Business Growth Fund (BGF), the independent company established to help Britain's growing businesses, today announced its investment in VTL Group, a manufacturer of precision-engineered components for the automotive industry.
BGF has invested £4m of growth capital in the company and will take a minority stake and a seat on VTL’s existing board.
Mercia Fund Management makes first digital sector investment with Metric
Venture capital fund manager Mercia Fund Management (MFM) today announced a Seed Enterprise Investment (SEIS) in online marketing start-up Metric. Set to launch in January 2014, the company offers a suite of tools to create, manage and analyse e-marketing campaigns and promotions in real time.
Albion Ventures invests in Relayware
Albion Ventures, one of the UK’s largest independent venture capital investors, has invested up to £3.5 million in Relayware a global provider of B2B collaboration and multi-channel communication solutions.
The investment will enable Relayware to accelerate its growth and extend its lead in technological innovation.
Graphite Capital raises £475m for UK mid-market fund
Graphite Capital, the leading UK mid-market private equity specialist, has closed its eighth fund, Graphite Capital Partners VIII, with commitments of £475 million
Further commitments are likely to come in over the next few weeks bringing the total to over £500 million.
Despite the extremely challenging fund-raising environment, Graphite was able to reach its target relatively quickly.
The “Crowd” get behind Front Up Rugby & invest £107k pushing them over the tryline!
Front Up Rugby, a forward thinking and innovative menswear brand, have once again bypassed the banks and turned to the crowd to raise the money it requires to fund second stage growth.
This follows their successful inaugural “crowdfunding” pitch which was over-subscribed via Crowdcube, the UK’s leading crowdfunding platform.
Front Up’s initial pitch experienced a groundswell of demand with 63 investors helping the business raise £100,000.
Three of Crowdcube’s most oversubscribed deals close this week
Kevin McCloud’s Hab Housing and Marine & Auto Security Solutions pitches smash funding targets
Equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube has announced that three of its most oversubscribed pitches are closing this week, bringing the total amount raised through the site to more than £12.5m.
Clear Books goes public to fund new services for accountants
Clear Books plc intends to raise a total of up to £839,913 to develop and market Clear Books Pro, a suite of new services aimed specifically at accountants to help them run their practice exclusively in the cloud.
Having recently re-registered as a public limited company, Clear Books plc, the provider of cloud accounting software to 5,000 accountants, sole traders and small businesses, has issued a share offer to raise £839,913 from its customers and other ‘fanvestors’ through its own cloud platform
Drinks brand 88 Delicious surpasses funding target with £290,000 Crowdcube investment
Beverage start-up exceeds original £250,000 goal with backing from 97 investors
North London-based drinks brand 88 Delicious has raised £290,000 using crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, exceeding its original target by £40,000.
88 Delicious is most famous for its high-energy drink Delicious Monster but has recently expanded its range with three new flavoured vodka liqueurs and two champagnes targeted at young females.
Gousto Raises £500,000 additional funding
Food industry veterans and the Angel CoFund invest in Gousto, the innovative recipe box delivery company that appeared on Dragons’ Den only weeks ago.
Gousto, the exciting new recipe box delivery business that recently appeared on Dragon's Den, has raised further funds from investors in an exciting development for the brand. A group of food industry veterans has invested £130,000 and the Angel CoFund has invested a further £120,000, along with initial backers, this has given Gousto a total of half a million pounds worth of investment.
Flamingo Sky launches new guaranteed EIS/SEIS Fund
Today is the launch of the Flamingo Sky high-tech/high-growth fund for Q1 2014.
Flamingo Sky will be enabling UK high-tech organisations to secure up to £100,000 each, following successful completion of the Flamingo Sky due diligence process.
The Flamingo Sky Q12014 Fund for high-tech/high-growth expects to invest up to £100,000 each in 12 companies within the next six months. Client companies that secure funds will be continuously supported by Flamingo Sky, and further investment rounds will be opened to them as their business matures.
London Business Angels wins award for Private Investor Network at Investor Allstars Awards
London Business Angels was announced as the winner of the award for Private Investor Network of the year at the Investor Allstars Awards 2013 at a ceremony at London’s National History Museum.
Celebrating excellence in entrepreneurship and the professional investor community, Investor Allstars is an annual event produced by GP Bullhound, the technology investment bank, and GrowthBusiness, a Vitesse Media website specialising in providing information for entrepreneurs and leaders of fast-growth enterprises.
Fast-moving FX firm Ebury Partners raises growth currency through Envestors network
Envestors Limited, the award-winning private investor network dedicated to helping investors source dynamic companies in need of growth capital, has participated in a £3.5 million equity funding round for Ebury Partners UK Limited, the specialist foreign currency provider. Of this, £1.15 million was sourced from the Envestors network.
Envestors is a wholly owned subsidiary of Braveheart Investment Group plc (BRH), the AIM-listed investment management group providing debt/equity and advisory services to SMEs and servicing the investment requirements of business angels, high net worth individuals, family offices, and public sector organisations.