Albion Capital, the leading independent investment manager, is intending to raise up to £36 million through a launch in early January 2019 of its top up offers for its six venture capital trusts (Albion VCTs).

The fundraising is expected to target £6 million for each of the six Albion VCTs: Albion Venture Capital Trust PLC, Albion Development VCT PLC, Albion Enterprise VCT PLC, Albion Technology & General VCT PLC, Crown Place VCT PLC and Kings Arms Yard VCT PLC.

Maven Capital Partners has led the management buyout of Acton Banks Limited, a market leading UK healthcare staffing business. The transaction is Maven’s third investment from its buyout fund, having earlier this year led an investment in Manchester-based hardware designer and supplier UAP Limited and Glasgow-based John McGavigan Limited, a leader in decorative technology used in the automotive sector.

Raremark, the leading patient-data platform in rare disease, has raised £3m in funding from investors, led by AlbionVC and Ananda Ventures, with participation from Oltre Venture and from existing major investor the Cass Entrepreneurship Fund.

Maven Capital Partners has exited from its investment in Cursor Controls Limited, a developer and manufacturer of human machine interface (HMI) devices for some of the world's most demanding environments. The sale to DiscoverIE Group plc has realised a return for Maven clients of 2.68x the initial investment in just over three years.

Cursor designs, manufacturers, and supplies a range of leading edge products, including trackballs, touchpads and ruggedised keyboards. The business, which is based in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, generates over 90% of its sales from international markets, exporting to over 30 countries. Its high precision products, benefitting from patented technology, are used by leading brands in the medical, defense and aerospace, marine and industrial sectors.

Maven Capital Partners has completed a £2.15 million investment in Boiler Plan (UK) Ltd, a market disruptive platform that sells, installs and services boilers.  

The transaction includes a £1.65m investment from the Maven VCTs and a £500,000 investment from the North East Development Capital Fund, managed by Maven and supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The funding will help accelerate Boiler Plan’s growth, allowing the business to increase its geographic coverage and invest in its sales, marketing and digital functions.

Boiler Plan provides an innovative online platform for the purchase of a new boiler. Its ‘digital first’ solution offers consumers a quick and convenient way to complete the quote process online, with the installation able to take place within 48 hours. The platform supports the entire boiler sales process, handling everything from the choice of appliance, the initial home survey, finance payment options, installation by a qualified engineer, and the ongoing maintenance and aftercare service.

Forward Health, the app working to reinvent healthcare communication, has raised a $3.9m seed funding-round led by Stride.VC, with additional backing from Albion Capital. The funds are joined by an impressive roster of angel backers, including healthtech founders Jay Desai from US company Patient Ping and Melissa Morris from UK-based Lantum.

Forward was founded in 2016 by UK doctors Barney Gilbert and Lydia Yarlott, alongside serial entrepreneur Philip Mundy. Their mission is to connect healthcare systems around the world, making communication secure, transparent and flexible for healthcare professionals and patients.

Maven Property, the property arm of Maven Capital Partners, has completed the £14.5 million sale of Hotel Indigo Glasgow, a four-star, 94-bedroom hotel with restaurant in the centre of the city, to Heeton Holdings, a Singapore-listed real estate conglomerate. 

The structure of the transaction includes the sale of the Freehold (in Scotland “Heritable”) interest in the hotel to a Ground Rent Fund and of the resultant long leasehold interest to Heeton, which has acquired the trading business and goodwill of the Hotel. There has been little precedent in structuring hotel sales in this way, but Maven’s significant experience of hotel development funding structures has enabled it to split these two interests in the Hotel and drive additional value for its investors.

Foresight Group has announced the £2.5 million growth capital investment into Accrosoft Limited.

Based in Loughborough, Accrosoft is a software as a service company with two products currently in the market, Vacancy Filler, an Applicant Tracking System which automates the recruitment process for organisations and Weduc, an engagement tool to enable parent-teacher communication.

Accrosoft was founded in 2008 by Alex Khakbiz and Mitesh Chauhan, experienced SaaS entrepreneurs. Vacancy Filler, launched in 2013, automates much of the recruitment management process for businesses. The product now boasts over 200 customers across a range of sectors, including supermarket Aldi, which manages over 4,000 daily applications.

Maven Capital Partners has launched new VCT offers to raise up to £30 million. The offers will allow the VCTs and new investors to benefit from the strong pipeline of VCT qualifying opportunities which is in evidence across the Maven regional office network.

Preservica today announced a £7.5 million ($10 million) Series B investment from Mobeus Equity Partners to meet accelerating demand for its Active Digital Preservation software technology. The investment provides an initial £4 million with a facility for a further £3.5 million to support Preservica’s continued global expansion plans.

Locum’s Nest, the app that connects doctors to locum work in hospitals, has raised £3m in further funding from Albion Capital, the leading independent investment manager, and IDO Investments. The new funding takes the total investment in Locum’s Nest to £4.1 million.

Triple Point has launhced the Venture Fund, a new share class in the successful Triple Point VCT 2011 plc. The Fund is designed to generate significant returns for investors through a challenge-led investment strategy.