Disappointing debut in London for AI platform Pri0r1ty as shares fall
Shares of artificial intelligence company Pri0r1ty fell sharply at the opening of their first day of trading on the London junior market.
The company, which helps businesses automate tasks such as writing press releases, regulatory news and social media, had targeted a fundraising of £855,000 and a valuation of £13m, with the AIM-listed shares trading at 13.5p each were traded.
But shares in takeover vehicle Alteration Earth, soon to be renamed Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group following the takeover of Pri0r1ty AI, fell more than 14 per cent at midday to trade at 22.75p.
Daniel Gee, who founded Pri0r1ty AI just over a year ago, said: ‘Too many early stage UK tech companies think the only route to growth is through venture capital funding, or even by moving abroad.
‘But I want to send a message that the LSE and the UK capital markets can be a smart and viable route to growing a successful technology business.’
Stock market IPOs can often disappoint the expectations of founders and shareholders, with new shares remaining volatile in the coming weeks and months.
Fellow tech pioneer Raspberry Pi made a strong debut earlier this year, with shares rocketing on their first day of trading and maintaining their momentum into the final months of 2024.
Disappointing City debut for Pri0r1ty AI
The AIM market has shrunk significantly in recent years as weak trading volumes, poor liquidity and frustrating administrative costs have contributed to poor shareholder returns.
Many companies choose to remain private for longer, list elsewhere or pursue a return to private ownership.
Matt Britzman, senior equity researcher at Hargreaves Lansdown, told This is Money that Pri0r1ty’s debut “could serve as something of a barometer for how smaller UK tech companies approach capital raising decisions in the future.”
He added: ‘The SPAC route to listing, which made waves a few years ago, hasn’t really gained lasting traction and we can’t read too much early trading as volumes in the broader markets are low considering the timing.
‘The wider debate over the viability of Britain as an exhibition destination for technology companies is unlikely to go away even if there is some success – changing sentiment in a meaningful way will likely require a bigger fish.’
Pri0r1ty focuses on a market of small and medium-sized businesses with ‘cost-effective’ AI solutions.
The platform, Pri0r1ty Advisor, delivers tailor-made solutions using deep learning, covering financing, marketing and custom AI bots for customer-specific needs.
CEO James Sheehan said: ‘Pri0r1ty AI was created to address a very real and growing challenge. SMEs spend huge amounts of money – more than £60 billion a year – on external professional services providers, yet so many of these tasks can be automated using AI.
“Our technology allows companies to use advisors for what they do best: high-quality strategic support and value-added technical specialist services, and make the entire process more efficient and cost-effective by letting AI handle many of the day-to-day tasks.
“Our solution provides users with a suite of AI tools that enable efficient scaling of their business.”
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