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The testing showed ECS-DoT could complete a full ‘sense–think–act’ loop at 50 Herz (Hz) in PX4/Gazebo Hardware in loop (HIL) tests – meaning the chip is able to process flight data and adjust propeller output 50 times per second (50 Hz) in real-time simulation tests.

This is fast enough for many real-time control systems, facilitating the rapid feedback for stable flight; on this basis, it can be said the chip supports stability in several environments, providing flight time improvements of up to 30%.

The purpose of ECS-DoT is for use in advanced on-board, ultra-low-power AI tasks such as inspection and precision landing, while also being designed to use less power than a typical digital watch (<1 mW).

Nanoveu said the next step in its assessment will involve ECS-DoT learning and optimising its own flight strategies through advanced, adaptive-AI techniques; final results from the testing are expected at the end of June, using the PX4/Gazebo platform1 and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbenches.

The completion of this testing will kick off live drone trials.

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EMASS founder Dr Mohammed M. Sabry Aly said the testing had underlined the value of this chip. “This 50 Hz milestone proves ECS-DoT can handle real-time, high-frequency control loops with extreme energy efficiency,” he said.

“It’s a crucial first step toward transforming drones into smarter, longer-flying platforms that can perform complex tasks without cloud dependence or battery trade-offs.”

NVU has been trading at 4.9 cents.

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The windfall, ReadCloud said today, mostly came from strong organic revenue growth.

That growth was up 13% to $9.2M, while operating costs were up only 1%.

The company – which specialises in providing eLearning software to educational institutions – said VET-in-schools (the provision of vocational programs to secondary students in schools) had accounted for 32% of revenue growth, compared to the prior comparable period, with this revenue category now set at $3.8M.

Growth was also observed in the number of institutions now using ReadCloud’s technology platform: 62 new school customers joined for the 2025 school year, for a total of 429.

“Our first half results demonstrate ReadCloud’s transformation and operating leverage,” CEO Andrew Skelton said. “The 73% increase in underlying EBITDA validates the execution of strategy by ReadCloud’s motivated team.

“In particular, VET-in-Schools delivering revenue growth of over 30%, retention of 94% and gross margins above 90% indicates strong product-market fit and our ability to successfully capture the significant opportunity.”

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ReadCloud reported an operating cash flow of $1.9m generated in 1H FY25, a strong balance sheet with $3.5m of cash and no debt as of March 31.

RCL shares have been at 14 cents after a 27.7% rise since the market opened.

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In layman’s terms: Nanoveu wants to whack its microchip into a small RC drone, and, given that its ECS-DoT chips are low-power, the thinking goes that any drone utilising the microchip will stay airborne for longer, given that the chips draw less juice from the drone’s battery.

There is, too, scope to assess what AI capabilities could be leveraged by drone software, but for now, the flight time aspect remains the key focus.

Still, the ability of the chip to operate on low power while also allowing complex tasks to be performed by the drone (or its software) will also be assessed.

Nanoveu wants to know how its tech could be used in infrastructure inspections and environmental sensing; its subsidiary EMASS Pte Ltd will be carrying out the testing.

“This approach ensures we ground our findings in measurable real-world outcomes … we’re taking ECS-DoT from the lab to the skies where we can demonstrate how efficiently embedded AI can transform UAV performance,” EMASS founder Dr. Mohamed M. Sabry Aly said.

The company’s chief exec for its microchip division, Mark Goranson, was particularly excited about the energy use implications.

“ECS-DoT represents a major leap forward in energy- efficient AI processing at the edge. Its energy efficiency and compact footprint make it ideal for drones and wearables, health sensors and AR/VR hardware wherever power is a limiting factor,” Goranson added.

“This testing program is intended to help validate the chip’s potential in drone applications as well as showcase its scalability across a wide range of embedded systems from aerospace to agriculture.”

NVU last traded at 3.6cps.

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Disclaimer: HotCopper had a commercial relationship with Nanoveu at the time this article was published.

While 90% of his shares will remain escrowed for twelve months, he’s allowed to sell off 6M shares before then.

Considering 1Y returns are down -80% YoY as the price sits at 16.5cps on Monday 5 May, it’s probably that shareholders can expect to see that happen sooner rather than later.

