Marco Art Ltd, one of the first wide-format print centres in the UK, has secured £3.3 million in working capital from Independent Growth Finance (IGF) after outgrowing its initial MBO funding from 2014.

Founded in 1992, the Surrey based company specialises in the design and supply of wide-format digital printing for live events, exhibitions, retail and building wraps, and its clients include high-profile brands such as Harrods, Penhaligon and the Paris Air Show.  

BGF has exited its minority stake in Vysiion Group, a communications infrastructure and outsourced IT service provider. The business has been acquired by Exponential-e, a cloud, network and unified communications company.

Livingbridge has made four new appointments to its investment team as well as a new Head of Marketing, based across the firm’s offices in London, Manchester and Boston. 

Following a successful 2019 and a strong start to 2020, Finstock Capital has now deployed over £12m into early stage businesses, supporting the UK venture ecosystem with access to capital at a critical time of a company's need.

Whitham Group, an assembler and supplier of waste recycling systems, has completed an MBO which has enabled investors introduced by Acceleris Capital to exit their investment with a total return, after EIS tax relief, of almost 3 times the cost of their original investment. 

Montane, the UK outdoor clothing and accessories company founded over 25 years ago, has received investment from Edinburgh-based specialist consumer brand investor Inverleith LLP, which has secured a majority stake in the company.  Montane has established itself as the leading European specialist brand of lightweight, breathable outdoor clothing and equipment for fast-paced mountain sports. Established in 1993, Montane focuses on serving committed and highly active hillwalkers, mountaineers, climbers and trail runners.

QVentures has made an investment in SaaS start-up Smartia, which provides artificial intelligence solutions to industrial companies. 

Smartia provides AI solutions that connect and transform industrial data into actionable insights. MAIO, Smartia’s Industrial Intelligence platform, combines edge computing, big data technology and AI-driven applications to provide a complete digital solution for the manufacturing and engineering industries. The Industrial Intelligence platform gives users the tools to do jobs faster, easier and more efficiently.  

Insurance platform Collective Benefits has closed a £3.3 million seed round led by U.K.-based Stride.VC, alongside existing investors Delin Ventures, Insurtech Gateway and several angels from executives at Uber, Deliveroo and Urban.

The o2h Therapeutics and AI Fund, hjas invested in Neurofenix, an innovative digital health company empowering stroke survivors and their families to get their life back.

Aventus, the London-based B2B insurtech business and insurance operating system originally created for the MGA Homelyfe, has closed a £2.6m investment led by Outward VC and Notion Capital with participation from TriplePoint and Downing Ventures. The £2.6m investment will be used to scale up the business.

Aventus's modular Insurance Operating System, allows insurers to create policies and automatically quote and bind in under a minute, asking minimal questions. 

The Accelerator Network, in partnership with White Horse Capital, welcomes Piers Linney as ScaleUp Entrepreneur-In-Residence for The ScaleUp Accelerator programme and Venture Partner at White Horse Capital. 

The o2h Therapeutics and AI Fund, an early stage S/EIS fund investing in biotechnology therapeutics and related AI opportunities, has invested in Pencil Biosciences, a novel gene modulation biotech company based at Alderley Park, Cheshire.

Pencil Biosciences is developing a truly innovative gene modulation technology that can have an impact across a range of applications, including new therapeutic options for patients with rare diseases.