Katalysen Ventures

Report from CEO Peter Almberg

The Market: Since early 2021, the early-stage investment segment has been tested. Markets, however, are inherently destined to rebound and we believe that we have finally reached a turn in momentum. In Katalysen Ventures’ IPO memorandum, we published a growth target that we think is appropriate for a venture developer, given the characteristics of the model and previous performance data: 35% annual growth in portfolio value. This represents average growth over a full economic cycle and we are confident that we will reach this target over time.

The Katalysen shares represents an accessible investment in a portfolio of Nordic early-stage innovation. For the past two weeks, the shares are also traded on the Nasdaq INET platform, making it significantly easier for international investors to trade the stock. This is important, since a large part of the company’s shareholders is based abroad, a fact that we are very proud of.

In 2023, we have increased our stakes in the portfolio ventures that we think hold the most potential over the next 30 months, and we have significantly reduced our costs, with a further 20% reduction in operating costs starting Q1 2024. Through a partner strategy, we have grown our network and improved our access to expertise. By focusing on developing companies around great partnerships, we can implement lessons learned over the last five years and maximize our own potential for the next five years (more on this soon). To reflect this new strategic direction, we re-designed our logo and website in early 2024.

Care: The public launch of ChatGPT in 2022 marked the beginning of a craze reminiscent of the dot-com era. At Katalysen Ventures, we are strong supporters of AI, and we look forward to using its growing capabilities to leverage our own unique competence. While AI may one day overtake human intelligence – which of course is not necessarily good news for people who claim to have a high IQ – we can excel in a world in which passion, curiosity and resilience (AQ) are what separate “winners” from “non-winners”. Indeed, we have observed that it is already the norm for early-stage venture developers.

As intelligence takes a giant leap and becomes affordable through AI, we celebrate the chance that it may be made available to all humans in a way that is fair. The keys to "making it" in the future, we believe, will be to have an entrepreneurial mindset, a personal brand and a network. You will also need to care.

And we care. Mid-pandemic, we asked all our portfolio companies to fill out a questionnaire to find out what they thought of us as investors and partners. The responses were unanimous: what our entrepreneurs liked was that we genuinely cared about them. Today, when I talk to investors, our shareholders and our board, the response is very similar. That we listen, understand and care is central to who we are and to what makes Katalysen different, in a good way. Adding up our resources such as experience, hands-on problem-solving skills, a quality network, and a knack for financing strategy, results in a very solid partner. And this has always been central to our mission: to be the best partner possible to entrepreneur-led ventures.

Another one of Katalysen’s strength lies in our tenacity. We do not give up. We listen, understand, care and constantly look for solutions. Even during as difficult an experience as a company bankruptcy we turned that “defeat” into a fantastic opportunity (see the QuTEM case study). Such an outcome would not have been impossible without relying on our core strengths.

Collaborations: With the recent inflation and interest rate increases, start-ups have found it particularly difficult to obtain additional funding while suffering from reduced valuations. These challenges often create tension among shareholders and founders. Partly due to these issues, even fundamentally strong businesses with high potential are struggling, and tensions lead to diminished collaboration.

Our philosophy is centred on achieving greater outcomes through collaborative efforts. In the last 24 months, our belief in the power of teamwork as a cornerstone of success has been validated. The first transaction using our new Venture Targeter Framework is a great example of what can be achieved by the great collaboration of all involved parties. We are confident that this transaction will have a significant positive impact on the future value of our portfolio, and we are now looking at similar turnaround opportunities.

As venture developer with a collaborative mindset, we are particularly proud to demonstrate how to salvage great IP and turn failure into success.

Conclusion: The highlight of the quarter was the inaugural investment of the Venture Targeter Framework into QuTEM. We are currently working on two similar transactions into special situation opportunities, pooling expertise, experience and cash using the same framework. We look forward to soon being able to share more information about how we are capitalising on the lessons learned from the last five years to continue building a unique investment platform.

Following a complete, bottom-up revaluation of the portfolio using an upgraded valuation approach, we arrived at a total portfolio valuation that is 1.7% lower than the total portfolio valuation at the end of 2023Q3. Given the economic climate, our portfolio is developing well.

KPIs

• Portfolio ventures: 25 (24)
• Estimated portfolio market vlaue 158 MSEK (161 MSEK)
• Cash resources in bank 1.3 MSEK (0.4 MSEK)

Financial KPIs

Important events during the period

Important events after the period