Geomerics Ltd (Enhanced computer games middleware - 47% holding)

Geomerics has successfully developed and launched its 'Enlighten' product, dramatically improving the lighting of computer games.

Geomerics has secured sales from key reference customers including Electronic Arts (DICE), CCP and Zombie. The sales prospect list is strong. The computer games market has proven resilient in current economic conditions and is forecast to grow to a $46.5 billion market by 2010.

Underlying Geomerics' products is a unique patent protected technology platform, which has a range of potential applications. As a result the company has attracted considerable corporate interest from companies such as Intel, nVidia, AMD and Autodesk.

Background

Formed in 2005 by ANGLE, Geomerics brings together a team of leading academics from Cambridge University, and the US, assembling the world’s leading exponents of geometric algebra (GA) in a single company.

Geomerics develops commercial applications for GA – a sophisticated form of mathematics that vastly simplifies geometric operations, with the potential to revolutionise fields as diverse as computer gaming and electromagnetic modelling.

Initially applied to theoretical physics, GA was subsequently developed by Geomerics to deliver state-of-the art solutions to the complex geometry problems inherent in applications such as computer graphics. Geomerics has demonstrated its ability to perform the calculations involved many times faster. This performance offers games developers the ability to make a major step towards film quality visuals – the ‘holy-grail’ for interactive entertainment. By allowing more complex operations to be run on less powerful processors Geomerics also has the potential to support powerful games on devices such as mobile phones.

Market opportunity

The revolutionary nature of Geomerics’ technology creates the opportunity to define and own a new graphics standard for the industry. Furthermore, it may be possible to influence chip design and thereby ensure that the benefits of Geomerics’ capabilities become ‘hard wired’ to the future of the gaming industry.
The global gaming market is forecast to grow to $46.5 billion by 2010 and is projected to grow by a further $11 billion over the next five years. The graphics tools market – the sub-sector of gaming which Geomerics targets – is worth an estimated $600 million.

Geomerics has agreed to a corporate partnership with one of the world’s leading technology companies ("Corporate Partner").

The partnership comprises both a cash investment and an ongoing partnership arrangement. The deal includes investment of up to £2.3 million. The name of the Geomerics’ Corporate Partner and other terms of the deal are subject to strict confidentiality.

ANGLE believes that the partnership arrangement places Geomerics in a significantly stronger position to further develop and capitalise on its Enlighten product and underlying technology platform. It is expected that, over the course of the agreement, ANGLE’s holding will remain above 30%.

Website: www.geomerics.com