British Business Investments (BBI), a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has committed an additional £25m to Assetz Capital, the property-focused marketplace lender, in a boost to UK housebuilders and SMEs.

Over the last few years, cutting-edge technology, a globalised market and changes to the supply chain have radically transformed the shipping industry. The interest Flagship Founders has garnered since it was founded this May reflects the increasing number of market players looking for innovative technologies. 

Private equity firm Grafton Capital has invested £7 million into Third Financial, the fast growing, innovative investment platform and software provider.

Grafton Capital’s investment takes it to majority ownership of the business, with £1.5m of fresh capital being injected onto the balance sheet. The deal follows previous investment rounds in 2015 (£2.5m), 2016 (£1.5m) and 2019 (£1.25m) to support the expansion of Third Financial’s infrastructure and outsourcing platform, which sits behind many of the UK’s leading wealth managers, IFA networks, family offices and disruptive fintech firms. This next phase will see a focus on accelerating the growth of the platform while meeting the evolving demands of the market.

Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm, has backed the buy-out of Totalmobile, the UK’s leading independent Field Service Management software provider.

A new report released by BGF and academic Sir Anthony Seldon calls for urgent action to recapitalise 21,000 businesses – the UK’s growth economy companies. According to the report, backed up by data from PwC, there is a persistent shortfall in growth funding, which has a profound impact on the long-term prospects of the UK economy. This ‘growth economy gap’ is made worse by the UK’s regional disparities and there is a risk the Covid-19 crisis will turn this gap into a chasm.

PALATINE Private Equity has completed the sixth investment from its Impact Fund, with the acquisition of a stake in a fast-growing training company which helps individuals return to employment and develop new skills.

Psyomics Ltd, a UK-based healthtech and University of Cambridge spin-out, has closed a £1.5 million  funding round from existing and new investors to bring its mental health assessment and diagnosis platform, Censeo, to market in the UK. University spinout specialists Parkwalk led the round, joined by fellow existing investors Jonathan Milner, Martlet, and Cambridge Enterprise.

Eagle Genomics, a pioneer in applying network science to biology – particularly linked to the microbiome – has closed $9 million in new scale-up funding. It will use the investment to further develop the capabilities of its powerful AI-augmented, knowledge discovery platform and to drive further commercial expansion across Europe and the US.  Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF) and a consortium of investors from across science, AI and analytics fields have provided this latest, strategically-important round of investment which will support Eagle Genomics’ high-growth ambitions. 

Diageo has announced it has reached agreement to acquire BGF portfolio company Chase Distillery, the owner of Chase GB Gin and the award-winning Chase Original Potato Vodka. 

British Patient Capital has committed $35m to The Evolution Technology Fund II. The Fund is expected to achieve a targeted $250m final close in the coming months and is already investing in growing cybersecurity and enterprise software companies.

Evolution Equity Partners has been investing in cybersecurity companies over the past 20 years, building global leaders over several economic cycles, including to IPO. Their strategy targets companies that are making use of big-data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and SaaS.

Foresight Group and Island Green Power have formed a joint venture (JV) to develop a pipeline of greenfield solar projects across the UK.  The JV aims to develop five projects located in England and Wales, with a total generating capacity of close to 700MW.

Gresham House Ventures, a growth equity investor specialised in scaling businesses driven by technology, customer insight or service excellence, has agreed the sale of its stake in Ten10, a leading independent software testing and quality engineering consultancy, on behalf of the Baronsmead VCTs.  The Baronsmead VCTs invested £4.25m in February 2015, supporting the business’ acquisition of The Testing People in December 2015.