But it’s the backgrounding to this story that makes Sakkas’s move of interest.

Just last month, Playside revealed it was undertaking a restructure in the face of 1HFY25 revenues down -21% to $28.5M and a series of deferrals on key revenue-generating pipeline contracts.

(To date, those contracts are still expected to be snatched up “later in … 2025.”)

The Aussie gaming outfit, currently spearheading a Game of Thrones PC game title and also putting out work under the kids’-favourite Dumb Ways to Die IP, already saw its share price tank in October of last year when FY25 guidance came in strongly underwhelming.

So, zooming out, the fact co-founder Sakkas has left the building today could be a sign of more pain to come.

But perhaps most concerning is that the company won’t be replacing Sakkas – meaning it’s now going ahead without a Creative Director.

“Given the work completed in advance of his decision to step down as CEO in March 2025 and the successful completion of the Company’s restructure, the Company will not seek a replacement for his role,” Playside wrote on Monday.

In restructures, typically, the highest-paid non-core roles are often the first to go. So perhaps it isn’t entirely surprising, assuming this isn’t a happy or willful exit for Sakkas.

But if that’s meant to reassure Playside investors, it will likely only reassure those most unmotivated by situational awareness.

PLY last traded at 16.5cps.

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(In other words, Indonesians can now buy game passes to play leading video game titles, given that telco XL Axiata is now promoting that offer.)

Worth noting is they won’t be buying those passes of SportsHero itself necessarily, but rather, through iGamer Vault (“iGV”), a ‘gaming marketplace’ provider with whom SportsHero has an existing partnership.

Still, with SportsHero to take a 75% cut of each purchase made of a family game pass via XL Ataxia, the revenue potential is more meaningful than a recent deal it struck in the Philippines, where materiality was more ethereal.

“XL Axiata will offer their customers the opportunity to use Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) to subscribe and seamlessly pay for the iGV Family Game Pass using their existing billing account, reducing the need for a separate sign up process,” SportsHero clarified in a market release shared on Wednesday.

“XL Axiata is Indonesia’s third largest Telco with 12.4% of the market, approx. 57.5 million customers.”

After iGV gets its share of that 75% revenue cut, SportsHero is expecting profit margins to hit “at least” 38%. Whether that could help the stock continue its fairly quiet-but-still-monumental-run remains another matter.

Still, it wouldn’t take too much liquidity to make numbers go up.

The share price is up +350% over the last year, to 2.7cps.

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Of course, then there’s the fact that as of 10.30am Sydney time on Wednesday, $0 worth of shares had traded hands according to a service porting Morningstar data.

That could be a pretty serious catch for many traders.

SHO last traded at 2.7cps.

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He’s still founder and executive chair, so there’s that. But he’s no longer CEO.

The newly minted Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) has, as part of a management update released midweek, created a new role. That role is for a Deputy Chief Innovation Officer – clearly, a report.

Perhaps White just wanted to still feel important without needing to be called a CEO following all of that pesky sex scandal stuff.

To remind, in October last year, it hit the mainstream press that White had been engaged in an affair in the capacity of his job in that he allegedly traded business advice for sex with two other women.

Or so are the allegations in the press that never led to a defamation case.

I wrote at the time right here in HotCopper’s coverage section that the share price was unlikely to suffer for long, and it didn’t. But it wouldn’t last.

In February, the company’s share price was hurt when a handful of directors walked out of the WiseTech board in disagreement with White staying on.

(An independent review in March also accused White of misleading his executives.)

I wrote the director walk-out would be more damaging for its share price, and so far, that’s true. Magnified by the devaluations we’ve seen following the great Wall Street shakeout of Q2 2025, and Wisetech’s shares are well below the $120+/sh values they commanded just two months ago.

Wisetech one-year returns are now down -4.01% – meaning that anyone holding shares for twelve months is now just shy of breaking even.

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If Richard White’s decision to remain firmly part of WiseTech is leading to any investor’s nerves, they might want to consider that his newly-minted role as CIO is a 10-year term. White will be paid $1M per year.

WTC last traded at $85.76/sh through Wednesday.

