The Future Fund is being expanded to accommodate businesses that contribute significantly to the UK economy, but do not have their parent company based in the UK.

Since its launch in May 2019, the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF) has invested £12.5m in 33 early-stage and high-growth companies through its equity and loan funds.  Although the fund was established to support high growth companies in achieving their potential, since the end of March SMEs have had to refocus their strategies on resilience until the UK is able to resume normal economic activity.  Therefore, GLIF has been working with FSE Group to enable our funds to support SMEs in this time of crisis.

Thierry Baudon, 2019-2020 Chair of Invest Europe, is to continue as Chair, following the sudden and unexpected death of Roderick “Rory” Macmillan (Chair-elect for 2020-2021) last month.

Mia & Ben, the innovative kids' food brand sold nationwide in Sainsbury's, Ocado and Abel & Cole in the UK, as well as Dunnes Stores in the Republic of Ireland, has secured £2.5 million funding from impact food investor Blue Horizon Ventures to help grow its UK business.

Mia & Ben aim to revolutionise the kids' food category by using scientific research and the latest technology to offer fresher and more nutritious products. Their first range of pouches can be found chilled in the fridge, not in the ambient aisle, and are preserved with high-pressure processing (HPP) instead of heat to retain natural vitamins, colour and taste.

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growth businesses, has invested in Juriba, an industry-leading IT migration software provider, to accelerate product development and drive international scale.

Started in 2008 by co-founders Barry Angell and Julia Bell, and now led by Angell, Bell and Iain Fraser (Chief Sales Officer), Juriba is a fast-growth technology business that specialises in digital transformation software, providing innovative solutions for medium-sized to large corporates and multinational organisations.

Downing Ventures has appointed Warren Rogers as a Partner to its 14-strong team. Prior to joining Downing Ventures, Warren was a Ventures Partner at Airbus, where he led investments in various sectors related to aerospace, defence, and space technology.  Warren brings much of this experience to the Downing Ventures team, with his new role focusing on early-stage deep tech companies in quantum, cyber, enterprise, and materials.

Loopster, the online platform which closes the loop between the use and reuse of second-hand clothes, has secured a six-figure seed equity funding round led by the Development Bank of Wales.

Investing alongside the Development Bank is business angel Jim Lewcock, who owns the internet-focused venture capital Blue14, and experienced non-executive director and angel investor Kate Methuen-Ley. The funding will help Loopster to further develop and commercialise their technology, enabling their platform to catalogue second-hand clothes faster. The Newport-based company will also use the funding to recruit six members of staff. This process is currently underway.

Recruitment platform Tempo has secured £5 million in a Series A funding round led by the Adecco Group, a Fortune Global 500 company and leading HR solutions partner.

Tempo’s end-to-end platform uses technology to simplify the recruitment process, with machine learning used to match job seekers to potential employers and video interviews used for screening.  Businesses using Tempo are able to cut their recruitment costs by 65%, while reducing the hiring process to a matter of days rather than weeks. 

Foresight Group's Nick Mettyear, an Investment Manager responsible for the £100 million Foresight East of England Fund, has been appointed to the delivery board of the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor.

The Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor is one of Europe’s most exciting growth opportunities, home to the people and businesses tackling the grand challenges facing humanity and shaping the future of food, energy, medicine and mobility.

A venture backed Cambridge startup, Better Origin, has launched the X1, the world’s first ever insect mini-farm to convert local waste into high-quality animal feed in the form of insect larvae, which can then be fed to livestock, improving welfare, productivity and yield. They are solving both the global food waste crisis and producing better quality food for consumers.

British Patient Capital comments on the British Business Bank’s Small Business Equity Trackerwhich reveals UK VCs currently have a record amount of dry powder ready to deploy.

The £3.5m SHAKE Climate Change Programme has announced its first three investments.

Energy from manure, tools for smarter pest management and a yield boosting nanotech are the ideas behind three early stage companies selected by the unique fund.

SHAKE funds and trains entrepreneurs and start-ups who have innovative solutions to tackle climate change linked to the agri-food sector, which contributes more than a quarter of global emissions.