GoKwik, an e-commerce enablement company on a mission to democratize the shopping experience and increase GMV realization for e-commerce businesses, has raised a $5.5m (INR 40 crores) Pre-Series A round led by Matrix Partners, which also saw the participation of global investor RTP Global.  Marquee Angels and other leading industry figures have also contributed to the fund, which will be used to expand internationally.

OLIO, the community sustainability app, has announced a $43million Series B round to fund its fight against the $1.3trillion of food waste created globally each year.  Founded in London in 2015 by Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One, OLIO has amassed a user base of five million people. The app is used to give away unwanted food and other household items to neighbours, for free, with the aim of reducing waste in the home and helping people to consume more locally and sustainably. 

Trill Impact has closed EUR 900 million in commitments for its inaugural impact mid-market buyout Fund from prominent institutional investors globally, making it one of the largest first-time-funds raised during the COVID-19 pandemic by an independent private investments firm.  Trill Impact was founded in 2019 by Jan Ståhlberg and is today one of the largest dedicated impact investing houses in Europe with more than EUR 1 billion in assets under management across its private equity and microfinance investment advisory strategies.

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor, has announced a successful exit of The Clearway Group, a vacant property services business, following a new investment into the business by private equity firm, Next Wave Partners.

BankiFi, a fintech business specialising in payment processing and financial administration services for SMEs, has secured a £2.2m investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures, with participation from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).  Headquartered in Manchester, BankiFi was founded to help financial institutions better serve small and medium-sized businesses. 

Lead generation technology company, ROI Media UK, has acquired Norwegian digital marketing business, Effective Marketing. 

Having delivered growth beyond expectations, digital martech innovator, Modo25 has secured a fourth six-figure investment round for its award-winning BOSCO™ Connect solution that delivers real and significant benefits to online marketers globally.  This time, the investment has come from three new investors with significant industry experience to support the continued global growth of Modo25 and BOSCO™.

Olsam Group, a company which buys and scales category leading e-commerce businesses, has successfully raised $165 million in a Series A equity and debt round. The equity investment was led by Christian Angermayer’s Apeiron Investment Group and Elevat3 Capital, which counts Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund as a strategic partner. Alongside the equity raise, the debt financing round was led by leading European special situations investor North Wall Capital, from the firm’s dedicated e-commerce lending strategy. Stanhope Capital advised Olsam on the transaction. 

PALATINE Private Equity has exchanged contracts for the sale of its stake in Verdant Leisure,

Early-stage businesses in Northern Ireland are attracting larger equity funding rounds than in previous years but could raise even higher amounts if more external investors were aware of the quality of companies emerging from the region, according to the managers of Co-Fund NI.

BGF – the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor – has announced a £14 million investment in Victorian Sliders, a South Wales based business which is the UK’s only fully integrated, specialist manufacturer of uPVC sash windows.  Victorian Sliders’ end-to-end production facilities, from recycling of raw materials through to extrusion and fabrication, provides it with an excellent position in the growing home renovation market. The company delivers a high-quality, fully customised, eco product in industry leading timescales.

Vectornator by Linearity – the vector-focused platform revolutionising how people design – has raised $20 million of funding led by EQT Ventures together with 468 Capital and business angels including Bradley Horowitz (VP Product, Google), Jonathan Rochelle (Co-Founder Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, Google Slides, Google Drive), Charles Songhurst (Ex. Corporate Strategy, Microsoft) and Lutz Finger (Group Product Manager, Google).