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The agreement – signed between the university and Pro Medicus’ U.S. subsidiary Visage Imaging, Inc. – will provide a framework through which the two parties will collaborate on the development and commercialisation of the platform, looking specifically into its artificial intelligence capabilities.

It will also build on a relationship already established with UCSF through an existing agreement related to Pro Medicus’ Visage 7 Viewer product.

Visage Imaging Global CTO Malte Westerhoff said the partnership around Visage AI Accelerator was a very important milestone.

“Our AI Accelerator program was designed to closely align Visage’s engineering and product development capability with clinical research partners such as UCSF who have a depth of clinical knowledge and extensive research expertise,” he said.

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Mr Westerhoff continued: “It provides a unique set of tools for data de-identification, collection, curation, analysis and ‘path-to-production’ in research projects bringing the efficiency and speed of Visage technology to research, resulting in a unified link between the two domains.”

PME shares last traded at $210.32 – a fall of 1.22% since the market opened.

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The brand-new digital store features a range of consumer and health products that first originated in China. It has, the company shared, already chalked up an average of $1,500 in daily sales during its first fortnight.

Current sales equate to an annualised sales projection of around $550,000.

The company says its strategy is to grow its global sales network, especially through media platforms like TikTok that combine social engagement with e-commerce.

RooLife is tailoring products to local geographies through data-driven insights, using search and sales analytics to identify and meet high-demand categories.

The RLG Marketplace works in tandem with the company’s flagship VORA brand of food and health supplements, which is also slated for expanded international distribution.

The company has more online store rollouts in the pipeline, tapping into TikTok’s 1.6 billion monthly active users and the high conversion rate on the UK platform, where 44% of users report making purchases directly through the app.

RooLife has also had increased trading driven by recent U.S.-China tariff developments.

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The company reports an uptick in demand from Chinese businesses eager to sell into global markets and from Chinese consumers seeking foreign alternatives, including Australian-made products.

RLG last traded at 0.5cps after jumping 25% on today’s news.

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Today, the stock is worth 4.6cps, and the relatively brief history of Birddog is worth considering.

Perhaps the greatest sign of all that investors back the decision is the announcement pushed the illiquid microcap up nearly +50% (on $54K worth of trades), suggesting bad news can be good news when things get bad enough.

But a look at the company’s 5Y chart shows a pretty clear rationale, in itself, for why the stock has arrived at the decision to de-list.

So what went wrong for the once-seemingly-promising company?

Worth considering is Birddog Technology’s value proposition was always its tech offering for Television stations. It designed hardware and software ultimately marketed as “broadcast-quality video technology.”

It doesn’t take any level of serious expertise, however, to raise a pretty good observation in retort: TV has been dying for decades.

And in 2022, ad markets everywhere were struggling with COVID inflationary pressures – it was one of the most hard-hit sectors.

And, ad markets are pretty important for the TV industry’s overall health.

Then one is also surely left to think about the rise of Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime, and everything else in that space. As well as a shift to short-form video content on social media platforms. And the more obvious global rise of the smartphone.

The more you start thinking, the less Birddog’s listing ever really made much sense.

To me, at least, it looks like Birddog’s only real upside catalyst was timing: Perhaps, with everyone locked indoors, everybody would be watching more TV. And that may be true, but it mightn’t necessarily be free-to-air programming. Nor paid.

According to a December 2023 report from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), “78% of [surveyed] adults now own a smart TV.”

But Smart TVs are different from normal TVs in one key way: They generally have Netflix apps pre-built-in. This finance journalist can attest to owning one himself, and I usually use it to watch Bloomberg or YouTube.

Unless Heartbreak High is on ABC Entertains or the footy is on, I hardly use it. That’s just anecdata, true, but I feel I’m probably part of a much larger cohort there.

So, at the end of the day, it’s perhaps for the best Birddog gave it a shot and hung on while it could justify doing so, but after a brief run, it’s now hanging up its boots.

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From here, it appears unable to do anything, really, but fall into penny-stock-dom.

That’s assuming it couldn’t have pulled off a complete 180 pivot into… what, data centres?

BDT last treaded at 4.6cps.

