Weengs, a smart logistics startup that partners with ecommerce businesses to get online orders to their customers reliably and efficiently, has secured £6.5m in Series A funding. The investment round was led by venture capital firm Oxford Capital and was followed on by Weeng’s seed investors who include Local Globe, Cherry Ventures and Venture Friends. Weengs is using the funding to invest heavily in automation and technology to supercharge their operations to be able to fulfil more than 15,000 ecommerce orders per day.

Masabi, the company bringing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ticketing and payments to public transport, today announced a $20 million growth funding round with investment led by new investor, Smedvig Capital. MMC Ventures and other existing investors participated. 

Private investment and alternative finance specialist IW Capital announces a £1.83 million loan for Inglenook Inns and Taverns Limited. The loan represents the latest funding round for Inglenook to help grow and consolidate its regional presence across the North West of England.

Leicester-based Furnley House Limited, a firm of independent financial advisers and mortgage brokers, has received a £200,000 investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

The Instant Group, which was backed by Bowmark Capital last year, has acquired Incendium Consulting Ltd., an independent corporate real estate consultancy.

How and what we eat in restaurants or on-the-go is changing thanks to new robotics startup Karakuri and its £7 million seed investment, led by Ocado.  With growing demand for personalised nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle, Karakuri uses the latest innovation in robotics, machine learning, optics and sensors to allow restaurants and food retailers to offer personalised, freshly prepared, high quality meals, which maximise nutritional benefits and minimise food waste.

Investment manager Downing LLP has announced the successful exit from a series of freehold pub investments managed by award-winning Oakman Inns and Restaurants Limited. All seven pubs have been acquired by Oakman Inns

Tutor House, an online and in-person tutoring agency that aims to give all students access to affordable tutoring, group retake courses and educational support, no matter their level or ability, has secured investment from London-based VC fund, Fuel Ventures.  Ex-teacher Alex Dyer launched Tutor House in 2012, after working in the educational industry for more than 14 years. Since then the business has become the UK’s leading tutoring agency, offering private home or remote tuition for all Primary, GCSE, A-Level and University subjects.

A Nottingham company which has developed a new platform to help pharmaceutical firms manage clinical trials more effectively has raised almost £1m from investors to help it launch its product worldwide.

Sonae Investment Management (Sonae IM), today announced that it has concluded an equity investment in Cellwize, a global leader in mobile network automation and orchestration. This funding will accelerate Cellwize’s growth and the expansion of its technology in automation and artificial intelligence, particularly towards supporting new 5G deployments.

With a line-up intent on shaking up the shopping basket, The Seed Fund has announced its Class of 2019, revealing the 14 food and drink start-ups that have been invited to join its summer Academy. Now in its seventh year, the philanthropic organisation will unite these ambitious entrepreneurs with top mentors from across the industry, during an intensive programme designed to transform big ideas into big business.

Oriient, pioneers of high-performance indoor GPS, announced today the closing of $4m in seed funding from F2 Capital and innogy Innovation Hub, the accelerator and venture capital arm of innogy SE, a leading German energy company. The company also announced it is already working with the world’s largest retailers, as it scales to unlock the power of indoor navigation by delivering an experience similar to online search, to in-store shoppers.