SETsquared has secured an additional £2m of funding from Innovate UK to run a second phase of the Regional Angel Investment Accelerator (RAIA) scheme. UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA) will once again support the roll-out of RAIA alongside SETsquared, through a programme of investor capacity building and education.

Par Equity’s investments in high-growth technology businesses have smashed through the £100m mark. The milestone was passed when the company completed five investments in a week earlier in October.

Par, from its headquarters in Edinburgh, backs emerging technology stars across the North of the UK. This strategy sets it apart from 80%-85% of its VC peers, which are London-based and channel most of their investments into the capital and surrounding area.

The renowned University of Cambridge Impulse Programme, created to nurture the brilliant minds of international academia, business and research organisations, opens applications for 2022. The sixth edition of the programme will focus on deep tech – empowering entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with the skills and resources to accelerate their game-changing innovations into commercial success stories.

Scottish AI software company Aveni has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Gooch, MBE, as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer. Hot on the heels of its recent funding round, the speech analytics company also announced a raft of key design and engineering appointments from some of the world’s leading technology companies.

Global venture capital firm Antler has invested in eight new portfolio companies as part of its Stockholm cohort. The startups focus on industries including recycling electrical devices, impact investing, and sustainable packaging, improving mental wellbeing, monitoring data centres and making communication more efficient with AI. This is Antler’s fifth cohort out of Sweden, and it has now supported 700 entrepreneurs and invested in 75 early-stage startups in the Nordics.

ACF Investors, the UK venture capital fund that works alongside sector expert business angels to invest in high potential businesses, has passed its 100^th company investment. 

GP Bullhound, the global technology advisory and investment firm, has revealed the 2021 Northern Tech Awards Top 100 shortlist, recognising the fastest growing technology companies in the North of England and Scotland and Ireland.

Northern Ireland startups and scale up companies have been given the opportunity to meet and pitch their companies to more than 80 venture capital investors from London and the rest of the UK at a two-day event organised by Catalyst.

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor, has appointed industry veteran Nicol Fraser to lead its investment team in London and the South East.

DSW Ventures, the venture capital investment business of the Dow Schofield Watts group, has promoted Eleanor Boardman to Investment Manager in a period of significant growth for the regional VC.

General Electric (GE) has announced a five-year, $3.5 million (£2.5m) investment in the UK as part of its global Next Engineers programme, to increase the diversity of young people entering engineering. The UK programme will be based in Staffordshire, where GE operates three sites that design, develop, and service products used throughout the power and renewable energy industries.

Innovation in North West England, already home to 14 ‘unicorns’ companies, received a major shot in the arm today as Fearless Adventures comes out of the door with a multimillion-pound fund and a novel, one-stop shop of support services to grow the next generation of direct-to-consumer (‘D2C’) startups in the UK.