ASX:IOV - IOV Secures $4.25 Million Placement

IOV Secures $4.25 Million Placement

Released 16 Sep 2026 - 9:41 AM

Announcement PDF ION Video Ltd (ASX:IOV) $4.25 Million Placement to Accelerate Strategic Technology Validation Program Highlights ● Firm commitments to raise $4.25m (before costs) in oversubscribed placement ● Strong participation from new and existing professional and sophisticated investors, including $1.2m from ION Board and Management ● Funds raised will accelerate strategic validation program for the ION technology suite Level 2, 161 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 +61 3 8672 7186 info@ion.video Funds raised from the Placement will be used to: accelerate the Company’s strategic validation program for the ION technology suite (further details below); develop the APIs, SDKs and reference implementation required to support the validation program and prepare the technology for potential licensing; undertake additional independent review and validation of the Company’s patent portfolio and broader intellectual-property position; and general working capital. The Placement is expected to settle on 25 September 2026. ION Technology Validation Program ION’s technology is designed to operate across the entire technology stack, rather than as a point solution within a single market. To validate the breadth of this capability, ION is launching a strategic validation program comprising separate trials with global consulting firms and commercial organisations. These trials are intended to provide empirical testing, competitive analysis and financial validation of ION’s technology. Importantly, the validation program does not represent a pivot away from the Company’s existing proof-of-concept (POC) opportunities currently under discussion with multiple organisations, which continue to advance positively. It will operate as part of or in parallel with these POCs. These POCs are generally focused on specific applications. For example, ION has been approached by one of the world’s largest technology companies to undertake a POC involving advertising content for one of its clients. Although commercially relevant, the narrow scope of this proposed project would not, in isolation, demonstrate the broader applications and commercial potential of ION’s patent portfolio and underlying architecture. Accordingly, where appropriate, management will seek to broaden the scope of individual POCs before finalising any agreement. The strategic validation program is intended to address this limitation more comprehensively by demonstrating the potential of ION’s technology across the broader technology stack. Each trial is expected to involve three participants: ● ION, providing its intellectual property, reference implementation, technical support and an agreed financial or resource contribution ● A technical or commercial partner, providing the relevant operating environment, content, data, workloads, personnel and existing performance baseline, and ● A consulting or independent-validation partner, assisting with trial design, competitive analysis, measurement, financial assessment and reporting. ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) ACN 149 796 332 Level 2, 161 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 +61 3 8672 7186 info@ion.video Each participant will be expected to contribute financially and/or through the provision of technical resources, infrastructure, personnel, data, specialist expertise and independent validation. This structure is intended to ensure that the trials address problems considered sufficiently relevant by the participating organisations for them to commit their own resources and actively support the validation process. It will also ensure that the results are independently measured, reviewed and supported by the commercial, technical and consulting organisations participating in each trial. Before each trial begins, the participants will agree: ● the technology claim or commercial problem being tested; ● the operating environment and workload; ● the existing technical and financial baseline; ● the measurement methodology; ● the criteria against which the trial will be assessed; and ● the party responsible for validating and reporting the results. ION’s technology will then be applied to the same operating environment and workload. The results will be compared against the existing process to determine whether any improvement in performance, compute, storage, energy consumption, workflow, capability or cost has been demonstrated. Where an improvement is established, the participants will seek to translate that result into a measurable financial outcome, including potential revenue, cost savings or operational benefits. Geographic Focus and Program Management The United States will be the principal market for the Company’s validation program. ION will also actively pursue selected Australian trials where relevant commercial, technical and consulting partners are available. To structure and manage the program, current ION Advisory Board member, Kellee Franklin, will oversee the program and be responsible for managing partner engagement, coordinating the participating organisations and progressing each trial. The initial scoping of each trial will be led by Finbar O’Hanlon, ION’s Head of Innovation, to ensure that the trial is designed to assess the full breadth of the Company’s technology offering. ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) ACN 149 796 332 Level 2, 161 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 +61 3 8672 7186 info@ion.video Empirical Testing, Competitive Analysis and Financial Validation ION currently presents six principal claims regarding the potential operation and application of its technology: ● Video that never renders is compute never spent. ● Decades of archive become a licensable library. ● Royalty disputes close in seconds, not months. ● Multi-owner rights clear at the moment of play. ● Authenticity is provable before broadcast, not after retraction. ● Content stays safer everywhere at once. These claims explain the broader opportunities created by ION’s architecture. However, they are significant claims and must be supported by independently measured evidence produced through real operating environments. The associated financial value is also not immediately visible. The validation program is therefore intended to establish whether the technology works as proposed, who may pay to use it, where a licensing opportunity may exist and what measurable revenue or cost-saving outcome the technology may support. Six Problems the Market is Seeking to Solve ● The data-centre power and infrastructure challenge: Testing whether ION’s architecture can reduce the compute, storage, infrastructure and energy requirements associated