Labminds completes £2.1M fundraise with VentureFounders and the Angel CoFund

VentureFounders, the new equity crowdfunding platform, has helped LabMinds, a high tech British business, secure £2.1m of investment to fund the next stage of its development. VentureFounders was accompanied in the raise by the Angel Co-Fund, who committed £500k to the transaction.

Founded in 2009, LabMinds is an Oxford-based business that develops and manufactures next generation solutions to address the challenges faced by laboratories worldwide, combining advanced laboratory products with cutting edge technologies.

The company's lead product, Revo, was conceived by two doctoral students from the Biochemistry department at the University of Oxford who wanted to improve the solution preparation process.  Dr Klingelhoefer and Dr Oxley went on to win the University's entrepreneurial idea competition in 2009 with Revo, a unique liquid solution production system.

Revo offers laboratories a revolutionary answer to the highly labour intensive task of solution preparation that globally consumes an estimated one million hours of highly qualified lab technicians' time every working day. It replaces the expensive, time consuming and repetitive process with a fully automated system that improves efficiency, traceability, accuracy, health and safety and limits wastage while automating much of the regulatory compliance.

LabMinds turned to VentureFounders to raise growth capital in order to meet the strong demand it is experiencing from laboratories and pharmaceutical companies for Revo.

The London Co-investment Fund completes its first investment in tech start-up Dojo

Funding London is pleased to announce that the London Co-investment Fund (LCIF) has completed its first investment just one month after the fund's official launch. LCIF partner Playfair Capital led an £800k round in the London-based instant discovery app, Dojo, with participation from the LCIF, SaatchInvest and angel investors from Citymapper and MarketInvoice.

"We launched Dojo just over three months ago to help Londoners find the very best things to do in the city, instantly. It is amazing to see tens of thousands of people enjoying the app every week. With the help of Playfair and the LCIF we plan to grow our audience much further and even expand globally", said Robin Shimmin CEO and co-founder of Dojo.

The London Co-investment Fund is managed by Funding London and is a collaboration between Funding London and Capital Enterprise. The Fund is supported by £25m from the Mayor of London through the London Enterprise Panel's 'Growing Places Fund.' The LCIF is expected to invest in more than 150 earlystage businesses plus spur the creation of up to 2,600 new jobs in London's early stage Science, Digital and Technology businesses over the next three years.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: "This new fund was set up with the aim of helping ambitious and innovative tech companies just like Dojo to get the support they need to bring their ideas to reality and deliver jobs and growth for the capital. This is the first of many investments from the fund as we look to cement the capital's reputation as one of the leading tech clusters in the world."

"At Playfair Capital, we've built a reputation for backing trailblazers who are bold enough to build solutions to problems faced by millions of people every day", said Federico Pirzio-Biroli, Founding Partner of Playfair Capital.

"The team at Dojo have identified a glaring problem faced day in, day out by city dwellers around the world. It's been phenomenal to work closely with three university friends as they grew into a Company of a dozen highly driven and inspiring individuals pushing the envelope with a product users love."

Maggie Rodriguez-Piza, CEO of Funding London, said: "Dojo is an excellent example of the breadth of innovation  in London's digital and tech space. The team have created a uniquely compelling and trendsetting product that leverages the diversity of leisure activities in London to help people discover our city's hidden gems.

We are excited to provide financial support for Dojo to grow their footprint in London and further afield. This marks our first investment in what is expected to be a very busy year for the London Co-investment fund."

John Spindler, CEO of Capital Enterprise, said: "We believe that it's appropriate that the first official investment from the London Co-Investment Fund should be Dojo; a digital company whose strap line is the "Gateway to London Life".

"We hope it will inspire more great digital start-ups in London to apply for our fund at www.lcif.co. Over the next 3 years we are looking to invest in a further 150+ companies making an impact on London's economy and the lives of Londoners".

London Business Angels £200k Investors partner with £25m London Co-Investment Fund to close the fund's first ever co-investment - into Captive Media

London based digital outdoor advertising company, Captive Media, has closed a £617k investment round, cornerstoned by a circa £200k investment from London Business Angels (LBA) investors and including a £65k investment by the LBA EIS Roundtable Syndicate Fund 2014 and a £90k investment by the new £25m London Co-Investment Fund.

The company provides a highly entertaining form of advertising which addresses the problem of young people filtering out adverts. Captive Media's advertising products are currently in over 50 UK venues and in 12 other countries. The company will use the new funding to extend its network of venues, both in the U.K and internationally.

Gordon MacSween, Captive Media CEO, comments, "In 2014 we built a small, ad-based network in London and ran ad campaigns for Diageo, Apple, 20th Century Fox and other big brands.  Now, with the backing of LBA, LCIF and other UK angels, we are creating a nationwide network of 200 screens.  It's a rare thing to say you make 100,000 laugh every week - and the best possible way to address the problem of advertising to a young, male audience."

Maggie Rodriguez Piza, Funding London CEO, comments, "We launched the London Co-investment Fund with the specific aim of allowing London's entrepreneurs to scale up their high growth ideas and gain commercial traction. We believe that the co-investment approach is key for closing investment rounds at this crucial stage in the SME life cycle. We are pleased that the fund's participation alongside LBAN and other angels will contribute towards the scaling up of this innovative advertising solution. "

Anthony Clarke, London Business Angels CEO, comments, "the Captive Media team have developed a highly innovative and entertaining advertising platform whose ability to scale has already been proven at over 30 London venues. The LBA syndicate of £200k plus additional co-investment will allow the company to roll out its products at more venues across the UK and globally. I am also pleased that LBA was able to complete its first co-investment through its partnership with the £25m London Co-Investment Fund."

Fresh window of opportunity for Stevenswood as it secures £3.5m BGF investment

One of Scotland's largest manufacturers of PVCu and aluminium windows, doors and conservatories - Stevenswood - will be expanding its production capacity and network of trade counters across the country thanks to a £3.5m investment of growth capital from BGF (Business Growth Fund).

The £11m turnover business, which manufactures more than 1,000 windows and doors per week, currently sells its bespoke manufactured products through its trade counters in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Dundee and at its headquarters in Livingston.

The £3.5m investment from BGF, the independent company established to help the UK's growing businesses, will see Stevenswood open additional trade counters across Scotland, as well as expanding its kitchen operations to meet the growing demand for its quality products.

BGF has taken a minority stake in Stevenswood with Patrick Graham joining the board as investor director. The board has been bolstered with the appointment of David Pearson as chairman and Murray McGarvie as finance director.

Pearson brings extensive experience of working with institutionally backed manufacturing businesses. He is the current chairman of Nenplas Ltd and DPP Ltd. In his earlier career, David was the group commercial director of Focus Wickes.

McGarvie is an experienced finance director with a proven track record in both manufacturing and retail businesses.

The Livingston-based business was founded in 1997 by the current managing director Ron Hepburn and his now retired business partner Dave Flynn, initially focussing on the installation of windows and doors.  It was the first company in Scotland to offer 70mm fully sculptured frames that are now the industry standard.

The strategic recruitment of director Duncan Murray in the year 2000 moved the direction of the business to focus on manufacturing its own products.  During the last decade it has invested more than £1.6m in a new site and state-of-the-art machinery.  All manufacturing now takes place at its industrial facilities on a five-acre site in Houston Industrial Estates in Livingston.