HomeToGo receives capital from renowned global venture capital firms

HomeToGo, the independent meta search for holiday homes / vacation rentals, announced an investment round led by international growth equity investor Acton Capital Partners and global early and growth stage venture firm DN Capital.

The investment will be used to strengthen the dynamic growth of the company both domestically and internationally. Prior to this, a number of well-known business angels have already provided capital for HomeToGo.

HomeToGo is the worldwide meta search engine for vacation rentals allowing holidaymakers to easily find their dream accommodation for the best price. HomeToGo searches worldwide offers of the best providers according to the users' individual wishes. The results are shown clearly and the rentals on offer can be filtered and compared according to their prices as well as additional criteria. The time-consuming online search on different websites is therefore a thing of the past. Users can thus easily find their ideal accommodation and book with the provider offering the best prices.

HomeToGo was founded in January 2014. Within less than a year, the Berlin-based company managed to integrate more than 150 providers into their search engine, amongst which are Interhome, Novasol, Interchalet, Booking.com and Casamundo. At one glance, users get a large choice of vacation rentals in more than 200 countries. HomeToGo therefore provides a consolidated overview within a very fragmented market.

Beringea leads £13 million funding round for Smart Materials  Company D30

Beringea, the venture capital investor and manager of the ProVen VCTs, has announced that it has led a £13 million funding round for D3O, the UK-based developer of smart materials.

Beringea will invest a total of £9 million from its UK and U.S. offices, along with other current D3O shareholders, to support the further expansion of the D3O's impact protection products and international market growth.

D3O has a unique patented technology used to make a soft, flexible and distinctive orange-coloured material with high shock absorbing properties that is used in impact protection products. D3O addresses a range of markets such as footwear, electronics, sport, work-wear and military protection. Recently D3O has changed the face of protection for American football with a new helmet liner system designed to reduce brain trauma and has introduced significant enhancements for safety in the oil and gas industry, with the introduction of a new flexible, comfortable and protective glove design.

Through successful R&D, D3O has been able to grow from one product in 2010 to a portfolio of 17 materials today. It has a strong new product pipeline for 2015-16 and this new capital will facilitate further international expansion as well as developing D3O's team of highly skilled chemists, engineers and designers.

Foresight announces the successful recapitalisation of its investment in Sandwich-based data security company The Bunker

Foresight Group (Foresight) is delighted to announce on behalf of the boards of Foresight 2 VCT plc, Foresight 3 VCT plc and Foresight 4 VCT plc the recapitalisation of portfolio company The Bunker, which has seen Foresight's shareholder loans and outstanding interest repaid in full.

The refinancing has seen the Foresight VCTs' aggregate loan investment of just over £3 million return £5.13 million to the VCTs, which will be used for future investments.

Since Foresight's investment in 2006, The Bunker has performed strongly, and now provides Ultra Secure mission critical Cloud infrastructure and storage services to more than 200 companies and organisations from its facilities within two large ex MoD nuclear command and control bunkers in Ash, near Sandwich, Kent and Greenham Common, near Newbury, Berkshire and has seen revenues increase seven fold.

David Hughes, Chief Investment Officer of Foresight commented "We are pleased to have seen our investment in the Bunker deliver a return of 1.8x original investment to our VCT shareholders, and are delighted to retain our shareholding in the company. We are confident that the company will continue on its growth trajectory and we look forward to supporting the management team in achieving their goals."

Peregrine Newton, CEO of The Bunker commented : "We are delighted to have completed this recapitalisation which endorses the continuing strength of the business and underpins the company's continued growth"

Mercia launches virtual share exchange for its EIS & SEIS investors

Mercia Fund Management (MFM) is soon to be rolling out the latest development to their award winning Investor Portal, a new facility giving their existing and future investors the potential to sell shares in portfolio companies they hold ahead of a full exit of the business itself.

The new virtual share exchange (pictured below) is designed to facilitate buyer and seller through an easy to navigate platform, enabling Mercia's investors to quickly review all offers currently available on the portfolio companies they hold, and should they choose, opt for how many of their shares they would like to sell against the offer. The platform is supported by a messaging system which keeps the investor updated as to offer progress and allows for automatic counter offers should seller 'bids' outweigh the total shares sought on the original offer.

On the other side of the exchange will be Mercia Technologies PLC, MFM's parent company, which listed on AIM in December raising £70m from key institutions such as Woodford Investment Management, Invesco and Baillie Gifford. Mercia Technologies supports the emerging stars from MFM's EIS & SEIS funds through providing later stage expansion capital, however it is also looking to invest in the portfolio beyond new funding rounds which it can achieve by making offers available through the Virtual Share Exchange. The offers Mercia Technologies will be making stretch across the portfolio and will be made on an arising basis as the portfolio grows, with a number of offers available upon launch of the platform.

Traceall secures funding from Maven Capital Partners and the Scottish Loan Fund

Maven Capital Partners (Maven), one of the UK's leading Private Equity Houses, and the Scottish Loan Fund, a mezzanine fund managed by Maven, are pleased to announce they have invested £2 million in the data management solutions provider Traceall Global (Traceall). The business specialises in the tracking, traceability and monitoring of equipment and assets predominantly within the food and beverage sector.

The transaction will see the SLF issue a £1.5 million loan to the business to provide it with the working capital headroom it requires to fulfil new contracts as part of its expansion. The injection of capital will allow Traceall to add to its existing business development and technical teams, creating capacity for the business to take on larger projects. Maven clients have also made a small equity investment in the Glasgow-based business for £0.5 million and will work closely with Traceall's senior management team in raising the awareness of the brand and helping it through its next phase of growth.

Traceall has developed a range of remote sensor monitoring systems and unique asset verification products for the global food and beverage industry. Its sophisticated Supplier and Product Information Management software system allows Traceall's clients to manage and control complex global supply chains. Behind this system is a suite of software solutions and cutting edge technology that can trace, track and monitor real time data on variables such as location, temperature, product quality and equipment performance from across the globe.

Scottish Loan Fund to provide £0.7 million of funding to ExecSpace

The Scottish Loan Fund (SLF) is pleased to announce that it has committed £0.7 million of funding to the event services and management business, ExecSpace, to support its businesses growth strategy.

 The investment will provide a significant boost to the business as it looks to widen its geographic reach into London and capitalise on the strong sector dynamics and positive economic indicators which reflect ongoing growth in that market. Founded in 2008 by Emma Little, ExecSpace is a specialist event and accommodation booking agent for over 200 organisations across the UK, including Grant Thornton, Aggreko, Aegon and Nucleus, and has enjoyed year-on-year growth thanks to its customer centric focus.

Headquartered in Edinburgh and with a second office in Aberdeen, ExecSpace organises events across the UK securing top-rate venues at the best price possible for its clients. Maintaining the quality of its service is paramount to the business and each account manager regularly visits venues to ensure that they meet the expectations and requirements of clients.  This service extends to a bespoke accommodation booking service, providing an on-line booking tool tailored to their organisational requirements and policies.

ExecSpace also provides a comprehensive event management service. Events facilitated by the business can range from organising management meetings for 12 up to themed conferences for 800 people which require full event management expertise.

This investment is another example of how the SLF is helping companies like ExecSpace to exploit market opportunities and how it continues to be a valuable source of finance for established, growth-oriented SMEs. To date the SLF has committed £50m to businesses throughout Scotland to help them achieve their business plans and facilitate the next stage of growth.