Northern VCTs launch joint share offers to raise up to £50 million

Northern Venture Trust, Northern 2 VCT and Northern 3 VCT - Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) managed by NVM Private Equity - have launched joint offers for subscription to raise up to a total of £50 million. The funds raised will be invested mainly in later-stage unquoted UK companies with high growth potential. The three VCTs aim to provide investors with high long-term tax-free returns through a combination of dividend yield and capital growth. As at 30 June 2013, the three VCTs had combined net assets of £185 million. In the past 10 years, over £200 million has been invested by NVM's funds in VCT qualifying investments.

HootSuite Raises $165 Million to Fuel Growth and Innovation

Insight Venture Partners, Accel Partners, and OMERS Ventures invest in HootSuite Series B Financing. HootSuite announced that it has secured an additional $165 million US in capital for its Series B Financing round, in order to continue meteoric growth and dominance as a social relationship platform. The latest deal, representing one of the largest rounds of global venture capital funding, is a co-investment led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from Accel Partners and existing investor, OMERS Ventures.

PolyTherics and Antitope combine to offer technologies for the development of better biopharmaceuticals

Mercia Fund Management (MFM) announces that one of its portfolio companies, PolyTherics Limited ("PolyTherics"), has merged with Antitope Limited "Antitope"), the leading provider of antibody engineering and immunogenicity screening services, to create an enlarged group with an extensive suite of services and technologies to enable the development of better biopharmaceuticals. PolyTherics is issuing new shares up to an aggregate value of £13.5 million to fund the merger with Antitope and to provide working capital. Imperial Innovations (AIM: IVO) led the investment and brought in new investor Invesco Perpetual with further funds provided by Mercia Fund Management and Advantage Enterprise & Innovation Fund.

Scarcity of follow-on start-up funding exposed in first half of 2013 as UK surrenders lead to France in European venture deals over USD $5million

DFJ Esprit & Go4Venture Advisers issue mid-year analysis of European Venture Market. Despite UK remaining the largest country by value, the scarcity of follow-on funding issue is exposed as France overtakes UK in number of larger venture capital investments for the first time, with Germany also nipping at UK's heels. 28 deals over $5m in France in first half of 2013, compares to 25 in UK and 18 in DACH region. Number of larger deals (>$5m) in UK has fallen from its historical annual rate of 85 per annum to only 25 in the first six months of 2013. Largest untapped pool of investment capital for startups in UK still remains in private hands; DFJ Esprit urges UK government to build on EIS and SEIS success to start dialogue on follow-on funding rounds.

Magister Advisors Half-Yearly European Technology Investment Report

$2.2 billion of significant investments (investments of $10m+) have been made in European Internet hopefuls in the last 18 months. VCs have been driving the wholesale reshaping of European retail towards e-commerce. A poll of tech VCs by Magister Advisors finds investors have merely paused for breath in the first half of 2013, and nine in ten tech VCs said they intend to ramp up European investments in H2 2013. Average investment value held steady.