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The clients, Roy Hill and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), have signed up for 12 months; the former was already the first mine with entertainment and engagement solution Swift Access.

This product includes a low bandwidth entertainment feature, which enables early-release access for sought-after movies and other communication tools.

Roy Hill has previously implemented Swift Access at its personnel village in 2022 and will now become the first client to roll out the next generation (Swift Access 2025), with the rollout to begin later in April.

Pilbara’s renewal will mean another 12-month subscription to Swift’s products.

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Swift CEO Brian Mangano said the renewals were a testament to the quality of the services on offer in the communication package. “We are very pleased to continue to work with Roy Hill to create and develop the best entertainment and engagement experience for their team on site,” he said.

“The continuation of our subscription agreements with Pilbara Minerals and Roy Hill also reinforces the demand for Swift’s reliable and value-for-money village entertainment services across the mining sector.”

Swift has been trading at 1cps through this red Friday.

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This deal was never really in doubt for the AI-driven sales enablement platform provider, as it was backed by 30% stake-holding institutions – Regal Funds Management and SQN Investors.

Those institutions wanted the Vector cash-out deal, despite there being a higher-priced option on the table from Investcorp AI Acquisition Corp (IAAC SID), that could have seen the company on a path to the Nasdaq. That offer valued shares at more than double Vector’s price – at about 48c.

What disappointed smaller shareholders may not realise (and there are many) is there’s a clear link between SQN and Vector – and I’ll get to that in a moment.

You’d think the 48-cent offer would be a no-brainer over a 22c deal right?

But despite already carrying a huge loss – having bought into BTH at around 80c a share – Regal Funds Management and SQN wanted cash for their holdings, rather than Investcorp’s higher value share-based takeover option.

That option – and the chance of Nasdaq success – is what many smaller shareholders preferred, even though BTH’s management understood that the Investcorp offer provided ‘less certainty.’

The bottom line is institutional investors did not want to accept Investcorp’s offer.

SQN Investors bought at 80c and now they’ll be selling to Vector Capital at 22c. 

Overall, the deal values the company at A$183 million and will see BTH leave the ASX.

BTH is believed to have been one of the biggest AI players on the ASX, achieving as much as 25% of its revenue directly from AI products.

David Keane says the Vector purchase is proof that big U.S. investors will invest into a successful Australian company.

And maybe not all BTH’s knockers might really think poorly of the company and its potential.

Those knockers include the founder of SQN Investors, Amish Mehta. SQN is one of the institutions with the voting power that confirmed the Vector Capital deal.

Case in point: SQN’s Mehta was quoted slagging off BTH in the AFR on December 6, when he said: “Of the 110 investments SQN has made, this is the single worst.”

Well, that was two months after he signed up to work for Vector Capital in the role of MD, and as a member of its Investment Committee.

A committee that already liked BTH enough to want to buy it and had been discussing a takeover since last June.

A committee that must have believed it could make a good buck here and pretty quickly (watch closely because some insiders are thinking this company might realise a far higher value in the number of years you can count on one hand!).

A committee that could get the vote from big institutions with skin in the game – SQN alone was already holding more than 9%.

Mehta is – in a way – both the seller of BTH and buyer. Through Vector he’s now seizing the opportunity that was SQN’s failed investment!

Vector Capital – which Mehta now leads – has invested in and sold out of significant businesses, including Rocket Lab USA, which is an aerospace manufacturer and now trades on the Nasdaq making Vector one of the leading tech-focussed private equity (PE) investors.  

As for Regal, which had been a strong supporter of Bigtincan since before its IPO, Keane says: “The common view is that due to the change in market conditions away from growth-oriented tech, together with the need for Bigtincan to continue to invest in AI, meant that ASX institutional investors felt that a strong global investor was needed to drive the company to the next level.”

David Keane and his management team have been promised their roles will continue and they’ll get to guide the strategic direction of the company and serve their customers. 

Keane understands Vector Capital plans to expand the Hobart-based AI team, and he hopes this investment in Australia will continue.

“This deal is important because it shows that Aussie technology can be world-leading,” he said.

“We can build great companies by focusing on the core product offering and can find a way to move internationally from a public company base.

