What is an early-stage technology stake worth before it earns meaningful revenue? Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) and Powerhouse Ventures (ASX:PVL) answer that question in opposite ways on their balance sheets, which is why their portfolios deserve a close look.

Strategic Elements builds technology inside wholly owned subsidiaries and its Balance Sheet shows little besides cash, because the ventures carry minimal recorded asset value. Powerhouse holds minority stakes in outside start-ups at fair value, so most of its net Assets rest on valuations of unlisted companies.

Two small Investment vehicles, two operating models

Market Index classifies Strategic Elements as a financial services company, and its 2026 Annual Report describes it as a registered Pooled Development Fund. That federal program encourages investment in small Australian businesses, and eligible shareholders can receive tax-free capital gains and dividends, depending on their circumstances.

Powerhouse describes itself in its FY26 annual report as a high-conviction specialty investment house with three divisions: advisory, funds management, and investing and treasury. Its FY26 results presentation calls it a merchant capital Business focused on dual-use technologies such as quantum computing, materials science, space and artificial intelligence.

Both have 30 June year-ends and sit well outside the S&P/ASX 200, according to the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF holdings dated 24 September 2026.

Strategic Elements' wholly owned ventures

Strategic Elements' two main ventures are Australian Advanced Materials, which develops Energy Ink, a technology intended to generate electricity from moisture in the air, and Stealth Technologies, which develops EdgeiQ operational-intelligence technology for industrial sites, starting with mining.

During FY26, Australian Advanced Materials fabricated 2,052 cells in a commercial facility, of which 2,051 passed compliance testing, and secured more than $5 million in competitive federal research and innovation funding. After balance date, it was granted a Japanese Patent on 1 July 2026 and announced a portable Moisture Energy Dock.

Stealth achieved its first commercial EdgeiQ deployment with a major gold producer, under a contract worth about $225,000 excluding GST. Smaller subsidiaries include Cognition Engines and two mineral exploration entities with limited FY26 activity.

Strategic Elements' FY26 numbers

For the year to 30 June 2026, released on 31 August, Strategic Elements reported project Revenue of $155,200, other income of $1.13 million (mainly the Research and Development tax offset) and a loss after tax of $2.48 million, compared with $2.56 million in FY25.

Cash was $4.71 million within total assets of $5.13 million, and net assets were $4.56 million. The company received $2.5 million from a share purchase plan that attracted $3.0 million of applications. Directors prepared the accounts on a Going Concern basis, citing forecasts that would allow the group to manage within its current funding.

Its latest ASX item, on 1 September, was an update titled "SOR Energy Ink Integrates with Commercial Power Management", per its ASX announcements feed.

Powerhouse's portfolio of outside start-ups

Powerhouse's unlisted holdings include Southern Launch, Liquid Instruments, Quantum Brilliance, Veritide, Cirrus Materials, Inhibit Coatings and Earthbanc, with VeriQuantix, Sirius Beta Labs and Aqur BioSciences added during the year.

Level 2 investments, valued with reference to recent capital raisings, totalled $9.02 million at 30 June 2026. Level 3 investments, valued without recent observable prices, totalled $6.06 million. Southern Launch contributed a $712,038 unrealised gain and Aqur BioSciences $638,431, while Inhibit Coatings recorded a $392,370 unrealised loss. Across the portfolio, unrealised Level 2 and 3 movements added $1.50 million, listed holdings added $1.68 million in realised and unrealised gains, and currency movements subtracted $0.44 million.

Powerhouse's FY26 numbers

Powerhouse reported total revenue of $6.69 million, including $3.89 million from advisory and funds management and $2.78 million of net investment gains. Success fees were the largest fee line at $2.47 million. Net profit after tax fell to $1.25 million from $1.82 million. The chairman said recurring, client-generated revenue made up 58.1 per cent of total revenue, up from 16.5 per cent in FY25, and the advisory arm completed 10 mandates with more than $40 million in transaction value.

Net assets were $19.86 million with 161.5 million shares on issue at 30 June, and the presentation reported net tangible assets of 12.4 cents a share, up from 10.2 cents. Cash was $1.09 million, and the company had no debt. Its funds management arm runs the Aliwa Alpha Fund, which reported funds under management of $31.5 million.

The presentation says Powerhouse plans to launch a technology fund in FY27 through a joint venture with a European firm, targeting commitments of about $100 million or more. The company also announced a proposed change of company name in April 2026, although it still traded as Powerhouse Ventures at 26 September, according to the ASX announcements list.

Cash versus fair value: an original comparison

Metric (30 Jun 2026)

SOR

PVL

Net assets

$4.56m

$19.86m

Cash

$4.71m

$1.09m

Unlisted Level 2 and 3 investments

Not applicable (wholly owned)

$15.09m

FY26 result after tax

$2.48m loss

$1.25m profit

By our calculation, cash equals about 92 per cent of Strategic Elements' total assets. Powerhouse's Level 2 and Level 3 holdings together equal about 76 per cent of its net assets.

That difference matters. Strategic Elements' technology value is largely absent from its accounts, so the market has to judge it from milestones. Powerhouse's value is recorded, but depends on valuation inputs that may change at the next funding round.

Dividing Strategic Elements' FY26 loss into its year-end cash gives roughly 1.9 years of cover. That is a rough indicator only, because accounting losses differ from cash outflows and grant timing varies.

Limits of the comparison

Strategic Elements consolidates its ventures, so its revenue and losses reflect development costs. Powerhouse's profit includes unrealised gains that are not cash. The two also differ in scale: Powerhouse's net assets are more than four times Strategic Elements', and Powerhouse earns advisory and funds management fees, which Strategic Elements does not.

Risks and signposts

For Strategic Elements, the key tests are turning Energy Ink demonstrations and EdgeiQ deployments into Recurring Revenue without heavy dilution. For Powerhouse, the risks include lumpy success fees, currency movements, which produced unrealised losses of $440,513 in FY26, and Level 3 valuations.

Confirmed dates include Powerhouse's Annual General Meeting on 14 November 2026. Other signposts are Powerhouse's technology fund commitments, Southern Launch and Quantum Brilliance funding rounds, and Strategic Elements' quarterly cash reports.