Bristol spinout Ultraleap is looking to sell its assets or raise further funding amid doubts over the company’s future.
Ultraleap is currently in breach of its £15 million bank loan, according to its latest published accounts, “and hence the group’s near-term priority is to secure further investment into the business”.
It said this could be through securing funds from new and existing investors, while it is also considering sale of one of its business divisions as well as its intellectual property. It holds more than 550 patents.
An independent report from auditor KPMG said there is “material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
The accounts cover 2023 and showed an operating loss of £25.8m, up from £22.9m in 2022. Turnover dropped from £3.6m in 2022 to £2.2m in 2023.
A global leader in haptic mid-air technologies based on Ultrasound, Ultraleap – founded in 2013 – is a darling of the South West tech scene.
It has raised tens of millions of pounds from the likes of Chinese tech giant Tencent, private equity firm Mayfair Equity Partners and London-listed spinout investor IP Group.
In Q2 2024 Ultraleap received additional funding – £9.75m in the form of a convertible loan note – from its current investors.
The accounts, published this week, painted a bleak picture of developments in 2024 against a backdrop of a contracting mixed reality market. Shipments of augmented reality and virtual reality headsets dropped 67.5% year-on-year in Q1 2024, while Meta has discontinued its VR headset.
Sky News reported last summer that Ultraleap was exploring a sale of its hand-tracking division – likened to scenes from Tom Cruise blockbuster Minority Report – and had informed staff of the need to slash jobs amid shifting priorities at tech giants including Facebook owner Meta and Snap.
Its haptics arm – which uses ultrasound waves to control technology – would then move into a new company owned by Ultraleap’s existing shareholders.