UK-listed tech and AI names drove much of Thursday's small-cap action, with an eye-watering asset revaluation at an IP investor topping the bill alongside a run of profitable half-year updates. Cybersecurity, publishing software and research groups all reported accelerating revenue, while a Japanese conglomerate's results showed the AI investment story still carries real earnings risk.
Tekcapital's Vesari stake vaults NAV to $0.78 a share
Tekcapital (LSE:TEK) shares jumped 8.9% to 4.3p after the AIM-listed intellectual property investment group, which commercialises university and corporate technologies, disclosed a dramatic upgrade to its book value. Net asset value per share rose to $0.78 from $0.27, with the underlying portfolio now valued at $191.4m, up from $46.9m. Profit after tax reached $144.8m against just $5.4m a year earlier, built on portfolio returns and services revenue of $145.5m, up from $6.1m in the first half of 2025, while operating expenses fell 7.3% to $0.69m.
The uplift is overwhelmingly attributable to Vesari, in which Tekcapital was granted a 51% equity stake for no cash consideration in May. Vesari holds eleven non-provisional US patent applications covering geothermal-powered AI data centre technology, recorded with the USPTO on 22 June, and patent analytics firm Cardinal Intellectual Property valued that portfolio at approximately $293m as of 30 June, after the period end. Director Louis Castro said Vesari has already opened early-stage discussions with US investment bankers over a reverse merger, de-SPAC or similar route to a public listing. Elsewhere in the portfolio, Microsalt grew 2025 revenue 187% to $2.14m and signed a joint development agreement with a major food and beverage manufacturer, while Innovative Eyewear posted preliminary second-quarter sales of roughly $1m, up approximately 71%, its twelfth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth. Tekcapital itself raised $2m via share placements during the period, primarily to support Guident.
"as is to be expected with early-stage technology companies," said Dr Clifford M. Gross, chairman of Tekcapital.
The scale of the revaluation changes the terms on which Tekcapital's story gets told. A near-quadrupling of net assets built substantially on a single, non-cash equity grant is a paper gain until Vesari either lists or is bought, and the company's own chairman is careful to flag that most of the uplift is portfolio appreciation rather than cash. Castro's disclosure of active banker conversations over a de-SPAC or reverse merger route is the detail that matters most for the investment case: it signals a potential monetisation event within a defined window, rather than an indefinitely marked-up asset sitting on the balance sheet.
Pathos Communications posts record July revenue
Pathos Communications (AIM:NEWS), the AIM-listed PR technology business, extended the momentum flagged in its 27 July half-year trading update with record unaudited monthly revenue of over $1.8m in July. Shares rose 10.6% to 26.0p on the update. The earlier statement had already pointed to rising revenue, profits and cash receipts for the six months to 30 June, aided by proceeds from the company's IPO.
Management attributed the July acceleration to an enhanced sales team that has lifted new client sign-up rates by 30% since being established, and said it is now confident of at least meeting full-year market expectations of $14m revenue and $4m adjusted EBITDA. Founder and chief executive Omar Hamdi used the update to push back directly against the stock's recent weakness: "We continue to be focussed and disciplined in growing the business; we note the recent decline in share price and based on company trading and prospects know of no reason for it," he said.
The company will provide its next substantive update at interim results in September. A management team explicitly disputing a share-price decline, backed by a record monthly revenue print, gives the stock a clear near-term test: whether September's interims validate the confidence or expose a gap between guidance and delivery.
Corero swings to profit as H1 revenue jumps
Corero Network Security (AIM:CNS) shares gained 6.1% to 8.75p after the DDoS protection specialist reported revenue up 42% to $15.5m in the six months to 30 June, from $10.9m a year earlier, alongside a swing from EBITDA loss to profit. EBITDA is expected to reach approximately $2.6m for the period, reversing a $1.4m loss in H1 2025.