with storing, processing and creating multiple versions of video. ● Proving what video is authentic: Testing whether the identity, integrity and provenance of video can be established and maintained through financial-services, identity-verification and other security-sensitive workflows. ● Sovereign and trusted video for defence and government: Testing whether recorded footage can remain sovereign, access-controlled and provably unaltered while being made available to authorised users without creating multiple derivative copies. ● Reducing wasted advertising and media expenditure: Testing whether personalised creative video can be assembled at the time of use, subject to rights, consent and brand-safety requirements, without producing and storing large numbers of separate assets. ● Allowing artificial-intelligence models to assemble video rather than generate it: Testing whether AI platforms can create video outputs from licensed or owned content by ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) ACN 149 796 332 Level 2, 161 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 +61 3 8672 7186 info@ion.video assembling references to existing material, with permissions, provenance and payments incorporated into the process. ● Creating a personalised cut for each viewer: Testing whether streaming platforms, broadcasters and rights holders can assemble different versions of content for individual viewers from a common source without rendering a separate master for each variation. These six areas will form the basis of ION’s empirical testing program. Each trial will test a defined technical claim, compare the result against the existing process and quantify any demonstrated financial or operational effect. The purpose of the trials is to establish these values through evidence produced from real workloads and validated by the participating organisations. Bringing the Evidence Together The validation program will bring the evidence together through a defined sequence: ● Present the broader architecture: Explain what becomes possible when video no longer needs to exist as a separately rendered and duplicated file for every use. ● Demonstrate the technology: Use the Company’s reference implementation and existing demonstrations to establish the practical operation of the architecture. ● Validate the claims: Independently test the technical claims associated with the architecture and the six commercial problems it is intended to address. ● Prove the technology empirically: Apply the technology to real workloads within the operating environments of participating organisations. ● Benchmark the results: Compare performance, compute, storage, energy, workflow, capability and cost against the systems and processes currently in use. ● Establish the financial outcome: Translate the independently measured results into potential revenue opportunities, cost reductions and licensing models. The program is intended to provide the market with a clear, evidence-based and defensible pathway from ION’s intellectual property to potential revenue. It will also provide prospective licensees, commercial partners and institutional investors with independently supported evidence of how the technology operates, how it may be integrated into an existing technology stack and what measurable value it may create. This announcement has been authorised for release by the Company’s Board of Directors. ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) ACN 149 796 332 Level 2, 161 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 +61 3 8672 7186 info@ion.video For further information, please contact: ION Enquiries: ● Anthony Baker, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer ● Email: investor.relations@ion.video ● Tel: +61 3 8672 7186 Media & PR Enquiries: ● Rod North, Managing Director, Bourse Communications ● Email: rod@boursecommunications.com.au ● Tel: +61 3 9510 8309 or +61 408 670 706 About ION Video Limited ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) has developed patented technology to virtualise video at the file architecture level, transforming static files into programmable data. ION’s technology enables intelligent systems to access and compose with existing video content as programmable data, without transcoding. Important Notices Some of the statements appearing in this announcement may be in the nature of forward looking statements. You should be aware that such statements are only predictions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Those risks and uncertainties include factors and risks specific to the industries in which ION operates and proposes to operate as well as general economic conditions, prevailing exchange rates and interest rates and conditions in the financial markets, among other things. Actual events or results may differ materially from the events or results expressed or implied in any forward looking statement. No forward looking statement is a guarantee or representation as to future performance or any other future matters, which will be influenced by a number of factors and subject to various uncertainties and contingencies, many of which will be outside of ION’s control. ION does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or release any revisions to these forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after today's date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of the information, opinions or conclusions contained in this announcement. To the ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) ACN 149 796 332 Level 2, 161 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 +61 3 8672 7186 info@ion.video maximum extent permitted by law, none of ION, its directors, employees, advisors or agents, nor any other person, accepts any liability for any loss arising from the use of the information contained in this announcement. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward looking statement. The forward looking statements in this announcement reflect views held only as at the date of this announcement. This announcement is not an offer, invitation or recommendation to subscribe for, or purchase, securities by ION. Nor does this announcement constitute investment or financial product advice (nor tax, accounting or legal advice) and is not intended to be used for the basis of making an investment decision. Investors should obtain their own advice before making any investment decision. By reviewing or retaining this announcement, you acknowledge and represent that you have read, understood and accepted the terms of this important notice. https://investors.ion.video/link/ej6N9e ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) ACN 149 796 332 Level 2, 161 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 +61 3 8672 7186 info@ion.video

