Leading commission-free brokerage platform, Stake, has successfully raised US$30M from Tiger Global and partners of DST Global to fuel its expansion into new markets - including Europe - and broaden its product offering.

Oceanium, the UK-based seaweed processing and food & material innovation business has announced the first close of a Seed II Round worth £2m led by Green Angel Syndicate with World Wildlife Fund. Oceanium will use the funds to scale up its proprietary biorefinery and processing model to open up the market for the nascent sustainable seaweed farming industry. Oceanium's technical and innovative refinement method has been developed to process seaweed for applications including use in plant-based foods and sustainable packaging material as an alternative to plastic.

The value of venture capital raised by UK companies surged to the highest quarterly total in Q1 2021 according to research from Refinitiv Deals Intelligence.

UK companies raised £3.5bn from 206 deals in the first three months of 2021 – up from the £2.5bn in Q4 2020 from 140 deals.

Ankorstore, the curated marketplace connecting independent brands with the most loved local retailers, has raised $100 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global and Bain Capital Ventures.

Venture Capital investment firm JPIN VCATS has completed a £1.5million raise to drive forward the development of the world's largest investment corridor between the the UK and India. The investment has come from a group of Super Angels, renowned Family Offices and Institutional Investors from the UK, India, Europe, Africa and the Middle East in a raise that spans a global ecosystem of investors. JPIN VCATS will look at backing growth to Series D rounds.  

Maven Capital Partners has led an investment round into Horizon Technologies for an undisclosed amount. The UK aerospace OEM is a world leader in airborne signals intelligence (SIGINT) systems. Additionally, the company’s business segment, Horizon Aerospace, is a leading developer of airborne Sat Phone monitoring systems for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications.

Stoke-on-Trent-based The Supply Register (TSR), has secured further funding from venture capital firm Midven through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

The company, which has created an online teacher recruitment platform, is using the funding to accelerate the next phase of its growth as schools return and Covid-19 restrictions ease. This follows The Supply Register experiencing a surge in demand for its services.

Churches Fire, a Southampton-based provider of fire safety and security compliance services, has secured a significant £75 million refinancing package from HSBC UK and HSBC Asset Management, Northleaf Capital Partners and Siemens Bank.

BGF has completed a £5.2 million investment in Odro, a Scottish-headquartered technology business that provides video interviewing and engagement software to the recruitment industry.

Join Guy Rigby & David Murray as they launch their 3,000 miles The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, hoping to raise £250,000+ for UnLtd, becoming a beacon for social mobility and inclusion and transform the future of social impact in the UK.  

Velocity Capital Advisors, a leading UK EIS/SEIS investment fund focussed on consumer technology, has launched a new transformative growth capital product - Juice Ventures. Juice is created for the specific financing needs of early-stage companies primed for exponential growth through cost effective user acquisition.

A report issued this week paints a bright future for Midlands-based businesses and showcases the opportunity for investment in what appears to be an undercapitalised region in the UK. 

The report, commissioned by the Midlands Innovation Commercialisation of Research Accelerator (MICRA), and produced by Beauhurst, a platform that provides data on the UK's high-growth and innovative companies, is based on data from 3,453 high-growth Midlands-based companies.