Turquoise, the UK merchant bank specialising in energy, environment and efficiency, has invested in Switchd via the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2). This forms part of a capital raising round of over £1.2 million in which other investors included Nationwide Building Society, Inspired Energy and Crowdcube.

ARC Marine has secured £2 million in funding during its latest round. The deal was led by the FSE Group, the appointed fund manager for CIOSIF (The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Investment Fund) and supported by a US impact VC fund Sustainable Ocean Alliance and two technically experienced angel investors.

NOS 5G Fund, created by NOS and managed by Armilar Venture Partners, and Triple Point Ventures, have co-invested €4.4M in digital health start-up knok. The investment round also includes participation from previous investors, the Social Innovation Fund and Social and Environmental Impact Fund MSM (Mustard Seed MAZE). The Portuguese start-up will use the investment to develop complete and fully integrated telemedicine solutions which benefit enormously from 5G technology.

The World Business Angels Investment Forum has appointed Gagan Arora, Founder & CEO of Vertex Group, as Senator for India. Senator Gagan Arora will represent India at the Grand Assembly of the World Business Angels Investment Forum. The inclusion of India in WBAF provides a wide range of opportunities for India’s start-ups, scaleups and high growth businesses and opens doors for economic development.

Vauban, the platform that provides venture capital fund managers with everything they need to raise a fund and invest capital quickly, has closed a £4.7m funding round.

Investors include co-leads Pentech and Outward, in addition to 7percent Ventures and MJ Hudson. A roster of high profile angel investors have also participated; This includes  the CEO of Nested Matt Robinson;  the founder of Grabayo, Will Neale; the founder and CEO of ComplyAdvantage, Charles Delingpole; Partner at Augmentum Fintech Perry Blacher; and Al Giles, from legal services provider Axiom.

FYLD, the London-based, AI-driven digital platform designed to revolutionise the safety and efficiency of field teams, has announced the successful completion of its £10 million Series A funding round.

The funding was provided by Koru, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s venture incubator, and corporate partner SGN, a leading UK gas distribution network operator. To date, FYLD has raised a total of £14.4 million.

British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary within the British Business Bank group, has made a £7m commitment to FOLK2FOLK, a specialist marketplace lender for rural and regional smaller businesses.

British Patient Capital has participated in Quell Therapeutics’ $156m Series B funding round. The deal is the first life sciences  investment from Future Fund: Breakthrough, a £375m programme where British Patient Capital co-invests with private sector investors in innovative R&D-intensive UK companies.

NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Fund, has invested a six-figure funding package in Margin Guardian Ltd, a platform that provides fashion retailers with data insight and targeting services. Funds will allow the business to invest in its platform, commercialise and develop an android version of its app, in addition to the iOS version, as well as fuel its marketing activities.

Guernsey Finance has resumed a permanent presence in London with the appointment of Jo Kitcat as UK Representative.

Guy Rigby and David Murray will shortly attempt to become the oldest pair ever to row across any ocean as they prepare for their Atlantic crossing in this year’s Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. They will leave the Canaries on 12th December in their 24-foot ocean rowing boat, “The Entrepreneur Ship”, hoping to reach Antigua sometime in February 2022.

Latest British Business Bank market research finds that higher company valuations, combined with strong exit activity in 2020 and 2021, has contributed to a material uplift in venture capital (VC) financial returns since the Bank’s last published report.

According to the Bank’s latest report, UK Venture Capital Financial Returns 2021, UK VC funds with a 2008 to 2013 vintage have seen an increase in their pooled Distributions to Paid In Capital (DPI)[1] multiples of 0.26 points, from 0.79 in 2020 to 1.05 in 2021. Over the same time period, their pooled Total Value to Paid In Capital (TVPI)[2] multiple has increased by 0.28 points, from 1.81 to 2.09 in 2021. UK venture capital has also performed strongly over the longer term, with pooled TVPI multiples above 2 for most two-year periods since 2002.