Tern Plc : Statement re Portfolio Update 30

30 November 2017 Tern Plc (AIM: TERN) Portfolio Update

Tern Plc (AIM:TERN), the investment company specialising in the Internet of Things ("IoT"), provides an update on the recent activities of its key portfolio companies. 

Highlights

• Device Authority ("DA") has continued to make progress in line with its strategy to bring its IoT security platform to market via partnerships with leading IoT ecosystem providers during the second half of 2017:
  • Announcement of a three-year global agreement to power Comodo CA's IoT security service, which represents a significant milestone and revenue opportunity for DA;
  • The integration of DA's core KeyScaler(TM) product with Intel® Secure Device Onboard (SDO);
  • The signing of a three-year agreement with MultiTech, a leading ARM-based developer and manufacturer of communications equipment for the industrial IoT, for DA to provided KeyScaler(TM) for its gateway products;
  • The signing of an agreement with GCE Healthcare Products Group, whose products range from medical gas regulators and oxygen concentrators, to resuscitation and hospital ward equipment used in emergency, hospital and homecare environments; and
  • Entered into a new partnership with Super Micro Computer, Inc., a global leader in computing, storage and networking technologies to enable an on-boarding model, through which applications identify devices and automatically onboard them to their IoT management application.
• In September 2017, InVMA launched its new product, AssetMinder, which delivers real-time insights from remote and unmanned equipment and integrates Device Authority's KeyScaler(TM).
• In November 2017 Wyld launched its Emergency and Disruption Alert Network solution and is making headway towards its deployment in 2018 .

          Al Sisto, CEO of Tern, said: "Our portfolio companies continue to track on their core objectives, which are focused on driving sales of their services and solutions to the rapidly growing IoT sector.  The progress that these companies are experiencing is very pleasing, and with this in mind, we intend to continue to support them through the provision of expertise, through access to our network of relationships and, where appropriate, through the provision of finance, while they grow and progress via their own fundraising initiatives and development programmes."

Further information

Device Authority

DA's blue-chip partner and client base is testament to the relevance of its IoT security platform as the importance of security at IoT scale becomes a must-have.  This is underpinned by recent research which highlights that IoT is expected to grow 16.7% year over year in 2017, reaching just over $800 billion.

Agreement with Comodo CA ("Comodo")

As announced on 16 November 2017, Device Authority, has signed a three-year global OEM agreement with Comodo, a global innovator and developer of cybersecurity solutions and a worldwide leader in digital certificates.

Comodo will launch an innovative PKI certificate provisioning and management service in 2018 based on the capabilities of Device Authority's KeyScaler software platform. This service will be made available through a Comodo provisioning portal and will be licensed through subscription contracts with Comodo.  All sales of the integrated Platform will provide Device Authority with a royalty payment.

Update regarding Intel Partnership

Intel officially launched the Intel® SDO service at IoT Solution World Congress in Barcelona in October 2017. Device Authority's KeyScaler software supports the Intel Secure Device Onboarding model, through which "headless" devices can be powered on to locate and automatically onboard to IoT management platforms.

KeyScaler manages the overlay and other security provisioning tasks such as swapping in a PKI credential or delivering a secure software update to the device. Intel SDO and Device Authority together provide key missing elements for security and privacy, removing the challenges of deployments at scale through automation and without human intervention.

InVMA

Since announcing the investment by Tern, InVMA Limited ("InVMA"), an established and growing player in the market for IoT enablement, has launched its new product, AssetMinder.

AssetMinder delivers real-time insights from remote and unmanned equipment. According to a market research report^1[1], the Remote Monitoring and Control Market is expected to be valued at USD27.11 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 4.47% between 2017 and 2023. InvVMA has also signed an OEM agreement with DA, another Tern portfolio company, to integrate KeyScaler(TM) into InVMA's new product, AssetMinder, on a revenue share basis.

The launch builds on the underlying IoT trend within the industrial and facilities management sectors to move towards a proactive performance and maintenance strategy for assets.  Customers across any industry can now monitor and manage data from all types of assets and be alerted when pre-determined thresholds or rules have been met.

InVMA has also secured a number of repeatable annual contracts including Rotork Controls Limited, Howden Process Compressors and Gatwick Airport.

Wyld Technologies Limited ("Wyld")

Wyld continues to make progress against their operating plans and are now beginning to develop commercial relationships with end-user organisations.

Wyld launched its EDEN (Emergency and Disruption Alert Network) solution at the World Rail conference in Amsterdam in November 2017. Wyld is actively working with key strategic partners and prospects to deploy this critical component of delivering disruption information in challenging environments in 2018.

Wyld's market opportunities are broad from both a technological perspective, where interest is being shown in their underlying MESH Networking Capabilities, as well as its ability to deliver an integrated solution which leverages MESH, such as the recently announced Emergency and Disruption Alert Network.

Wyld sees commercial opportunity for its solutions in Transport, Government, Military/Law Enforcement and the Retail markets among others and will launch an SDK in the coming months to allow third parties to leverage its underlying MESH Networking Capabilities

Enquiries

^[1]"Remote Monitoring and Control Market by Solutions (SCADA and Emergency Shutdown System), Field Instruments (Pressure Transmitter, Temperature Transmitter, Humidity Transmitter, Level Transmitter, Flowmeter), Industry and Region-Global Forecast to 2023"