uMotif, the data capture company putting patients at the centre of clinical research, has raised £2.4 million in its latest funding round led by Albion Capital, the leading independent investment manager, along with several angel investors.

Maven Capital Partners has completed a £1.6 million investment in BioAscent Discovery Limited, an integrated drug discovery services business. The funding will enable BioAscent to significantly expand its service offering, adding complementary chemistry and biology services and capitalise on the growing trend towards the outsourcing of drug discovery activities. The funding will support the creation of 10 new jobs, including in highly skilled scientific positions, and fund additional laboratory space.

Mobeus Equity Partners has led the £5 million Series B, investing £3.6 million, with participation from all MyTutor’s existing high-profile angel investors

MYCS, the European leader in personalised furniture ecommerce, has raised €10m to expand its international footprint and to provide an immersive customisation experience for its users.

Beringea, the international growth capital investor, has led the Series B funding round, alongside Zimmerman Investments and existing shareholders.

Live Better With, a healthcare e-commerce platform founded by entrepreneur Tamara Rajah with the aim of helping people with long-term medical conditions, has secured significant new funding to expand its online marketplace and scale up its team. 

Downing Ventures has recently welcomed Cambridge Touch Technologies and Masters of Pie to its portfolio

Foresight Group has announced an investment of £2 million supporting the management buy-out of the contract research business Epistem from genedrive plc. 

Foresight Group has invested £2.5 million of growth capital into The Naked Deli Limited.

Launched in 2014, The Naked Deli operates a number of sites in Newcastle, offering a health-conscious and clean-eating dining experience, with a tasty range of gluten and dairy-free, vegan and paleo dishes. The first site opened in Heaton and after a strong social media campaign, reached full capacity in the first week.

Flexioffices, one of the UK’s leading serviced office brokers, has secured £8.2 million of investment from NVM Private Equity as part of the funding package for a management buyout. The investment from NVM will help to accelerate Flexi’s international growth and drive continued development of their technology. The deal is NVM's second management buyout from NVM Private Equity Vintage III LP.

Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s most active SME investors has invested £750,000, as part of a £1m investment round, in Airtime Rewards Ltd.  Manchester based Airtime is an innovative digital customer loyalty programme which enables shoppers to be rewarded, with a unique reward currency, that can be converted into a monetary credit on their mobile phone account or for additional mobile data.

Ava, a medical technology company focused on innovations in women’s reproductive health and maker of the popular cycle tracking Ava bracelet, today announced it has raised $30 million in a strategic Series B funding round. The majority of Ava’s new financing came from existing investors, with prominent European VC firms btov and SVC also joining the round.

Three organisations are joining forces to run an industry-wide initiative which will build the first clear picture of the representation of women, and diversity more broadly, in the pipelines of UK venture capital firms, and how this corresponds to the deals that get done.