From the ground to the supermarket shelf

Companies that put the everyday investor first

Every company in this email has chosen to talk directly to everyday investors, not just the big funds. Here is what they have been up to this week.

Deep dive 01: Grid Metals (TSXV: GRDM)

Grid Metals puts a number on its cesium

On Wednesday 30 September, Grid Metals published the first formal estimate of the cesium at Lucy South, part of its Falcon deposit in Canada. The company says this makes Lucy South the world’s second-largest cesium resource in active development. The shares jumped around 18% on the day.

For shareholders, this is a step towards understanding what the deposit could be worth. Grid owns 85% of Falcon West, and the deposit sits about 20 metres below the surface. The balance: it has not yet been shown that the cesium can be mined profitably, and economic studies, permits, environmental assessment and First Nations engagement are still ahead.

51,500 tonnes estimated · c.20 metres below surface · 85% owned by Grid

Explore Grid Metals

Deep dive 02: IP Group (LSE: IPO)

IP Group banks £21m from Oxford Nanopore, keeps a 7% stake

On Friday 2 October, IP Group sold part of its holding in Oxford Nanopore for roughly £21 million before costs. It retains a 7.23% stake, valued by the company at £151.5 million, and has agreed not to sell more for 90 days.

IP Group’s job is to back university-spun-out companies and, eventually, sell down as they mature, so this is the model working: paper gains turned into cash that can be recycled into new holdings or returned to shareholders. For anyone holding IP Group, it is also a reminder that the share price leans heavily on a handful of big positions. The balance: the retained 7.23% is still a large exposure to one stock, and its value will move with Oxford Nanopore’s share price.

c.£21m gross proceeds · 7.23% stake retained · 90-day lock-in

Explore IP Group

Deep dive 03: Tooru (AIM: TOO)

Tooru’s OAF brand wins a third major UK retailer

On Friday 2 October, Tooru said two products from OAF, its gluten-free brand, will go on sale in about 400 stores of a new major UK retailer from January 2027. OAF is already stocked in Tesco and Asda, where Tooru says it is selling well and being placed in more stores. Chief executive Scott Livingston called the deal “another important milestone for the brand”, and the shares rose about 13% on the day.

Tooru’s plan is to build health and wellness brands that a big food company might one day want to buy, so getting onto more supermarket shelves is the main way to prove a brand works. A third national grocer suggests OAF is getting traction beyond its first two listings. The balance: Tooru has not said who the retailer is, how much it expects to sell, or the commercial terms. What matters now is whether the products sell well enough in 2027 to earn repeat orders and more space on the shelf.

2 products · c.400 new stores · Jan 2027 launch

Explore Tooru

Also this week

Tharisa: Founder steps back as a new chair takes over

Founder Loucas Pouroulis left the board on 30 September to become Founding Chairman Emeritus, and from 1 October lead independent director Carol Bell takes over as Independent Non-executive Chairman. The company also moved its shares onto the London Stock Exchange’s SETS electronic order book on 1 October, aimed at tighter spreads and better liquidity. More.

VEON: Starlink phone-to-satellite service launches in Kazakhstan

On 29 September its Beeline Kazakhstan business became the first operator in the country to launch Starlink’s satellite-to-mobile service, in partnership with SpaceX. The shares rose around 4% in early US trading. More.

CoinShares: New CFO as it settles in as a US-listed company

Matt Morris, deputy CFO since August, was named CFO on 1 October. Long-serving CFO Richard Nash moves to a senior role in the CEO’s office. More.

Marex: New crypto product for institutions

On 1 October it launched “Rolling Spot”, a cash-settled over-the-counter crypto derivative for hedge funds, asset managers and digital-native firms, delivered through a new app on its Neon platform. More.

The Metals Company: Ex-Exxon executive joins the board

On 29 September it appointed Liam Mallon, former President of ExxonMobil Upstream, to the board, where he will chair the Sustainability and Innovation Committee. More.

Mortgage Advice Bureau: CFO handover completes

Jo Stent became Group CFO on 1 October, succeeding Emilie McCarthy, who left on 30 September. Non-executive director Nathan Imlach also stepped down. More.

Eden Research: AGM passes, new name on the way

All resolutions passed at the 29 September AGM, and the company will be renamed Eden BioSolutions plc, expected to take effect in November. More.

Explainer: What is a “maiden resource”, and what does “Measured” mean?

When a mining explorer drills holes and samples the rock, it eventually has enough data to estimate how much material is in the ground and at what grade. The first formal estimate is called a maiden resource. Resources are sorted by confidence: “Inferred” is the least certain, “Indicated” is better, and “Measured” is the highest, meaning the drilling is dense enough to trust the numbers. Crucially, a resource only says what is there, not whether it can be mined profitably. That question is answered later by economic studies, and only then does a resource become a “reserve”. Grid Metals’ first cesium estimate is entirely Measured, which is a strong start, but the economics are still ahead.

See Grid Metals on CurationAI.

From the Collective

Nuclear headlines are everywhere, but uranium shares have not noticed

US nuclear newsflow has been intense this week, from a large Korean energy package linked to the Trump administration to talk of a multi-reactor build-out. Yet the listed uranium names have barely reacted, with the uranium price stuck at around $89 to $90 a pound and two of the sector’s pure-play funds trading at double-digit discounts to the value of their holdings. The Collective’s read is that the supply shortage is structural, so the gap between the headlines and the share prices is one to watch. A company that fits this theme is Premier American Uranium, a US-focused uranium business.

Premier American Uranium: on CurationAI.

Best Content Shared This Week

📚 Zuckerberg’s Next Platform Bet

Why Read? This profile explores how Mark Zuckerberg thinks about Meta’s next chapter, from frontier AI to smart glasses and the race to own the next computing platform. The investment angle is particularly interesting: if glasses become a major interface for AI, Meta could finally control the hardware through which users access its products, reducing its dependence on Apple and creating an entirely new distribution layer.

🎧 Where the AI Value Is Moving

Why Listen? This is a useful look at how the AI investment cycle is moving beyond models and into the infrastructure, capital and businesses required to scale them. The discussion helps separate where genuine bottlenecks and durable economics are emerging from areas where expectations may already have run ahead of fundamentals.

New Showcases

Xtreme One Entertainment

• Xtreme One Entertainment is building a live sports and entertainment platform around mixed martial arts, combining live events, media rights, sponsorship and digital distribution to grow audiences and monetise combat-sports content. The investment case centres on turning a fragmented event model into a scalable entertainment business, benefiting from the continued growth of MMA and increasing demand for live sports content across streaming and traditional media. Read more.