Gyrating_Hippo
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Hong Kong bakery and food brand Garden is holding an exhibition at Langham Place in collaboration with local streetwear companies to celebrate its centennial anniversary. Founded on November 26, 1926, Garden will mark 100 years in business later this year. The exhibition showcases replicas of its factory, historical items such as vintage first-generation biscuit tins, and cute plushies. Photos: Kyle Lam/HKFP.








Anyone interested in photonics for AI should also pay attention to this. Lumai, a spin-out from the University of Oxford, has unveiled Iris Nova, the first commercial optical inference server now available for evaluation in data centers. Instead of conventional silicon chips, Lumai uses a 3D free-space optical computing architecture in which matrix multiplications are performed directly through interfering light beams in space. The system already processes billion-parameter LLMs such as Llama 8B and 70B in real time, achieving up to 100 TOPS per watt - 50 times faster at just 10% of the power consumption of conventional GPU solutions. This is exactly the order of magnitude hyperscalers need given the exploding inference workloads, with US data centers projected to consume up to 12% of total electricity demand by 2028. IP Group holds around 27% of Lumai, making it one of the largest shareholders. Lumai is just one of roughly 80 holdings in IP Group’s portfolio, but this very mix is what makes IP Group so interesting: they invest at a very early stage in university spin-outs and can secure significant stakes in companies with the potential to revolutionize their respective markets - all for relatively little money. IP Group is a British investment company that occupies a special position in the venture capital space. Through exclusive partnerships with top universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College and Bristol, they gain early access to the most promising spin-outs and can often invest as the first backer. Unlike classic VCs, IP Group has no fixed exit pressure and can support its investments long-term - essential for early-stage investments, since the path from research to commercial breakthrough typically takes 10-15 years. In addition to Lumai, the portfolio includes Oxford Nanopore (DNA sequencing, public listed), Hysata (electrolyzer with 98% efficiency for green hydrogen), First Light Fusion, Istesso (revolutionary tissue repair therapy), and three quantum computing holdings: OQC, Quantum Motion and Quantum Dice. Especially in the quantum space, there are likely substantial hidden reserves, since while listed quantum names like Rigetti or IonQ have soared by triple-digit percentages over the past year, IP Group’s private holdings have not been written up accordingly. On top of this comes a patent portfolio from Imperial College with significant licensing potential, primarily through the GLP-1 obesity programs of Metsera (currently in a takeover battle between Pfizer and Novo Nordisk). The latest report already includes a +£126.4m write-up here, but I believe this is only the beginning and the value could appreciate significantly further over the next few years. The valuation is where things get really interesting: the stock trades at a discount of around -40% to the last reported NAV of 110.4p (as of December 31, 2025). IP Group values its holdings very conservatively - write-ups only occur after validating external funding rounds, not based on peer multiples. This creates substantial hidden reserves in the current hype environment, which could be unlocked through new funding rounds in the coming quarters. Management has also targeted £250m in exits between 2025 and 2027 and invests around half of those proceeds into share buybacks. Since the start of 2024, around 15% of outstanding shares have been retired this way - significantly below NAV. With a market cap of ~£540m, substantial net cash, 80 holdings in potentially disruptive companies, plus a patent portfolio not adequately reflected in NAV, the current valuation appears very low. There are plenty of potential triggers: a sale of individual holdings (such as in the quantum space) far above carrying value, regulatory approval of the obesity drug with corresponding license income, or commercial breakthrough of Lumai in the AI inference market - each of these could meaningfully lift the NAV further. I hold shares in IP Group. lumai.ai/product





















