Seedrs' investors in Senta will see up to a 120x return on their seed investments after the Bristol-based software company agreed to be acquired by IRIS Software Group.

UK-based EdTech gaming studio, Kuato Studios, has raised £4.5m in a round led by Horizons Ventures and is launching ‘Panic Room’ – its first virtual reality title. 

Renowned for creating award-winning apps and education-based games – and for partnering with well-known brands such as Disney and Marvel – Kuato wants to use ‘Panic Room’ to showcase how VR can be used in new and innovative ways. ‘Panic Room', empowered by Kuato’s newly-patented ‘Actor/Director’ platform, is the world’s first cross-platform, socially-interactive virtual reality game, opening the developer up to new platforms and audiences.

Mid-market private equity firm NorthEdge has invested in Helios Medical Communications (Helios), a full-service, independent, global healthcare communications and strategic consultancy, to support its UK and international expansion plans.

Exus Management Partners (Exus), an independent investment and asset management firm focused on the renewable energy sector,

Orbus Software, a global market-leading provider of Enterprise Architecture software, has announced that it has been acquired by SilverTree Equity, a leading private equity firm focused on software and technology businesses.

Fast-growing consumer insights business Vypr plans to strengthen its sales and marketing operations as it invests in its team and expands into new sectors and overseas markets following a £2.5m growth capital investment backed by YFM Equity Partners (YFM) through its British Smaller Companies VCTs.

Poptop – the Newcastle-based events booking platform – has raised a further £440,000 to pursue its global expansion plans. The funding comes from existing investors DSW Ventures and NorthStar Ventures, which was investing from the North East Innovation Fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund.  Poptop’s platform was the first private events marketplace of its type and has revolutionised the way consumers plan and book events from birthdays to grand weddings. 

OnePlanetCapital, a new sustainably driven investment house, has launched a specialist sustainability EIS Fund to invest in businesses tackling climate change.

The new OnePlanetCapital Sustainable EIS Fund is broad-based, targeting investments that will tackle climate change and supporting businesses with a positive environmental impact. It aims to deliver industry leading returns whilst only backing companies and projects that will genuinely benefit the environmental prospects of the UK and the wider planet. 

BGF has completed a multi-million pound investment in Cirrus, an award-winning provider of omnichannel cloud contact centre solutions.

Founded in 2013 by Jason Roos, Cirrus’ software is used by private and public sector organisations looking to digitalise their customer service operations. The business has seen continued growth across the UK and North America making it one of the leading Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) platforms.

Liva Healthcare, a European market leader in scalable digital health coaching, has secured a new funding round of EUR 24.5 million, led by Verlinvest, the go-to investor for mission-driven entrepreneurs and category-defining global consumer brands. The investment will enable Liva to strengthen its position as a European leader in digital health and lifestyle coaching for chronic disease prevention and management.   

Peptone, the computational physics company, has built the world’s first protein engineering operating system and, thanks to $2.5 million seed round led by Hoxton Ventures and supported by dRx Capital, a venture arm of Novartis Pharma AG, Founders Factory and a number of angel investors including Brent Hoberman, the next-gen supercomputing company is now looking to further develop its groundbreaking technology in order to take on the high-value protein targets and reduce the risk of failure in early stages of drug development.

Blackstone Resources AG has announced that Current Direct, a new research and innovation project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program, will revolutionize the way we move goods and people by water. The vast majority of water transport in Europe is propelled by dirty, noisy diesel engines. By cutting the cost of today’s marine battery electric drivetrains in half and relieving ship owners of the burden of capital expense, Current Direct will enable rapid adoption to reduce greenhouse emissions by 482.000 MT of CO2 equivalents per year.