One of the UK’s leading building insulation manufacturers, YBS Insulation, has received a £250,000 loan to progress its growth plans.  YBS secured the finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) East & South East Midlands Debt Finance Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners.

Dublin-based Nory has raised a pre-seed round of $2m to help restaurants manage the full-suite of their operations with the tap of a button. The round is led by Calvary Ventures and Playfair Capital.

Feel, the UK-based digital health company, is on a mission to clean up the ‘dirty’ world of nutritional supplements and, following an exceptional first year of growth, the  producer of the world’s cleanest, highest-quality supplements, has closed a £4.5million investment, led by Fuel Ventures and includes TMT Investments, Sova VC, Richard Longhurst (founder of LoveHoney.com) and Igor Ryabenkiy (founder and GP of Altair Capital).

George Pennock, partner at  Four Seasons Ventures looks at the challenges of choosing the right non-executive director for your SME

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has completed a $25 million growth equity investment in Basis Technologies, a leading provider of DevOps and test automation software for SAP systems.

A group of leading entrepreneurs and investors have joined forces with the sector body for British brands to reach first close for a £50 million venture capital fund that will support some of the most exciting purpose-led brands and related technology companies in the premium consumer space.

A team of top scientists from the University of Bristol have formed a new biotech company that is developing ground-breaking and newly patented potential treatments for Coronavirus.

Bristol-based Halo Therapeutics is backed by Charles Grimsdale (former Eden Ventures), Keith MacDonald and Mark Farmer (of Eden Ventures) and a group of Angels from the Bristol area.  It was founded by the team of leading scientists who made a recent breakthrough discovery, which was published in Science Magazine. They found that exposing the SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) virus to a free fatty acid called linoleic acid locks the virus’s spike protein into a closed, non-infective form stopping it in its tracks.

A recruitment platform which allows haulage operators to reduce costs has raised a further £300,000 to support its expansion plans.

Avail Technologies has secured funding from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and directors including chairman Keverne Watt. It comes as the company moves to new headquarters in Stockton-on-Tees, where it plans to recruit a further five staff in the year ahead.

The West Midlands has cemented its place as a strategically significant hub for levelling up FinTech in the UK with its appointment to the FinTech National Network – the UK’s first network connecting FinTech hubs and supporting nationwide financial innovation.

Odore, the beauty tech start-up working with global brands including Guerlain, Clive Christian and L’Oréal has raised $830k to revolutionise how cosmetics and beauty businesses market their products to consumers. The round was led by SFC Capital and joined by RLC Ventures. 

Payhawk, the platform for payments and expense management, has raised $20 million. The Series A round is led by the US-based fund QED Investors, which has a strong track record of investing in 18 fintech unicorns, including Klarna and Nubank. Existing investor Earlybird Digital East, who led the $3.6 million seed round in March 2020, is also contributing fresh capital. Yusuf Ozdalga will join the Payhawk board alongside existing investors Mehmed Atici from Earlybird Digital East and Vassil Terziev from Eleven Ventures.

Manchester-based independent debt fund Tosca Debt Capital (TDC) has appointed Mat Deering as a partner to further develop and grow its investment portfolio.