Nick Berry from BB Strategy reflects on the acceleration and acceptance of remote working as a legacy of Covid but considers the possibility of new Government legislation on hybrid working with caution in the hope it will help and not hinder start-ups and early stage businesses.

It is almost 20 years since the new framework for angel investment was enshrined in the Companies Act.  Combined with the FCA’s rules on Financial Promotions, the industry has had a working solution to putting investors in touch with entrepreneurs.  Within this framework equity crowdfunding has emerged as a meaningful force in providing capital to companies that want it. 

However, various recent stories I have come across have caused me to pause. The recent news that the Financial Ombudsman has ordered CrowdCube to repay an investor his entire original investment (less EIS tax relief already claimed) was the first warning bell.  Then I heard about an entrepreneur pestering an elderly person to invest by making repeated phone calls.  The elderly person could not be considered High Net Worth, let alone Sophisticated.  Most recently I have heard about a wealthy elderly person having been, in the view of their family, “groomed” to make several £10k EIS investments across a portfolio of companies.  In that case the elderly person parted with their cash, got their first income tax claim in and then the companies and the promoter disappeared.

George Pennock, partner at Four Seasons Ventures, suggests that how an SME business responded to the Covid downturn, might provide you with the clues to your next investment.

A student start-up developing technology that will slash food waste in the education sector has won £10,000 to develop their idea.  UK schools, colleges and universities throw away 150m tonnes of food each year, at a cost of around £250m.  But the University of Bristol students behind KnoWaste believe their digital food management system will cut that waste by 50%, reducing institutions’ costs by 6%.

BGF has announced a successful exit from Cennox – a leading provider of services to the ATM sector. The business has been acquired by US-based investment firm, York Capital. 

BGF first invested £3 million in Cennox in June 2012 and subsequently put in three follow-on rounds into the business, taking total investment to £17 million.

SearchSmartly, the smart match-making property search platform that provides hyper-personalised property searches in minutes, has raised £1.25million seed investment to fuel its mission to redefine the relocation experience. This investment included leading investors in property and tech including Matt Cooper, founder of Carwow James Hind, serial proptech investor Antony Senny, Founders Factory and IFG.VC.

The UK tech sector reaches new heights with 100 UK tech companies valued at $1bn or more, according to new data from Dealroom and Tech Nation.

The UK’s 100th tech unicorn, Tractable, an AI startup building computer vision tools, and a member of Tech Nation’s late-stage Future Fifty programme, has today announced a $60 million Series D raise, that takes the company's valuation to $1 billion. 

Parcel2Go, the UK’s largest parcel delivery marketplace and e-commerce shipping platform, has announced the introduction of EQT Private Equity as a new cornerstone investor. EQT acquired its stake from Mayfair Equity Partners, management and certain selling shareholders.

The Maven UK Regional Buyout Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s most active private equity houses, has invested in Titan Wealth Holdings to support their platform acquisitions and future acquisition strategy.

State Street Corporation has released new research, which reveals that with increasing pressures and demands on returns and reporting, alternative asset managers have work to do to meet the growing needs of institutional investors.

Tech Nation has launched the Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit; a comprehensive guide to address diversity challenges in tech companies and the UK tech sector, in order to help build a strong, diverse and inclusive tech sector.

British Patient Capital comments on the British Business Bank’s Small Business Equity Tracker which reveals the average pre-money valuation of a growth stage private company reached over £100m.