4D Biomaterials, a medtech company which has developed a new biomaterial used for 3D printing medical implants, has completed a £1.6m funding round led by DSW Ventures.

Patchwork Health, the healthcare staffing platform founded by doctors, has raised £3.5m to accelerate their mission to solve the NHS burnout crisis. The funding, from Praetura Ventures and BMJ New Ventures, comes as an NHS workforce 'emergency' is declared and waiting lists reach record highs.

Insect-based snack company Small Giants has closed a new investment round of more than £400,000, after raising £130,000 in the first round in March 2020.  The startup, founded by Francesco Majno and Edoardo Imparato, has far exceeded its initial target of £250k, following significant funding from investors.  A sizeable proportion of the investment came from shareholders and partners of iN3 Ventures’ network; an innovation advisory and corporate venture capital company. One of its partners, Mario Rizzola Pasotti, is also now a member of the Small Giants Advisory Board.

Maven Capital Partners, debt fund manager for the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), has been approved by the British Business Bank 

Turquoise, the UK merchant bank specialising in energy, environment and efficiency, has announced its tenth deal for the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2), a £250,000 investment in pH sensor company ANB Sensors (ANB). LCIF2 led the £997,000 equity round which included Hatch Accelerator Fund and Applied Technology Ventures as co-investors.  

CPI Enterprises, the investor engagement and ventures arm of CPI, has made its first investment in Qualus, a cleantech firm working to reduce water and chemical consumption within the leather industry.

CPI is an independent technology innovation centre that partners with ambitious and novel deep tech companies to translate bright ideas and research into new sustainable products and manufacturing processes. This investment will allow Qualus to benefit from innovation expertise and state-of the-art facilities as they develop their second product and continue to expand their international customer base.

Graphite Capital, a leading UK mid-market private equity specialist, has acquired Wonderbly, the world’s leading publishing platform for personalised children’s books. The company is also developing innovative personalised products for third-party clients.

Business angel group HBAN Ulster, as part of the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN), announced today its members have invested £8.5m into 38 early-stage companies in Northern Ireland in less than three years and urged more businesspeople to join its ranks.

Tulipshare is a brand new activist investment platform that empowers individuals to make a positive change within some of the biggest household-name companies in the world. Launching in the UK in July 2021, the platform will enable people to rethink the way they invest in businesses. Essentially allowing people to vote with their money, Tulipshare endeavours to play a tangible role in promoting ethical change in the boardrooms of global companies. 

Legal technology start-up Robin AI has raised $2.5m seed funding from Episode 1 and a number of leading angel investors including Paul Massara, Al Giles  and Oliver Burgel. They are also one of just 30 companies to be selected to receive a portion of the $2m Google Black Founders Fund, a programme set up to support the chosen companies as they work to change the face of start-up culture that currently sees just 0.5% of start-ups with Black founders receive institutional investment.

Edinburgh’s largest plastic free grocery store, The Refillery, has been nominated for the Food Hero Scotland campaign.

My LADS, a leader in AR Sports Engagement, has closed a €7.6M Seed Investment Round led by Riva Technology and Entertainment (RTE), to leverage Tech areas (new AR experiences and others), grow the team, and attract new international clients.