Order intake grew 14% to $14.3m on new customer wins and expanded existing contracts, while annualised recurring revenue rose 12% to $24.1m. Gross margin improved to 93% from 91%, and renewal rates on multi-year subscription and DDoS Protection-as-a-Service contracts hit 96%. Cash fell to $2.1m from $4m at end-December, a shift the company linked to customers increasingly buying subscription services rather than upfront products, prompting it to arrange a $2m overdraft facility. "Our recent success in securing a notable contract with a prominent Tier-1 provider further validates our technology and sales strategies confident in delivering continued growth in H2," said Carl Herberger, chief executive.
The profit swing and margin improvement mark a genuine inflection for Corero, but the cash drawdown alongside the shift to subscription billing means the new overdraft facility is now a working part of the financial plumbing rather than a contingency. Herberger's reference to a Tier-1 contract win gives the H2 growth claim a concrete anchor.
Ingenta buys FirstAida AI tech in staged equity deal
Ingenta (AIM:ING), a provider of software and services to the publishing and media industries, has acquired an initial 24.9% stake in FirstAida, an early-stage AI legal-technology business, with shares up 2.36% to 65.0p. The deal was paid entirely in Ingenta shares, valuing the initial stake at £0.5m based on the share price immediately before the announcement.
FirstAida's agentic AI software helps rightsholders investigate unauthorised copying and AI training on their content, an area not currently addressed by Ingenta's existing IP and royalty management products, Folio and Conchord. Ingenta holds a unilateral option to acquire the remaining 75.1% between nine and 15 months from completion, contingent on FirstAida reaching £375,000 in annualised recurring revenue, though that condition can be waived. Total consideration for full ownership, including a deferred payment tied to contracted revenue exceeding £500,000, could reach approximately £2.3m. "The staged structure is important. It allows Ingenta to participate in a relevant adjacent opportunity while linking any move to full ownership to recurring-revenue progress," said Dr Brown, non-executive director at FirstAida.
The structure lets Ingenta test FirstAida's commercial traction before committing further capital, converting an acquisition decision into a revenue-gated option rather than an upfront bet. For a small publishing-software group, that de-risks entry into AI content-enforcement tools without stretching the balance sheet.
SoftBank profit falls 18% despite Intel and ByteDance gains
SoftBank (9984) shares fell 4.41% to 5695.0p after the Japanese group reported fiscal first-quarter net profit dropping to 347.3bn yen, as higher costs and derivatives losses outweighed investment gains and a zero valuation contribution from OpenAI.
The result underscores the volatility embedded in SoftBank's AI-heavy investment portfolio, where gains from stakes such as Intel and ByteDance were not enough to offset derivatives losses and rising costs elsewhere in the group.
Sundae Bar integrates AI platform, rebrands as Sundae Bar AI
Sundae Bar (SBAR), trading at 4.2p, has moved from a beta marketplace to a platform carrying paying customers and more than 500 AI Skills and Agents behind a single interface, chief executive Jill Kenney said.
"We've gone from a beta marketplace to a platform with paying customers and more than 500 AI Skills and Agents, all sitting behind a single simple interface," Kenney said, marking the company's shift from an early-stage marketplace concept toward a revenue-generating AI product business.
YouGov taps new CEO, plans buyback, extends debt facility
YouGov (YOU) shares rose 4.9% to 274.0p after the research and data analytics group confirmed full-year trading in line with guidance and named Wayne Levings as incoming chief executive.
The company also flagged a share buyback in place of its annual dividend and extended its debt facility, signalling a capital-return preference shift under the incoming leadership of Levings, alongside outgoing founder Stephan Shakespeare's transition.
Kromek hits third Siemens Healthineers milestone, banks $2.5m
Kromek Group (KMK) shares gained 4.37% to 8.266p after the AIM-listed detection technology group confirmed it has now received $32.5m under its enablement agreement with Siemens Healthineers, following a third milestone payment.
Just $5m remains outstanding under the agreement, payable on final delivery, leaving Kromek close to completing a multi-year commercial arrangement that has provided a steady stream of milestone-linked cash.
