come – offering attractive returns for the savvy investor. The volume of investments in such default-protected Income Share Agreements is unlimited, while the firm is also seeking up to €300,000 direct investment in shares to power the roll-out. As the firm is a government-defined ‘innovative company’, there are also limited opportunities for direct investors to gain residency/citizenship with an investment (in shares) of €300,000.
As the world seeks to reskill almost half of the working population, the scope is enormous. Talk with us today to learn more.
Where to next?
The New Year has definitely brought many possibilities of growth, investment, and development in the sustainability area. Whether it is the medical front, education or even transport – the opportunities are many to do good for the world we live in. As we come together to align with our values, we trust you will take interest in that which stands with the vision and mission of your organization.
Happy to walk with you on your journey of sustainable investments.
carbon market participants into a global ecosystem for financial and environmental gains, with a focus on energy, water, and food. It serves as a distributed hub and connective tissue to link multiple international carbon exchanges and other buyside carbon emitters and custodians with supply-side carbon offset projects and ESG project owners globally to drive distribution. For the purpose of keeping carbon credit ledger data up to date, their software also communicates with reputable third-party registries.
and reforestation to deliver results that are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It specializes in giving clients advice on energy efficiency, clean energy options, tr
After a year of service, the e-ferry’s operators concluded that the system has a highly sustainable energy efficiency of 85%, almost twice that of diesel boats. With this background, the US$20 billion market expectation for electric watercraft seems more than reasonable. To support this industry, we are following a firm that has designed, and begun delivering, an electric-powered watercraft. Destined for the lucrative leisure market, this is a mere stepping stone to the huge water taxi market for which a design is already complete.
technology that detects one of the deadliest types of cancer and treats it without damaging healthy cells and tissues. Its electromagnetic stimulation, combined with a nanotechnology system, has demonstrated the preclinical treatment to be safe and effective. The medical device has been classified as class III to chronically treat and reduce cancer’s mass significantly from further development. The firm has started Phase I and seeking investments to support this phase. Based on Phase I results, which will be within 12-15 months, they plan an IPO for Phase II, the last one before the commercial launch in North America by 2024.
The firm’s platform matches investors with advanced learners by exploiting the fully scalable and high-return potential of non-loan Income Share Agreements (ISA’s). Investors in ISA’s may finely tune their investment criteria to match their corporate objectives, which may include CSR targets. Currently, the firm is proposing two types of investment opportunity: in the infinite possibilities of direct investments in ISA’s and, more conventionally, investments in shares (and, as the firm is designated by the French state as an innovative firm, offers the possibility of French residency/citizenship).