“The deal allows Bigtincan to accelerate innovation and product development without the constraints of public market pressures, ensuring continued investment in AI, automation, and platform enhancements.

“The market is at a pivotal moment, with AI reshaping the future of sales enablement. This deal ensures Bigtincan has the resources and strategic flexibility to lead this transformation while competitors face financial constraints.

“While in some ways it’s bitter-sweet to leave the ASX – I have to acknowledge that Vector Capital’s investment validates Bigtincan’s long-term potential, ensuring it remains well-funded for future growth. It provides certainty.”

Bigtincan has celebrated its share of success in the marketplace. 

Its customers include global enterprises, including 100 of the Fortune 500, from Nike, Seek (ASX:SEK), and GUESS to AT&T, Prudential, Merck, Red Bull, and Starwood Hotels.

Bigtincan has been named in the Top 25 Companies in Sales Enablement for 2024 by The Software Report. And, CEO David Keane was listed as one of the Top 25 Executives in Artificial Intelligence.

Bigtincan is the first enablement provider in the Microsoft 365 “Works With Copilot” app store. 

It has a suite of AI capabilities under the GenieAI umbrella, which spans the entire platform and includes Genie Assistant, SearchAI, AuthoringAI with translation, MeetingsAI, CoachingAI, and RolePlayAI.

Building and growing Bigtincan has seen David Keane and his Board face many challenges.

“Many things would have produced different outcomes,” he said.

“Certainly, the challenge of needing to invest ahead of the market in new technologies, and the results of the required capital raising in 2024, will only be judged in future years.

“It could prove to have been a mistake, however, it could also prove to be the beginning of what creates a significantly more valuable business under the Vector umbrella.”

While investors love to see the value of their shares skyrocket and gain the windfall that can come from selling into a spike or on an upward trend, it may become overvalued in that process and that’s likely outside the direct control of company management.

In the case of BTH, if you got caught in the hype, and you bought at a peak that never returned, it could be a very painful experience. In August 2021, BTH traded at $1.36, with many who purchased during the run making significant returns.

There are also some not-so-happy traders who bought BTH at the wrong time.

For full disclosure. I was one of those shareholders.

So, I guess I’ve been well qualified to write this.

BTH last traded at 22cps.

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The company also believes those redundancies could end up saving $4 to 5 million per year, which is a fairly significant amount coming from cut wages alone from a smallish company.

Given redundancies usually start with cutting fat from the top and then whittling down, the news implies that high-paid devs part of the tech team bringing forward Playside’s products, such as a Game of Thrones PC title, may be the first to go.

That could explain why shares fell nearly -3% in afternoon trades despite redundancies and cost savings generally being beneficial. However, it could also be that Playside is still waiting for contracts for work. (Realistically, it’s both.)

In late January, the company revealed 1HFY25 revenue of $28.5M; down -21% from the pcp. But it also flagged that several work-for-hire contract negotiations with counterparties were “deferred later into the 2025 calendar year.”

So far, it’s early April, and those contracts haven’t come to the fore yet. For the unaware, work-for-hire contracts in this context effectively mean new game titles and IP Playside can pick up with the permission of their respective creators, and then profit off as if it were their own.

Between the lines, one may be left to wonder if Playside is offering undesirable terms to lock in such contracts. It’s obviously a pretty sweet deal for Playside.

The company says its flagship IP developments are untouched by all of this – presumably Dumb Ways to Die and Game of Thrones – and that FY25 guidance is unchanged. But that FY25 guidance was never great to begin with.

It originally tanked the share price, around six months after shares hit a 27mth high.

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“Management is intent on optimising the Company’s cost base in order to ensure that successful delivery of major Original IP projects from FY26 onward results in high levels of cash flow generation that can support sustainable growth in the business,” Playside wrote on Wednesday.

They’d better hope they stick to that. Clearly, shareholders aren’t playing games.

PLY last traded at 17.5cps.

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Clinical coding refers to the standardised lexicon of alphanumeric codes used by hospitals around the world to effectively ‘shorthand’ specific diagnoses and other patient datum.

According to Beamtree – which didn’t provide a source – clinical coding errors by human hand cost hospital reimbursements some A$20B globally.

