The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) has invested more than £50 million across the Northern Powerhouse region, supporting over 260 small and medium growing companies.

Atelerix, a Cambridge and Newcastle, UK-based spin-out from the University of Newcastle and creators of an innovative cell encapsulation technology, closed a round of funding of undisclosed amount.

An East Midlands life sciences company which develops synthetic alternatives to antibodies has closed a £1.5m Series A funding round supported by Mercia Fund Managers and a number of private investors.

GCI, the converged ICT services company, has been acquired by Mayfair Private Equity as it moves to the next stage of its growth strategy. BGF, which has backed GCI since 2012, has exited its investment as part of the deal.

International law firm, Addleshaw Goddard has successfully advised on the sale of ICS Learn in a management buyout backed by private equity firm Primary Capital Partners.

Kalray, a pioneer in processors for new intelligent systems, announced two new investors: Alliance Ventures, the venture capital fund of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, and Bpifrance as part of Definvest, the investment fund managed on behalf of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. This transaction amounts to 10M€, including existing and new shareholders; this is the second tranche of the 23.6M€ funding through Safran Corporate Ventures, the Asian investment fund Pengpai, and the long-standing shareholders ACE Management, CEA Investissement, EurekaP! and Inocap Gestion.

C5 Capital, the investment specialist firm focused on cyber security, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, has announced that its led an $78 million investment round with a $35 million investment in IronNet Cybersecurity, a leading provider of state-of-the art cybersecurity solutions. The new funds will be used to support IronNet’s strategic growth and to continue accelerating the development and adoption of its industry-leading cybersecurity solutions.

CapitalRise has closed a £2 million seed funding round from the family of renowned banking entrepreneur Rana Kapoor, founder of India’s fourth largest private bank.  Launched 19 months ago, CapitalRise enables individual and corporate investors to provide finance for Prime Central London property developers with a minimum investment of just £1,000, earning returns of 8-12% per annum through its Innovative Finance ISA.

Cumbrian-based Appleby Creamery, an artisan cheese maker has secured a £250,000 loan from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), in a deal financed by NPIF – FW Capital Debt Finance.

A spinout company whose technology could save the lives of thousands of dialysis patients has secured £500,000 from Mercia Fund Managers, in the first investment deal since Mercia’s partnership with the University of Edinburgh was announced in November 2017.

StorageOS, Inc. has announced the general availability of its software-defined persistent storage platform for running containerized applications in production. The company also announced an $8 million Series A funding round.

A unique roofing tile system using recycled Welsh slate is set to revolutionise the global construction market.