nPlan, a company that uses machine learning to forecast the duration, risks and opportunities of construction projects, has secured an $18.5 million investment round, led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). The company’s proprietary AI algorithms have analysed nearly $1 trillion worth of global construction projects and deploys this learning to spot delays and recommend improvements with an accuracy and scale previously not possible. In doing so, nPlan’s data-led insights effectively reduce the volatility of and increase investor confidence in construction projects.

Immersive communications platform PixelMax has secured £2m investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures, with participation from ACT Capital Partners.

Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s most active private equity houses, reveals that since opening offices in Newcastle and Durham in 2017,

CAPSLOCK Education, a cyber-security education institute based in Manchester, has secured £540,000 in a pre-seed funding round from GC Angels, the Ufi VocTech Trust, Tynton Group, private angel investors and the UK government to reskill adults across the UK.  

£100 million has been invested in Midlands' small businesses through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

The milestone was reached by the Fund after making 481 investments in 350 businesses located in the West Midlands and East and South East Midlands.

An additional £90 million of private sector leverage has also been secured as a result of the MEIF’s investments to date. This follows the Fund regularly unlocking additional funding rounds and investing with other traditional and private investors in supporting small businesses across the Midlands.

The £250 million Fund was launched by the Government’s British Business Bank in 2017 with an aim of improving the finance landscape for smaller businesses in the Midlands.

PhoreMost Ltd., the UK-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to ‘Drugging the Undruggable^®, disease targets, has completed an oversubscribed £33m ($46m) Series B investment round. The round was led by BGF, the UK’s most active growth economy investor, and included new investors XtalPi Inc., Astellas Venture Management, Trend Investment Group and o2h ventures. Existing investors Parkwalk Advisors, Morningside Ventures, and Jonathan Milner also contributed.

Stratford-upon-Avon-based Fenix Rail Systems has secured new backing from Midven, through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).  The investment is set to support the company’s ongoing operations and growth aspirations and will allow Fenix to bid for larger contracts as well as respond to the anticipated enhancements of the rail industry expected in the coming years.  

Aiven, a software company that combines the best open source technologies with cloud infrastructure, has announced it raised $100M in its Series C, bringing the company’s total investment to $150M at a valuation of now more than $800M. The round was led by Atomico, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and World Innovation Lab as new investors. Lead investors of Aiven’s Series A (Earlybird Venture Capital) and Series B (IVP) also significantly increased their capital commitments to Aiven. 

Oxford Medical Products (OMP) has raised £1.2M in seed investment to develop a safe and affordable weight loss capsule, which uses the same mechanism of action as a gastric balloon, but can be taken at home. The funding will be used to complete pre-clinical testing, upscale and outsource manufacturing and grow the team. The funding was led by Ada Ventures with Selvedge Venture alongside several angel investors including Dr Nick Edwards, a founder of the company, and Dr Jan Hruska, co-founder of Sophos.

British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has committed £10m to Co-Investment Fund (Co-Fund) NI helping to provide growth capital to early stage, high potential smaller businesses in Northern Ireland.

Incode, the next generation identity verification and authentication platform for enterprises in the world, has raised $25 million Series A funding, led by DN Capital and 3L Capital, with participation from Framework Ventures, Walter Ventures, FJ Labs, and DILA Capital. The funds will be used to scale Incode’s technology as well as fuel aggressive growth in North America and Europe, including an expected tripling of headcount.

Graphite Capital, a leading UK mid-market private equity specialist, is backing Higher Ed International, a fast-growing global online programme manager. HEI partners with universities in the UK, continental Europe, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East, supporting them in building high-quality online degree programmes.