“Each contract is subject to the usual rights of termination for non-performance,” Beamtree added on Monday.

Shares jumped 8.7% to 25cps, showing a healthy reaction, however, that was on turnover of only $2,000 according to a third-party service porting Morningstar data. In other words: The stock is straddled by illiquidity.

This isn’t Beamtree’s first foray into the medical space. It recently expanded into Saudi Arabia with the same modus operandi.

The big question, of course, will be if Beamtree’s AI is any good. Even the “AI” models advertised as being the most advanced on the market frequently make mistakes. True believers generally try to avoid talking about that.

Beamtree, of course, sees a way for hospitals to spend more time on care, by automating manual data entry jobs. A handy pitch, but if they can pull it off, one that probably does pose a chunky value proposition.

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“Autonomous coding will be a material driver of our future growth and these contract wins provide a foundation for this pioneering product,” Beamtree CEO Marek Stepniak said.

“I want to thank our customers in supporting this innovation.”

By that, Stepniak means the hospitals adopting the tech. Make of that what you will.

BMT last traded at 25cps.

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Those small gas turbines for the uninitiated go into small UAVs – drones – though are destined for models slightly larger than recreational quadcopters. (Small fixed-wing UAVs, to be precise.)

The turbines, made using an Australian-made 3D printing machine designed specifically to handle the job, are powered by gas to deliver more thrust but are small and lightweight enough to be drone-borne.

Aurora’s new model revealed Monday promises to deliver 40kg of thrust to a UAV, itself a milestone, but also one defined by 3D printing tech breakthroughs for A3D’s fabrication team.

The company reported on Monday its latest gas turbine model has higher fuel efficiency, with this model called the AU4.

Aurora is hoping the AU4 can become an “opportunity to establish Aurora’s 3D printed micro gas turbines as a benchmark in UAV and aerospace propulsion systems.”

All cards in order, the company’s going to start pumping out more of them in the second half of 2025 with an eye ultimately placed on the lucrative but hard-to-crack Australian defence sector.

“The AU4 represents a major step forward in our technology journey and is now progressing towards potential first purchase orders for our additively manufactured micro gas turbine product line,” Aurora CEO Rebekah Letheby said.

That wording could be why price dipped on Monday – “potential first purchase orders.” It sounds a lot like Aurora hasn’t sold anything yet.

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Regardless: “It’s exciting to see this momentum as A3D continues to advance defence propulsion technology in a rapidly evolving market,” Letheby added.

A3D last traded at 6.5cps.

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Contract Resources provides specialist catalyst handling, chemical cleaning, decontamination, and similar services in Victoria.

Its relationship with customers in the oil and gas sector is particularly attractive to Cleanaway – according to the latter’s managing director and CEO Mark Schubert – as it seeks to expand its business scope.

“Contract Resources is a natural fit with Cleanaway, given its market leadership, deep sector expertise, and stable recurring earnings stream,” he said.

“Its long-standing relationships with tier-one oil and gas customers and attractive growth outlook is strongly aligned with our strategic vision… at Cleanaway.

“Its integration will reposition our IWS business, enhancing its scale, and unlocking new opportunities, including cross-selling our total waste management solutions into Contract Resources’ well-established customer network.”

Contracts’ strong relationships were also a crucial attraction; reflected in the fact its top 10 clients had been doing business with Contract for an average of 16 years.

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The deal is now expected to deliver approximately $12 million in annual net cost synergies when combined with Cleanaway’s Industrial Waste Services.

Cleanaway was marked to trade at $2.55 after the opening bell today.

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Part of the “Baghdad Safe City Project,” Icetana’s software can read Arabic licence plates, spot fires, reportedly detect suspicious movements of both people and vehicles, and, of course, facial recognition.

The contract receipt comes after “extensive” early-stage testing in Iraq; Icetana reported on Wednesday that end-users were satisfied all desirable capabilities had been met.

In AUD the contract is worth $1.7M on a “perpetual licence plus the first year’s maintenance agreement” – meaning the company gets a one-off payment of nearly A$2M and no more. (A Software-as-a-Service or SaaS contract would see recurring revenues.)

Maintenance, however, is recurring, costing some A$300,000 a year. Should the end-user elect to maintain it, anyway.

