The Robot Exchange has secured a significant £500k investment from leading private equity investment firm, Foresight Group, through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).  The Nottingham-based business supplies Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software and services to deliver efficiencies to businesses, helping them streamline and automate their processes via robotic infrastructure.

IW Capital has announced the completion of a successful investment in LAT Water Ltd. Led by IW Capital, £4.7 million has been raised in the round to accelerate LAT Water’s commercial growth in developing sustainable wastewater treatment solutions globally, following early success both in the UK and China.

Handshake, the largest early career network, has raised $80 million of venture financing and is set to invest a tranche of the funding in the UK, supporting early careers recovery post-Covid.  The new funding round increases Handshake’s investment total to $235.5 million and the company’s valuation to more than $1.5 billion. This new investment reflects Handshake’s unprecedented growth, unparalleled student adoption, and a rapidly expanding market opportunity to help employers and universities embrace the virtual future of graduate recruitment.

Keensight Capital is to sell its stake in Linkbynet, a leading provider of cloud, Devops and cyber security services. This sale would take place in the context of the proposed acquisition of the company by Accenture.

NPIF - Maven Equity Finance has invested over £7 million in dynamic growth businesses across the Northern Powerhouse region in quarter one of 2021. 

Money Alive, a regulatory technology business based in Bedford, is set for further growth following a £749,000 financial investment from Foresight Group using equity finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) as part of a £1 million funding round together with a number of private investors.

Livingbridge, one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investors, has successfully raised £1.2bn for Livingbridge 7, ahead of its final close.

Airkit, the world’s first low-code Digital Customer Experience platform, today announced it has raised an additional $40M Series B investment led by EQT Ventures, with additional investments from Accel, Emergence Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and other existing shareholders. The new Series B will be used to accelerate the company’s investments in go-to-market and product development.

Yoto, the audio platform for kids behind the critically acclaimed and award-winning Yoto Player, has raised $17 million Series A funding to help facilitate its rapid growth across Europe and North America. The investment was led by Acton Capital with participation from JamJar Investments, Global Founders Capital, Emerge Education, as well as MPL Ventures.

Praetura Group, the Manchester-based debt and equity capital provider to northern SMEs, provided more than £75m of funding to SMEs in the first quarter of 2021, with demand continuing to rise.

The lending division of the Praetura Group, which comprises Praetura Commercial Finance and the Praetura Asset Finance Group, has seen its highest quarterly lending levels since it was founded in 2011.

Brighton based augmented reality technology startup Percept Imagery has raised £300k in its latest funding round to further enhance their immersive try-on platform, Sprie, which enables personalised shopping experiences that blend the online and real worlds together.

Cron AI, a leading DeepTech company building a 3D Data Edge perception platform, has raised $4 million as part of its Series A funding. The round was led by VenturEast and Kitaki Ventures, along with participation from existing investor, YourNest Venture Capital.