Cornerstone Partners has invested £170,000 growth capital investment into East Yorkshire based Coordinate Sport.

Founded in August 2016 by husband and wife team, James and Rochelle Moore, Coordinate Sport provides business tools to organisations within the sports and coaching industry.

DSW Angels - the business angel network focused on UK regional scale-up companies - is planning  £10m of new investment over the next 12 months to help support the post-Covid recovery.

The network – which closed its largest investment at the start of the lockdown with a £1.7m funding round for One Utility Bill - has since seen an enhanced flow of new enquiries from quality businesses and has a strong pipeline of new investments.

Caerphilly based X4 Software Limited has secured follow-on investment of £175,000 from the Development Bank of Wales and the backing of business angel investors.  X4 Software trades as SourceMogul. Introduced by Angels Invest Wales, David James is the latest investor to support the business. He previously led Hudman Solutions, an award winning software development business, through two funding rounds as an investor and Managing Director before successfully selling to Advanced in 2017.

A company which has developed an eco-friendly water treatment system that can reduce pollution levels has raised £550,000 to help roll it out to the water industry.  Industrial Phycology (I-Phyc) has secured a second round of funding from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, and private investors.

MGB Biopharma, the Glasgow-based biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of anti-infectives, has announced the successful conclusion of its Phase II clinical study into MGB-BP-3, for the treatment of Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI).

Expert cycle insurance provider Bikmo has secured its first venture capital funding of £1.8 million (Series A funding). The investment is led by Development Bank of Wales, alongside specialist global insurer Hiscox plus existing and new angel investors.  Part of the £1 million equity and loan investment by the Development Bank of Wales is enabling Bikmo to move into new premises in Flintshire. The award-winning adventure sports insurance provider Bikmo also has offices in Innsbruck, Austria and will relocate the UK head office to Flintshire as soon as Covid-19 lockdown restrictions will allow.

Port Talbot-based Hybrisan has joined the fight against the Covid 19 pandemic having secured £500,000 equity investment from the Development Bank of Wales, private investors and a Smart Cymru grant from the Welsh Government. Hybrisan manufacture liquid sanitiser and use advanced nanotechnology to produce highly advanced material, impregnated with the liquid sanitiser for use in high quality personal protective equipment (PPE) for the NHS and other frontline workers. The liquid sanitiser developed by Hybrisan is 99.999% effective in killing coronavirus without alcohol, even on surfaces.

There are some classic bear traps that new business angels should avoid if they want to get beyond that early exciting stage, and closer to the money making stage...

Smarterly, the digital wealth platform for the workplace, has secured £7 million investment to support its continued growth as it brings innovation to workplace savings, allowing people to save and invest directly through payroll. 

Edinburgh-based Reactec, has repurposed its proven system for monitoring workers’ exposure to health risk to create “Safedistance”, which enables employers to manage the social distancing of their workforce within construction, rail, manufacturing and other workplaces.

Financial firms need to adopt a digital-focussed working environment if they want to survive beyond current lockdowns, says Arches Capital. The Amsterdam-based Business Angels believe that strong technological foundations and connectivity have been among the main reasons why they have been able to support their members and the Dutch start-up ecosystem amid current social and economic uncertainty.

Business angel syndicates in Scotland participated in deals which invested over £100m in young entrepreneurial companies in the financial year to end March 2020.