While turnover to get Icetana +22% higher wasn’t very much at all, all the same, at least a small pool of investor cash is taking an interest. Deployment is expected for Q4 of 2025.

Icetana partnered with Iraq’s High Tech Enterprise for this contract, a security-minded IT firm in the region with whom Icetana could see further contracts break out in a “potential” larger program, presumably expanding to Iraqi cities beyond Baghdad.

Notably, the logos of Huawei, Microsoft and HP are advertised on High Tech’s website. This wouldn’t be the first foray into AI CCTV capabilities for the ‘local government’ running Baghdad – China’s Huawei was participating in a “safe city solution” back in 2019 per Xinhua.

Icetana clarified on Wednesday there’s no guarantee of further revenues tied to this contract highlighted Wednesday.

“We are delighted to welcome High-Tech as a new partner in the Iraq market. This initial sale is the largest value contract in icetana AI’s listed history, and represents a significant milestone for our company,” CEO Kevin Brown said.

Icetana last traded at 2.2cps.

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Well, at the stores of one un-named UK multinational retailer – one which the company, perhaps strangely, didn’t name due to “privacy laws” and because its name wouldn’t affect the share price – Rocketboots (ASX:ROC) has been watching.

Or at least, its AI-powered theft detection software system has been watching, a filter applied to CCTV cameras overhead to stores in both the US and the UK.

The highly illiquid and undeniable nanocap is one of the more niche offerings on the ASX tech index, if you can call it that, alongside companies like Shekel Brainweigh (in that the latter also work in theft prevention.)

Its big claim to fame on Wednesday seemed to be both that it had struck a deal with a “multinational retailer” (undisclosed) in the first place, yes, but also that the client hit positive Return on Investment (ROI).

In other words? Rocketboot’s tech, at least in this early-stage proof of concept type exercise, was cheap enough to take on that the cost of using it was below the cost of goods presumably saved from being shoplifted by nefarious customers.

(Worth considering is that if the name of a multinational retailer isn’t materially significant to the company’s share price, nor was the value of the contract.)

But this could change, if they can keep the client locked into a SaaS style arrangement, which Rocketboots hinted at on Wednesday.

“Whilst the trial value was not material at the commencement of the trial, it is now material due to ongoing extensions and variations with the customer having paid fees equal to approximately 8% RocketBoots’ FY2024 revenue,” the company wrote.

The company also stated contract discussions are “in progress” and another three UK retailers are trialling its software at “advanced” levels.

ROC last traded at 9.3cps.

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On Wednesday, Wise Tech released the partial review, in which it was noted – in point 4A of the appendix – that Mr White’s disclosures to the board about the nature of this relationship were ‘not fully transparent’, and misleading in terms of matters connected to the end of the relationship.

A later point noted that the employee had launched a complaint of unlawful discrimination against White and Wise Tech, but that this was not substantiated by the evidence available, which had included renumeration records, correspondence, interviews with other employees, and comparison of renumeration to this employee and others at Wise Tech in similar positions.

A further complaint that the employee – dubbed ‘Person A’ – that they had been required to work unreasonable and excessive hours, was likewise found to be unsubstantiated.

The employee in question did not participate in the board review, and was not interviewed.

Alongside this were findings related to a Person B – who is associated with a supplier to Wise Tech. Here, the review found that White had failed to inform the board in a timely manner of his knowledge of a dispute raised with him by Person B connected to the supplier arrangement.

He also failed to disclose complete information about his personal relationship with Person B, and it was noted that a commercial relationship had been entered into by White and Person B, even though ‘there were undisclosed conflicts of interest between the interests of WTC and the private interests of Mr White’.

The review was announced on 24 October 2024, when Herbert Smith Freehills and Seyfarth Shaw LLP were appointed to advise the Board on allegations appearing in the media in relation to the company and its co-founder Richard White, who had stepped down as chief executive that day.

Mr White – who remains Executive Chair of the company – was allowed to respond to the findings, and said that ‘while those matters were personal in nature, with the benefit ofhindsight he would have more fulsomely disclosed them to the Board and handled thecontracting process differently’.

