The winners for the MSDUK Awards have been announced. 

The number of acquisitions made by private equity-backed businesses in the UK hit record numbers in H1 2021, with 286 transactions completed during the first six months of the year, according to Rickitt Mitchell’s Buy and Build Barometer.

Bloc Ventures, the venture capital company focused on early-stage European deep technology investment, has announced the appointment of Andy Green CBE (pictured) as Senior Independent Director and Sue Prevezer QC as Non-Executive Director as it bolsters its board of directors.

Two of the UK’s most well-respected business brains – Guy Rigby and David Murray – will row across the Atlantic Ocean 

A green robotics company slashing the cost of maintaining wind turbines is flying high after securing £1.6million in its latest funding round.  Perceptual Robotics uses autonomous drones to map turbines, before passing the images onto a cloud-based artificial intelligence system which processes them to detect damage.

Revaia, formerly known as Gaia Capital Partners, has announced the final closing of its first growth fund, Europe's largest female-founded VC fund, at €250 million, exceeding its initial target of €200 million. Furthermore, the sustainable growth equity fund has taken a new name in the form of "Revaia" in line with its mission to reveal the future European tech leaders.

PetMedix™ has announced the completion of an oversubscribed $37M (£27M) Series B financing round that will be used to advance its innovative pipeline through clinical development. The investment brings two new investors into PetMedix: global technology company Tencent and Japanese corporation Kyoritsu Holdings alongside strong continued support from U.S.-based investor Digitalis Ventures, and British funds Parkwalk Advisors and Cambridge Innovation Capital.

Southwark based technology platform business, Landmrk, has received a £225,000 loan from the Greater London Investment Fund via The FSE Group. The loan is backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

Turquoise, the UK merchant bank specialising in energy, environment and efficiency, has invested in bio-bean for the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2). The investment of £350,000 is part of an overall round of £1.25million.  The round was led by LCIF2 with the participation of 2Enable Partners, Stellar Impact and the Gresham House Renewable Energy venture capital trusts (VCTs). 

New data released by Innovate Finance, the industry body representing the UK fintech industry, reveals the share split in the SME lending market between the big banks and alternative lenders during the pandemic.

contextflow, a leading provider of artificial intelligence for medical image analysis, has announced a EUR 6.7 Million Series A funding round. A second closing included an additional EUR 2 Million from new co-investor Peak Pride Management GmbH, HPH (Hans Peter Haselsteiner) Start-up Unit and current investor APEX Ventures with its “APEX Best in Class” fund. A first closing was led by B&C Innovation Investments GmbH (BCII) and included participation from new co-investor TTIP Beteiligungs GmbH and current investors APEX Ventures, Crista Galli Ventures, IST cube, Nina Capital and Novacapital.

Elvie, the global health and lifestyle brand developing iconic products for women, has announced an extension of its Series C funding with a further £12.7m ($17.5m) investment.  This investment is an extension to the initial Series C funding announced in July 2021 - and takes Elvie’s total Series C to £70m ($97m).  Founded in 2013 by CEO Tania Boler, Elvie brings together a team of world-class engineers, designers and business minds to develop extraordinary products that improve women’s lives