The Funding Atlantic Network for Blue Economy Technology Transfer (FANBEST) has identified a worrying lack of adequate funding opportunities to help conserve the world’s oceans and marine resources.

Alorsfaim, a Paris-based e-grocery company specializing in authentic and high-quality Asian food, has raised €4M in seed funding, enabling the fast-growing start-up to continue its rapid expansion across the vast Asian community in France and Europe. The round was led by iFly.vc with participation from Cathay Innovation and Goodwater Capital.

The corporate team at national law firm, Foot Anstey LLP has advised Simply Conveyancing, which is backed by private equity firm Livingbridge, on the acquisition of Pirie Palmann.

Birmingham-based Hollywood Monster has secured a £250,000 loan enabling it to safeguard 40 employees whilst creating seven new positions over a three year period. The business received the funding from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group, Debt Finance Fund and backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

SoMo, one of the UK’s leading specialist lenders, has set itself a target of lending £250m over the next 12 months and has set the wheels in motion with newly announced premises in London, which will act as a central hub for future expansion and to further cement their presence across the UK.

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor, has appointed industry veteran Nicol Fraser to lead its investment team in London and the South East.

James Murdoch draws some conclusions  and poses some questions from his experiment in investing in the Future Fund through Equity Crowd Funding.

A new survey of 1,479 UK-based investors has revealed how they have responded to the financial disruption caused by the pandemic, as well as their outlook for the year ahead. 

TrustedHousesitters, the world’s largest pet-sitting network, has secured $10m in Series A funding to continue expanding into the US market and, despite travel restrictions over the last 18 months, is already seeing revenue at twice pre-pandemic levels.

BGF – the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor – has announced its successful exit of Magma Global Limited, the leading provider of composite pipe technology to support the Energy Transition.

The Portsmouth-based company has been acquired by TechnipFMC plc, a leading technology provider to the traditional and new energy industries, delivering fully integrated projects, products, and services.

Calculus portfolio company, CloudTrade, has been acquired by Advanced, a leading provider of business software, delivering a 4x return to Calculus investors in just over 3 years. 

3DEO, whose new interactive 5D mapping platform that makes it easier to monitor and manage complex infrastructure has raised £750,000 from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia.

3DEO’s system is already being used by BT on 5G projects and by ports and harbours to monitor and manage day to day operations. The cloud-based system combines data and information from diverse sources such as satellites, cameras, sensors and vehicle tracking, visualising it on a single screen to provide a live 5D model of the area.