The successful close of the second round of the GAS EIS Climate Change Fund on 15th July suggests that investors are waking up to the seriousness of the climate crisis, according to GAS CIO, Antoine Pradayrol. Exceptional heat waves in Canada, the north-west US, northern Europe and Siberia and raging wildfires, as well as the most recent horrific floods in Germany and Belgium, cannot be ignored.

Multi-family investment office, Arete, has made a significant investment as part of a multi-million-pound deal in North West based, Vivify. The scale-up provides a digital platform as well as a fully managed service where under-utilised school facilities can be listed for hire to maximise social and physical activities within communities and generate much-needed revenue for schools.

Remy Astie, CEO and founder of Vauban, makes the case for joining forces with other angels and highlights some of the benefits (for both investor and the companies they back).

In reaction to a COVID crisis that brought extremely low interest rates and an accelerated digital transformation, investors are increasingly exploring private investment opportunities in startups to enjoy better returns. 

Bower Collective, the sustainable consumer goods business has raised £2.1 million in seed stage fundraising.  The round led by Oxford Capital and Doehler Ventures will accelerate the growth of the business through packaging innovation and new product development to increase market share. 

A biotech company with a product that helps to heal eye injuries and could revolutionise treatment of other wounds has raised a further £1.8m.

Nottingham-based NuVision Biotherapies  has secured funding from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, Mercia’s EIS funds, Newable Ventures and private investors.

The audio app Anyone has been one of the most talked-about audio apps coming out of Nordics in the last year, making it onto Business Insider’s global list of startups poised to take off in 2021 and dubbed one of Sweden’s hottest startups in Sifted.  The Stockholm-based start-up has now announced a $3.6 million seed investment, with the round led by Cavalry Ventures along with participation from Supernode Global, Antler and a number of high-profile angel investors.

The Edinburgh-based business investment group, Archangels, has led investment of £12.4m in innovative Scottish tech and life sciences companies in the first half of 2021 (H1 2020: £9.5m)

Climate X, a London-based purpose-driven startup, has completed its pre-seed raise of £1.1M – ushering in a new era of climate intelligence that will help businesses, governments and individuals around the world build a stronger, climate-resilient future.

Fair By Design & GC Angels have backed death tech start-up Guardian Angel in a £1.1m Seed round.  Guardian Angel is a London-Manchester based death tech company that helps people plan for and manage death.The fresh funding comes off the back of a hot 6 months, with revenue and team tripling and customers growing to 100k across their services.This round brings Guardian Angel’s total funding to £1.6m in the last 24 months.

QV Bioelectronics – a medical device start-up pioneering a first of its kind electric field therapy implant for the treatment of the most common and aggressive type of brain tumours, has closed a £735,000 seed funding round to advance the development of its innovative GRACE implant.

Byway, the world's first flight-free holiday platform, has announced £1.1 million of funding from an Innovate UK SMART grant as well as Founders Factory and angel investors. Angels include founder/CEO of Viator and Rome2Rio, Rod Cuthbert, slow travel guru Ed Gillespie, and former Chair of Visit Britain, Christopher Rodrigues CBE.

OpenBlend, the SaaS platform transforming the way companies and their employees think about performance management has taken additional funding and appointed David Grundy as Chair to support rapidly growing demand for its products and services. OpenBlend performance management software helps companies, and their employees stay engaged and productive as they respond to the new challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic and the new world of work.