ION Video Limited (ASX: IOV) — Executive Summary of Announcement

$4.25 Million Placement to Accelerate Strategic Technology Validation Program

16 September 2026

ION Video Limited ("ION" or "the Company") has received firm commitments to raise $4.25 million, before costs, through an oversubscribed placement of fully paid ordinary shares to professional and sophisticated investors. The placement was priced at $0.40 per share, with a free-attaching option on a 1 for 2 basis, exercisable at $1.00 and expiring 30 September 2027. The Company initially sought to raise $3 million, with provision for oversubscriptions, and elected to close the book at $4.25 million notwithstanding demand sufficient to support a materially larger raise.

Under the placement, the Company will issue 7,627,500 shares and 3,813,750 free-attaching options within its current capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1. In addition, directors Anthony Baker, Brent Jones and Clark Kirby have committed to subscribe for an aggregate 3,000,000 shares and 1,500,000 free-attaching options, raising a further $1.2 million, subject to shareholder approval under ASX Listing Rule 10.11 at the Company's 2026 Annual General Meeting. The issue price represents a 2% premium to the Company's 10-day trading day VWAP. Settlement is expected on 25 September 2026.

Proceeds will be applied to accelerate the Company's strategic technology validation program, to develop the APIs, SDKs and reference implementation required to support that program and prepare the technology for potential licensing, to undertake further independent review of the Company's patent portfolio and broader intellectual property position, and for general working capital.

The strategic validation program is designed to demonstrate the capability of ION's technology across the full technology stack, rather than within a single application, and will operate alongside, rather than in place of, the Company's existing proof-of-concept discussions. Each trial will involve three participants: ION, contributing its intellectual property, reference implementation and technical support; a commercial or technical partner, providing the operating environment, content, data and existing performance baseline; and an independent consulting or validation partner, responsible for trial design, measurement and reporting. Kellee Franklin, of the Company's Advisory Board, will oversee the program and manage partner engagement. Finbar O'Hanlon, Head of Innovation, will lead the technical scoping of each trial. The United States will be the principal market for the program, with selected trials also pursued in Australia.

The program is intended to independently test six principal claims regarding ION's architecture against six defined commercial problems: data centre power and infrastructure cost, the authentication of genuine video, sovereign and trusted video for defence and government, wasted advertising and media expenditure, the assembly rather than generation of video by artificial intelligence models, and the delivery of a personalised cut to each viewer. Results will be benchmarked against existing processes and, where improvement is demonstrated, translated into a measurable financial outcome.