Par Equity has led an investment of £2m in Datactics, a leader in the field of data management.  Belfast-based Datactics provides software and services to large organisations that need to improve and control the quality of the data held in their computer systems. The AI-enabled platform allows staff who are not IT experts to efficiently deduplicate, clean-up and enrich the information in their lines of business. For businesses that have information spread across many databases, the products enable them to give their customers a better quality, more joined-up service, while reducing their costs.

UK-founded marketing technology platform ContentCal has secured $6.2 million in Series A investment from Fuel Ventures and Guinness Asset Management.

The investment will be used to drive growth of its content marketing and intelligence platform: making new hires; developing a proprietary content intelligence platform; and opening a new US headquarters as well as expanding its UK headquarters.

Mogrify Limited, a biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the development of ex vivo cell therapies and pioneer a new class of in vivo reprogramming therapies, has completed the second closing of its Series A financing of $17 million USD, bringing the total raised to $33 million USD in this round. 

NorthEdge has launched its first ESG report in which it reviews the progress made by the firm in 2020 across sustainability, D&I and community, as well as setting out ambitious plans for the year ahead.

The report, titled Taking Responsibility, looks back on the achievements made at the private equity firm and across its portfolio.

These including gaining the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment A+ status for Strategy and Governance for the third year running, placing NorthEdge in the top 12% of all private equity firms with <$1bn AUM in this category, and gaining A status for the Direct Private Equity Assessment for the sixth consecutive year.

Percival Menswear, a London-based contemporary menswear fashion brand, has secured a further £3m investment from growth capital investor VGC Partners, following an initial investment of £150,000 in 2018.

The Hackney-based brand, which employs eight people, has set itself apart in recent years by creating collections that subvert the classics of the male wardrobe. This includes featuring in the David Beckham Eyewear campaign and curating a custom tour wardrobe of Niall Horan, as well as more recently collaborating with Brighton-based artist and illustrator Sophy Hollington.

A new report from eFront, the leading financial software and solutions provider dedicated to Alternative Investments, shows that holding periods extended in 2020 to a record 5.4 years on average, at the same time as returns dipped. The data also showed that investments held for longer periods tend to produce higher returns – though this was not the case in 2020.

PortalOne, the world's first hybrid games platform, has raised $15m in an oversubscribed total seed funding round. The round included U.S. investors like Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and TQ Ventures, the investment fund led by Scooter Braun, Schuster Tanger and Andrew Marks. Coatue Management´s investment was led by Arielle Zuckerberg, the Rogue Ventures investment was led by Alice Lloyd George. Sunny Dhillon led the investment from Signia Venture Partners whose LPs include Warner Bros., Disney and Tencent. European investors include Seedcamp , Talis Capital and SNÖ Ventures. 

Botanical Holdings, the investment holding company focusing on the legal medicinal cannabis industry, comfirms that its Portuguese subsidiary, CECO Wellness (part of the EuroCan division) will receive grant funding of up to €4.3 million ($5.2 million) from the Portugal 2020 Fund. This fund is a partnership between the Portuguese government and the European Commission.

Sesamy, the startup allowing people to purchase audio and ebooks online for any kind of device, has announced that it has raised €4 million in a major seed funding round from investors.

Innovative Scottish start-up, QuickBlock, has received more than £250,000 in seed funding that will create four skilled jobs and accelerate growth of the company’s unique rapid-assembly building blocks made from 100% recycled plastic into new markets.

The investment from Equity Gap and Scottish Enterprise comes as the company sets its sights on global market opportunities within agriculture, humanitarian aid and disaster relief. It will help create a variety of permanent new roles, including securing the long-term appointment of it's interim CEO, Andrew Vincent (pictured). Other new positions include head of sales, sales executive and graduate-level marketing and product designer.

Poke House, a leading fast casual poke brand in Europe, has announced the acquisition of London-based restaurant chain Ahi Poké from BVC Group, marking its expansion in the United Kingdom.

Following being named among the twelve 2021 BNEF Pioneers last week1, identifying it as one of the most impactful and original technology innovations for advancing the low-carbon economy, QLM has closed of its Seed funding round, securing a total of £3.1 million of investment.