In this month’s Start-up Spotlight, Invested Investor spoke to experienced, dynamic and philosophical serial investor, David Gammon. Through his work as an Invested Investor and as the CEO of Rockspring, he has supported entrepreneurs through some extraordinary successes. In his podcast with the Invested Investor, he talks about how crucial collaboration is for investors, and how he works with his family to make investment decisions.

Immense Simulations, the intelligent mobility software provider, has announced that it has secured $4.6m in Series A funding. The investment will aid the continued growth and development of its AI-driven ‘Simulation as a Service’ platform, which is disrupting traditional transportation modelling.

An on-demand removals marketplace aiming to bring on-demand technology to the removals and deliveries sector has secured investment from leading London-based VC fund, Fuel Ventures.

Panoramic Growth Equity, the leading equity investor in fast growth, entrepreneurial companies today announce that portfolio company Quill has been acquired by French media group Webedia.

In 2018, 70% of equity deals were not announced to the public, and although these deals are often much smaller than those that are announced, they can be just as (if not more) interesting. Beauhurst has taken a data deep-dive to shed some light on the more secret ones. 

The global biomedical market is in the midst of a period of stable growth and Catalonia, one of the most dynamic healthcare hubs in the world, is also enjoying this trend. 2018 was a positive year for the Catalan biomedical business fabric, in terms of funding, R&D alliances and advances, and launching new drugs and medical technology.

Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm, has agreed to sell Aston Lark, a leading independent insurance broker, to Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division.  Completion of the transaction is expected to occur following receipt of approvals from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Central Bank of Ireland, and antitrust approval.

NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has invested in Bolton-based eLearning company, Digital Training Solutions.

A total of £125,000 was invested from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance with a further £125,000 invested by the Angel investment division of The Growth Company, GC Angels. The funding will enable the business to continue to develop its software, support its marketing strategy and create up to 17 new jobs over the next two years.

Tech Nation, the leading scaleup-network for UK entrepreneurs, has today announced the release of its annual Tech Nation Report with data from partners including Companies House, PitchBook, GitHub, the OECD and Streetbees, and in association with the World Economic Forum.

Par Equity, the Edinburgh-based multi-award-winning venture capital firm, has led investments totalling £3.2m in two Northern Irish software companies, Plotbox and Datactics.

The companies represent a growing collective of technology firms based in the country benefitting from consistent support for start-ups from the private and public sector. A study published last year by the Enterprise Research Centre showed that compared to the rest of the UK, a higher proportion of Northern Irish companies exceeded £1m turnover within three years.

Global fintech, The ID Co., has has received $2m seed funding from global technology investor Amadeus Capital Partners, SixThirty and other investors.

The ID Co. helps businesses such as lenders to onboard their customers more efficiently. Its technology removes the friction caused during application processes by the current challenges of risk, fraud, compliance, and regulation.

The Portuguese company 360 onlineprint, founded in 2013, is expanding its sales territory and is now also active in the United Kingdom. This strategic decision has been taken after receiving funds amounting to $20.4 m (£15.5 m), which will be also used to extend their range of products and invest in technology and R&D. The investment round was led by LeadX (Metro Group, Germany) and accompanied by Omnes Capital (France), Pathena (Portugal) and the 200M fund, which is managed by PME Investimentos and co-financed by the European Union, through funds from the European Regional Development Fund.