BGF has completed a further investment into The Prezola Group to deploy new technology platforms and prepare for targeted international expansion.

Hubble, the online platform for flexible office space, has secured £4 million in Series A financing from a group of industry-leading investors, spearheaded by JLL Spark Global Venture Fund.

Farewill, the UK's fastest growing will writing service has announced it has raised £7.5 million to disrupt the death industry.  The latest capital raise sees further investments from listed fund Augmentum Fintech, Taavet Hinrikus, Transferwise and Tracy Terrill ex CTO of LegalZoom. Other investors include founders of innocent smoothies JamJar, SAATCHiNVEST, dmg ventures, Kindred Capital, Tiny VC And Venture Founders. They join the likes of Alex Chesterman, founder of Zoopla who invested in Farewill’s seed-round.

Private equity chief financial officers (CFOs) reported another year of unprecedented growth of their firms but are still struggling to overcome operational issues that are dramatically eroding their margins, according to the EY 2019 Global Private Equity Survey, How do you see the opportunity in your obstacles?

The sixth annual survey of 103 private equity (PE) CFOs finds that despite great strides in launching new products and investing in technological solutions, expenses continue to grow as fast as assets. The survey also found that while CFOs begin to prioritize the cost-effective and competitive advantage of outsourcing to boost their bottom lines, they are acutely aware of the talent necessary to grow their firms.

“CFOs face different paths for altering their operational infrastructure and achieving sustainable growth,” said Denise Davidson, Associate Partner, Wealth and Asset Management, EY. “Determining the right balance of technology, talent and outsourcing is not a one-size-fits-all approach. While CFOs are divided on which path is the best fit for their aspirational goals, one thing is certain: they must act quickly to achieve a competitive edge.”

Fintech business lender MarketInvoice has announced it has raised £26m in new equity funding. This Series-B funding round was led by Barclays and fintech fund Santander InnoVentures with significant participation from European venture fund Northzone, an existing investor in the company. Technology credit fund Viola Credit, who also participated in the equity round, will provide a debt facility of up to £30m to help scale the MarketInvoice business loans solution, that sits alongside their core invoice finance solutions.

Silverfleet Capital, the leading Pan-European private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in STAXS Contamination Control Experts, the Benelux leader in value-added distribution of consumable products for cleanrooms in the Life Sciences and other industries. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

BGF has made its fourth life sciences investment in the last few months, providing Nottingham-based business incubator BioCity with development capital, alongside Blue Skies Investments (BSI).  Founded in 2002 and a pioneer in the field, BioCity is the UK’s largest life science incubation business, providing specialist workspace for growing life science companies, including access to high-end equipment, shared services and training, as well as business advice through its expert network.

SimplyCook has announce that it has secured a £4.5m Series A funding from Octopus Investments, allowing it to continue its strong growth trajectory. SimplyCook is a direct-to-consumer subscription-based flavourings and recipe company, supplying customers on a weekly, fortnightly and monthly basis, helping them to cook tastier meals at home. Its meal kits contain recipes, seasonings, stocks and rubs prepared from up to 18 source ingredients.

This series of funding will enable SimplyCook to invest in sales & marketing, continuing to drive its strong growth across the UK, as well as investing further in its technology. SimplyCook chose to partner with Octopus Investments based on its ability to provide flexible capital and experience in successfully supporting high-growth firms.

QuadSAT, the drone-enabled antenna testing company, today announced it has closed its £700,000 seed round, led by the Danish Growth Fund, VF with participation from Seraphim Capital and existing investors.

Intertrust, a global leader in providing expert administrative services to clients operating and investing in the international business environment, interviewed private equity professionals across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia to identify the value-add delivered by new technologies now and in the future.

• Over half (53%) of respondents to the survey believe financial services creates the most potential for value creation through technological innovation, ahead of healthcare (18%), consumer (8%), energy (8%), industrials (8%) and TMT (5%).
• More than half (51%) identified the biggest technology risk when assessing target companies as cybersecurity or data breaches

Fuel Ventures, a leading London-based VC investment fund has launched a scheme to improve diversity and remove all unconscious bias from the investment process. The company will be anonymising pitch decks in a three-month trial period after discovering that just 4% of over 4,000 pitch decks submitted over the last four years have been from companies with female founders.

The firm is trialling the initiative after recognising the lack of diversity in founders and entrepreneurs pitching for investment over the last four years, and will report the results of the trial after those three months.

BGF provided a record investment of almost £50m into AIM-listed companies in 2018, bringing total funding in AIM-listed firms to £150m across 43 companies.