(Alliance News) -Barkby Group PLC on Tuesday said subsidiary Cambridge Sleep Sciences Ltd granted a five-year licence to Sleep Sense International Ltd for the manufacture of a 'smart pillow' using CSS's 'Sleep Engine' platform.

Shares in Barkby were up 76% at 5.80 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

The Abingdon, England-based commercial property development and investment firm expects the agreement to generate royalty payments of GBP1.3 million in the first year and GBP3.0 million in the second year.

Under the agreement, Sleep Sense holds exclusivity rights in the pillow market subject to a minimum order quantity of 25,000 units in the first year,

Sleep Engine is an audio technology that "helps to retrain the brain to restore healthy natural sleeping patterns", Barkby explained.

CSS Chief Executive Officer Julian Stone said: "We are excited to be working with Sleep Sense International in such a large market. By embedding Sleep Engine we can now deliver our unique audio solution to aid and improve people's sleep through most third-party speakers, headphones and earbuds.

"The agreement changes the market opportunity for us as we move the business towards a software-as-a-service business model. We expect this licensing deal to be the first of many for Sleep Engine."

By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter

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