Start-ups are twice as likely to succeed if mentoring is involved, as opposed to those who try and build their venture on a good idea and funding alone*. 

Yorkshire-based SME funding specialist One Stop Business Finance has completed a major investment programme at its HQ to increase office space and facilitate its projected growth in both personnel numbers and client deals during 2020.

The self-funded £100,000 capital programme at OBSF’s base, ‘The Cow Shed’ in Laytham near Pocklington, has boosted office space by 150%. which ensures it can accommodate additional team members in operational and management roles. Details of the new posts will be announced in the coming months, but the company is looking to boost the size of its team as the number of deals it is completing for clients UK-wide continues to grow.

The Midlands Private Equity Growth Barometer released this week by BDO highlights the region’s 50 fastest-growing private equity-backed businesses based on turnover growth in the past three years.

The top 50 PE-backed businesses have made a considerable impact over the last three financial years, adding almost £1 billion to the regional economy, with combined revenues rising from £1.7 billion to £2.7 billion.

Collision Management Systems (CMS), the connected vehicle data specialist, working with insurers, fleets and remote worker organisations to reduce employee risk, has raised a second round of funding from BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor in growing businesses, to further accelerate its growth.

Squire Patton Boggs has expanded its Global Corporate Practice in London, adding significantly to its international private equity (PE) team, with the appointment of former KPMG heavyweight Stephen Ball, and leading PE practitioners Charles Leeming and Ben Squires from Simpson Thacher.  All three join as partners and will work closely with Corporate and Financial Services colleagues across the firm, in the UK and Europe, the US, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

Schroders, along with Johan H. Andresen through his investment house Ferd, and other prominent investors such as FinTech Collective, have invested in Antler, taking the capital raised by Antler over the past six months to more than USD $75 million.

Moteefe, the e-commerce platform for on-demand production of merchandise, has raised $5M in a Series A round led by Gresham House and Force Over Mass Capital. The funding will be used to expand into new geographies including Australia and LATAM, launch new products for large retailers, and invest in scaling its operations.

NURVV, the biomechanics innovator using British science to disrupt the global wearables industry, has closed its first venture funding round, led by Hiro Capital.

One of the world’s fastest-growing marketplaces, which has created a fair and transparent global platform for both buyers and sellers, has received £3 million in VC funding after finalising a private investment round earlier this month.

UK-founded marketplace OnBuy.com has announced it has secured a £3 million investment from London-based VC fund Fuel Ventures after receiving numerous investment offers. The funding will facilitate the launch into more than 20 countries by the end of 2020, including the USA, Canada, Australia and the UAE.

Westcott-based start-up company, Protolaunch has signed up to the UK SPRINT programme to support the development of an innovative, new rocket engine for low-cost launches of small payloads from UK spaceports. The SPRINT business support programme will provide Protolaunch with funded access to the expertise, research and facilities of the University of Southampton. This will enable the company to develop a proof-of-concept of its engine technology and bring to market a radically lower-cost orbital rocket engine for payloads under 50kg.

British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has made a commitment of £50m to Tosca Debt Capital's third fund at first close,

Convelio, leading digital freight forwarder specialized in fine-art shipping, has raised a €9 million in Series A financing round led by European growth VC investor Acton Capital - bringing the total amount raised since inception to €11 million. Convelio’s existing investor Global Founders Capital participated in this equity financing. The new investment follows a record year in which Convelio grew its global turnover by over 300%.