YFM Equity Partners-advised funds have sold their shareholding in GroupBC to Bentley Systems Incorporated, a leading global provider of comprehensive software and digital twins services for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure, for an undisclosed sum.

GroupBC is a leading provider of enterprise-scale information management systems for construction-related projects and asset owners. Its UK-hosted Common Date Environment makes it easy for teams to collaborate, manage and share documents and data from a central, secure cloud-based platform.

Through its two funds, the London Co-Investment Fund (LCIF) and the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF), more than £5 million has been invested into 26 female led Tech companies. These 26 investments operate across multiple verticals within the London Tech ecosystem.  In the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) there are two exceptional female led companies.

Peter Jones CBE, known for his role on Dragon’s Den, and BGF have joined forces to support two high-growth tech businesses, with plans for further collaboration in the future. An initial £9m has been invested across Localised Group, an ecommerce platform for global brands which recently signed British retailer Boden as its latest customer, and Retail Services Group, a business that provides in-store end-to-end retail experiences for some of the world’s leading technology brands. 

RLC Ventures has made an investment has led a £500k seed round in Labworks.

Labworks are Europe's leading voice games studio for Amazon's Alexa; with over 6 million people collectively spending over 100 years playing their 8 games. Their impressive traction has also been met with disciplined capital efficiency.

Glasgow-based Swipii has secured funding of £1 million into its cashback app. The investment has been made by Scottish private equity company Par Equity, which is an existing investor in the business. Swipii aims to be the simplest way for consumers to earn cashback as they shop. Once someone has securely linked their bank payment card to the app, they automatically earn cashback every time they pay with that card in a participating retailer. There is no need to scan codes or carry multiple reward cards. 

Crowdcube, the leading equity crowdfunding platform, is partnering with Episode 1, backers of Zoopla, Shazam, carwow, to invest in the next generation of infrastructure and deep tech startups in the software sector. This partnership will see the £100m fund, which has invested in the likes of Ori, Webiny and CloudNC, back businesses from this space alongside retail investors on Crowdcube. Selected businesses will receive investment from Episode 1 to lead a funding round on Crowdcube. To qualify for initial consideration, the businesses will need to be registered in the UK and raising between £250k-£3m.

The national SPRINT business support programme has formed a strategic partnership with Knowledge Transfer Network's Geospatial Special Interest Group (SIG) to promote funding and developmental opportunities for UK space and non-space businesses.

KTN helps businesses to get the best out of creativity, ideas and the latest discoveries, to strengthen the UK economy and improve people's lives. The partnership with SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) will enable a shared engagement between the two programmes to highlight opportunities for UK businesses to develop and grow.

A Manchester-based technology business that has created a platform for people to confidentially and safely report workplace harassment has secured a £1.35 million investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures, a VC firm which targets early stage businesses in high value sectors. GC Angels joined the round and invested £100,000. 

Skyports, the urban air mobility infrastructure provider and drone delivery operator, has extended its Series A funding to now total £6 million ($8 million) with investment from Irelandia Aviation.

LSP, the leading life sciences investor in Europe, has held its final close of LSP 6 at the $600 million hard cap. This is the largest fund ever raised in Europe focused on life sciences ventures. LSP currently has $1.1 billion of capital to invest across LSP 6, the LSP Health Economics Fund and LSP’s public fund and mandates.

The latest IT & Business Services M&A market report from Hampleton Partners, the international technology mergers and acquisitions advisor, outlines how low interest rates and favourable debt markets have made it easier for private equity firms to pick up market-leading IT businesses. PE buyers have grown their share of the sector’s M&A activity to 15 per cent of all transactions in 2019, compared to just under five percent in 2014.

AI insurance pricing solution Akur8 has raised €8m in its Series A round from BlackFin Capital Partners and MTech Capital, bringing Akur8’s total funding to €10 million following initial investment and incubation from Kamet Venturesin 2018. Akur8 solves the insurance industry’s issue of ever-increasing pressure to find a sophisticated way to offer quick, easy and appropriate prices for today’s retail and commercial insurance customers.