He accepted the findings, and said he supported a new and more stringent Code of Conduct connected to the matters considered.

In terms of the Board’s response to these findings, they highlighted a review to the ‘aforementioned Code of Conduct, and the plan to appoint an additional independent director as a matter of priority which will allow the Company to comply with its obligations under the ASX Listing Rules.

Mr White’s role in the company was underscored by comments in the Board statement about the ‘exceptional knowledge and value’ that he brings to ‘strategy, product, customers and shareholders’. Thus, it appears he will remain in-play at Wise Tech, with no serious action taken against him.

Wise Tech shares rose after the news, and at 11:08 AEDT, they were trading at $84.92 – an increase of 0.15% since the market opened.

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For the uninitiated, Dropsuite offers cloud backup to companies. NinjaOne is a remote IT management software company headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Topline Capital, for its part – the >10% shareholder recommending the deal go ahead – is a California-based hedge fund run by a man named Collin McBirney. (Unless Dropsuite means Topline Capital LLC, a similar entity run by two veterans of the IT Industry.)

NinjaOne notified the company of its intention to buy out Dropsuite for US$252 million (A$394 million) back in January of this year. NinjaOne and Dropsuite struck a definitive agreement; the former anticipates a completion date within 1HCY25 assuming FIRB approval.

(Also assuming the ACCC doesn’t arc up like it did last week for Silk Logistics and DP World.)

Except, the problem is – an applicant has taken the deal to Takeovers.

That applicant is concerned that Topline Capital’s shareholding in the company fell from 31% by more than ten pips between January and February of this year ahead of the proposed sale to NinjaOne.

In fact, the shareholding reduced from 31% to 19.7% in the space of just seven days.

The Takeovers Panel application ultimately maintains investors weren’t informed Topline that had reserved a right to sell massive amounts of shares right ahead of the deal, effectively being misled.

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For its part, NinjaOne wants Dropsuite’s existing data protection suite of tools which will help IT teams on NinjaOne’s end to “safeguard against the impact of… ransomware attacks and common nuisances such as accidental deletion of data.”

A regtech component is also of interest to the buyers.

DSE last traded at $5.79.sh.

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The first is, as of around 2.30pm on Wednesday Sydney time, only $6 of shares had traded hands, according to a third party service porting Morningstar data.

The second is the stock is up nearly +130% YoY, albeit, to 2.5cps. Make of that what you will.

On Wednesday, SportsHero confirmed it’s further expanding its Southeast Asian (SEA) footprint by expanding into the Philippines with its ‘Family Game Room’ product, adding onto Indonesian and Thai markets.

That product comes via a partnership with an entity called iGV, short for iGamer Vault (or iGVault), which is billed as a “gaming assets marketplace” effectively offering video games on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis.

SportsHero expanded into Indonesia only last month, inking a two-year agreement with a third entity called XL Axiata, Indonesia’s third largest telco. So its foray into SEA is a relatively recent strategic push, explaining why shares jumped in early February.

The company hopes its association with iGV can help its share price run further, and worth noting is the Family Room package includes blockbuster titles such as Counter Strike, Call of Duty, GTA 5, Rust, and other video games which – if you aren’t familiar – are generally considered gold standard.

Especially among young men, which SportsHero is clearly hoping to tap into, given it estimated on Wednesday the Philippines boasts some 119M regular ‘gamers.’

“SHO will work closely with iGV to develop tailored marketing initiatives and partnerships in the Philippines… this expansion is expected to contribute positively to SHO’s growth strategy by leveraging iGV’s innovative product offerings and tapping into one of SEA’s most dynamic digital markets,” SportsHero wrote on Wednesday.

There is one snag there: As for iGV, SportsHero appears to be tagging along for the ride and getting its name out there rather than directly benefitting from any significant revenue opportunity. In fact, the terms could be seen as lacklustre by some.

“There is no revenue split in the agreement covering the Philippines for the iGV Family Game Room product,” SHO elaborated.

“SHO is required to pay to iGV an amount between US$1.00 and US$1.50 per subscriber. The quantum of each subscriber payment reduces on a step basis as subscriber volumes increase. There is no consideration payable between the parties to the agreement.”

SHO last traded at 2.5cps.

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