Custom Materials Ltd (“Moteefe”), a social commerce platform, has recently raised funding from the Unicorn Ascension Fund (UAF). This is UAF’s first ever deal since its launch earlier this summer. UAF has participated in this round as a co-investor with other early stage investors including Ascension Ventures, Livingbridge and Force Over Mass Capital (FOMCAP). Ascension Ventures, Livingbridge and FOMCAP are existing investors in Moteefe and have raised their stake in the company during this round.

Jaguar Land Rover's venture capital fund  InMotion Ventures has announced its seed investment in WeTrip, the digital platform making group holiday planning and booking simpler.

Foresight Group LLP has announced a £249,000 equity investment into Footfalls and Heartbeats Limited through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF). 

ENTREPRENEURS who are part of an incubator designed to help companies grow and thrive in County Durham will now be able to access up to £10,000 of funding each.

Fielmann Ventures GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fielmann AG, has announced that it has subscribed to a capital increase for a 20% equity ownership stake in FittingBox S.A., the world leader in 3D Try-On solutions dedicated to eyewear. This investment is a decisive step in Fielmann’s digitization strategy. Both parties agreed to keep the financial terms of the transaction confidential.  Marc Fielmann, CEO, Fielmann AG: “With 13 patents, FittingBox is a global leader in 3D Try-On and fitting technology. Through this investment Fielmann deepens its technological partnership with FittingBox.

eHealth Ventures, the leading Digital Health technological incubator in Israel, has announced the acceptance of its 7th portfolio company - TrainPain, managed by Dr. Elan Schneider DPT, an internationally recognized expert in chronic pain rehabilitation.

Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s most active private equity firms, has led a £1m series B investment in Sedgefield, County Durham based water treatment technology business, G2O Water Technologies Limited. A total of £600,000 has been provided by Maven funds, which includes a £200,000 investment from the Finance Durham Fund, established by Durham County Council, overseen by Business Durham, the economic development organisation for County Durham, and managed by Maven.

Neotas, a ‘digital intelligence’ business which provides enhanced due diligence and HR screening, has closed a funding round of over £1m backed by Symvan Capital, Force Over Mass and a number of private investors.

OMass Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company using structural mass spectrometry to discover novel medicines, has announced completion of a £14 million Series A financing. New investor Syncona Ltd led the round, alongside Oxford Sciences Innovation. The financing supports development of a pipeline of drug development programmes.

Fluidic Analytics, a Cambridge-based life sciences business, has secured a £24m funding package to continue its research and development plans after launching a transformative protein analysis tool. BGF is providing £5m of growth capital in a funding round with Delin Ventures and existing shareholders including Draper Esprit and IQ Capital.

Data from eFront, the world’s leading alternative investment management software and solutions provider, shows that since the start of 2013, distributions from private equity secondaries funds globally have risen steadily to a record level. At the same time, capital calls have fallen to an historic lo

Origin Capital has announced that it led a syndicate supporting Echion Technologies in its recent £1.5m round to fund its development of advanced lithium-ion batteries.  Echion is a Cambridge University spin-out that is working to produce batteries that will charge at an order of magnitude faster rate as compared to conventional technology, without compromising energy density, safety, cost, ease of manufacture or durability.