Mayfair buys 20% stake in Ultrahaptics from Woodford

Katharine Hidalgo
20 August 2019

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Mayfair Equity Partners has acquired a 20% stake in haptic technology hardware company Ultrahaptics from Woodford Investment Management.

Mayfair led a funding round for the company in 2018, using funds from its £400m Mayfair Equity Partners I vehicle. The firm is now investing from its Mayfair Equity Partners II fund, which closed on £650m in January 2019. The fund writes equity cheques of £20-50m.

Woodford has made a considerable profit on its investment, according to a report by the Telegraph.

The company's most recent funding round in 2018 valued it at £150m, according to press reports.

Previous funding
IP Group led a £600,000 seed round of funding for Ultrahaptics in 2014, drawing capital from IP Venture Fund II.

Woodford then led a £10.1m series-A round the following year, with IP Group and other investors also taking part.

In 2015, the company received a €1.5m grant from the EU Executive Agency for SMEs.

New investor Cornes, IP Group and Woodford took part in a £17.9m Dolby Family Ventures-led series-B for the company in 2017.

Mayfair led a £35m series-C funding round in 2018. Existing investors IP Group, Woodford and Dolby and new investor Hostplus also took part in the funding round.

Company
Based in Bristol and with an office in California, Ultrahaptics was founded in 2013 based on technology developed at the University of Bristol. The company develops haptics hardware technology, which creates the sensation of touch using ultrasound waves. The company employs 120 people, according to LinkedIn.

People
Ultrahaptics – Steve Cliffe (CEO).