5 June 2017

Vela Technologies plc

("Vela", the "Company" or the "Group")

Update re BTL Group Ltd

The Board of Vela (AIM: VELA), the investing company focused on early-stage and pre-IPO disruptive technology investments, is pleased to note the announcement made today by BTL Group Ltd ("BTL") regarding Interbit, BTL's proprietary private blockchain technology platform.

Vela holds, as at the date of this announcement, 610,900 common shares in BTL equivalent to approximately 3.3 per cent. of BTL's issued share capital. BTL is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, on which the closing mid-market price on 2 June 2017 of BTL's common shares was C$5.70 per share which values Vela's shareholding in BTL at approximately C$3.48 million (equivalent to £2.0 million at today's prevailing exchange rate*). In addition Vela holds a total of 66,666 warrants in BTL. 41,666 warrants are exercisable at a price of C$1.50 for a period expiring on 17 December 2017 and 25,000 warrants are exercisable at a price of C$3.25 for a period expiring on 6 April 2019.

Extracts from the BTL announcement are copied below:

BTL is pleased to announce it is taking steps towards a go-to production phase on its Interbit platform, following the successful completion of its European energy trading pilot with BP, Eni Trading & Shipping and Wien Energie. The intense, 12 week pilot involved building out an energy trading confirmation solution on BTL's Interbit platform, which was successful in all 8 test scenarios. The pilot proved that Interbit can streamline many trading and back office processes across the energy trade lifecycle.

Along with its clients, BTL is now extending invitations to additional energy companies who will be invited to the 6 month go-to production phase, where BTL and participating companies would work to launch a live, commercial version of the energy trading solution

By running BTL's Interbit platform in parallel with each company's existing systems, this phase would seek to take the completed pilot forward, with the aim to integrate Interbit and its energy trading solution into live environments.

The pilot has also enabled those participating companies to assess other areas of their business in which they can use BTL's Interbit platform, and BTL is now actively working with select participants to explore applications of Interbit across additional business units.

"At BTL we truly believe that, by using blockchain technology and our proprietary platform, Interbit, there is a better and more efficient way for enterprises to build applications," said Guy Halford-Thompson, BTL's Co-Founder and CEO. "Having demonstrated the reductions in risk and cost savings that are achievable we now have an opportunity to deliver the first successful blockchain based application to the energy market. We are also very excited that the pilot has enabled participating companies to better understand the benefits of Interbit and identify other areas in their organizations where they can apply it."

"We are very passionate about the innovation that our technology can achieve in the energy sector and welcome new participants to join us and other leading global energy companies in the next phase of development, via this open invitation," added Hugh Halford-Thompson, BTL's Co-Founder and CIO.

"The pilot project showed how BTL's blockchain platform, Interbit can be used to innovate in the field of energy trading," said Andrew Woosey, Partner at EY, which provided consulting support to the pilot. "Use of such technology can help by streamlining back office processes, leading to reduced risk, better protection against cyber threats and ultimately significant cost savings. Further engineering and organisational effort is needed to achieve these outcomes."

BTL's Interbit platform automates many back office processes such as confirmations, actualisations, invoice generation, settlement, audit, reporting and regulatory compliance allowing enterprises to significantly reduce risk, costs and the threat of cyber-attack, as well as increasing their trading opportunities.

BTL and pilot participants are working in the near term to finalize the terms and participants of the go-to production phase, but there is no assurance that the go-to production phase will proceed as described herein.

ABOUT BTL GROUP LTD AND INTERBIT

Operating from both Canada and the UK, BTL is an enterprise technology platform provider that is developing Interbit, a proprietary private blockchain. Via the Interbit platform, BTL can help companies greatly reduce risks and costs by securely streamlining existing IT infrastructures. To date, BTL has successfully demonstrated how Interbit can innovate system processes for leading companies in the finance, energy and gaming sectors.

Interbit is a fast, encrypted and scalable multi-chain technology platform. Via its suite of APIs and smart contracts, Interbit allows businesses from across the world to improve efficiency in trading and operations, accelerate development of internal systems, and embrace new revenue generating opportunities, while providing the high levels of security, resilience and auditability required in regulated enterprise environments.

BTL's current focus is advancing the development of Interbit, with a Beta release scheduled for Q3 of this year.

With offices in Vancouver and Canary Wharf in London, BTL is positioning itself as a front-runner in the blockchain ecosystem, partnering with and enabling enterprises on Interbit in order to improve their existing IT systems.

Website: www.btl.co

Twitter: https://twitter.com/blockchainltd

The full BTL announcement can be found via the following link:

https://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=5185160551707355&qm_symbol=BTL 

*Based on the exchange rate as on 2 June 2017 of C$1: GB0.575138.

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