Catalan biomedical companies attracted €102 million in investment in 2017, with €3.4 million per operation, on average. This will allow them to push forward in the development of drugs and innovative medical technology, as reflected in the Study on investment in the Biomedical industry in Catalonia: Achievements and future challenges presented today by CataloniaBio & HealthTech and EY  in Barcelona. The event drew a crowd of more than 60 entrepreneurs, investors and professionals from the sector.

Maven Capital Partners has led the £2.7 million investment in intranet software specialists Orchidsoft Limited.

A total of £2.2 million has been provided by Maven funds, which includes a £700,000 investment from the Finance Durham Fund, in addition to a £500,000 follow-on investment from existing backers Northstar Ventures, from the recently launched North East Fund supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

The funding will enable the business to expand its sales and marketing efforts across the UK and US and to grow its team of 45 employees to over 100 by 2022. The Finance Durham Fund was established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham, the economic development organisation for County Durham.

Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi, is to create a $400 million fund to invest in leading European technology companies. The fund will be managed by Mubadala Ventures, the venture capital arm of Mubadala. SoftBank Group will participate as a strategic investor via its SIMI US Holdings I, Inc.investment subsidiary. The fund will target founder-led, high growth technology companies with global scale and impact.

Carpe is a new, all-inclusive car subscription service offering customers hassle-free access to brand new Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles.

Healthy food retailer MuscleFood.com, which is backed by BGF Ventures, has been crowned specialist online food retailer of the year at The Grocer Gold Awards.

The company beat off tough competition from other household names to scoop the accolade. The annual awards celebrate success across the £200 billion-pound grocery sector with entrants from the big multinationals, independent retailers, start-ups and industry disruptors.

The Greater Manchester Loan Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, has completed a £750,000 investment in Manchester-based Shield Safety Group, one of the UK’s leading providers of Food Safety, Fire Safety and Health & Safety software and services. The investment will allow Shield Safety to strengthen its current offering to existing clients, target new customers by broadening its market reach and create over 70 jobs in the Greater Manchester area.

Manchester-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, Pimberly has completed a Series A funding round after securing an investment from NPIF - Mercia Equity Finance, which is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

The £2.0million funding announcement follows 16 months of rapid growth for Pimberly, whose SaaS Product Information Management (PIM) platform helps retailers, distributors and manufacturers to increase sales through accurate and engaging product information.

Agorai, an integrated marketplace for Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and the data assets that fuel them, is announcing it has committed to invest £20 million in the UK AI market. The investment will help accelerate the economic benefits that can be generated by leveraging the power of AI and its ability to transform society and positively impact the UK economy. The multi-year investment announced today will be distributed over the next five years. It will span the AI ecosystem by focusing on three key areas: education, empowerment, and entrepreneurship.

Trailblazing action sports protection brand Ruroc has received a £3m investment from BGF, adding further firepower to its international growth plans.The Ruroc range – which includes its signature full-face helmet with detachable face mask and the world’s first fully ventilated magnetic lens goggles – is gaining rapid traction across the globe as the go-to brand for action sports protective gear. Over the past 8 years Ruroc’s high-quality, high-specification designs have had a constant presence in the pit lanes of the Formula 1, NASCAR, Aussie V8 and MotoGP competitions.

Livingstone’s Media & Technology sector team has advised the shareholders of PEI Media, including LDC, on its sale to Bridgepoint Development Capital.

British Business Bank has launched a new interactive website that offers independent information on finance options for scale-up, high growth and potential high growth businesses.

The Development Bank of Wales has launched a new £20 million Wales Technology Seed Fund with up to £250,000 available per round to support the growth of developing technology businesses across Wales.

The new bigger fund replaces the original, and now fully invested seed fund that has made 45 investments in 41 start-up and early stage technology businesses since 2014. The £7.5 million fund leveraged £3.6 million private investment and created or safeguarded up to 570 jobs. Over half of the businesses to benefit have been based in West Wales or the Valleys.