VR Education given warm welcome on AIM arrival

Trading of virtual reality technology company VR Education's shares began in London and Ireland on Monday morning after the firm raised a total of £6m, rising more than 17% on debut.

VR shares were made available for trading on AIM and the Irish Stock Exchange's ESM at 0800 GMT thanks to Shard Capital and Cairn Financial Advisers which helped launch the firm on the LSE, and Davy doing the same over in Ireland.

The 60m new shares, which were doled out in an oversubscribed priced at 10p each, implied a £19.3m market capitalisation for VR upon admission at the placing price. By Monday afternoon the price had been driven up 17.5% to 11.75p.

VR has floated as it looks to roll out its Engage product before the end of the year, an virtual reality platform that allows educators and trainers to hold lessons, meetings and presentations in a safe, virtual, multi-user environment as well as create pre-recorded or live content. VR has inked agreements with several blue-chip partners such as Oxford University, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the BBC.

David Whelan, chief executive, said, "The VR/AR market is growing at a fast rate; as hardware becomes more affordable, this growth will undoubtedly gain further traction and we are at the forefront of this."

"Having raised £6m and with the support of our new shareholders, our focus is now on strengthening our network of educational institutions and corporations," he added.

Commenting on the IPO, Richard Cooper, the firm's non-executive chairman, said, "The board is delighted that investors have been so supportive of our IPO and the presentations made by the management team in the last few weeks. We look forward to having a regular dialogue with these shareholders over the coming years as the business seeks to rapidly develop its VR education offering."