London South Bank University (LSBU) is donating £150k to ‘Reskilling the Recovery’ which is creating new apprenticeships for low-paid Londoners.

AND Digital, the British tech consultancy accelerating digital delivery for businesses, providing access to tech talent and helping them build products faster, has secured £8 million in follow-on funding from BGF, the UK’s most active growth economy investor. This takes total investment in the business to nearly £20 million over the last 12 months. The new funding will enable AND Digital to help more clients address their digital skills shortage by working with them on immediate challenges, and helping them build their own internal capabilities long-term.

Nottingham-based, Lazy Flora, has secured £500,000 from venture capital firm, Midven, through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) in a deal that will create over 20 new jobs over the next three years.  The investment will help to expand Lazy Flora’s marketing efforts - building on its success over the last 12 months which has seen its revenues increase by 600 per cent, following increased demand for its online plant delivery service.

Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) and managed by Maven Capital Partners, has led a £2 million funding round for LCC (Liverpool Chirochem Limited), an international chemical technology business whose products form the building blocks to the research and development of new drugs. The NPIF - Maven Equity Fund invested £1 million, alongside the £1 million from the Government’s Future Fund.

Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital and mobility arm, InMotion Ventures, has invested in Battery Resourcers, a lithium ion battery recycling and materials company.

Four companies Contea, Jysk Pension, FinPro and Status have entered a partnership with Polaris to establish North, which will provide independent and full-service financial advisory consulting to companies, organisations and their employees.

Non-bank or direct lending recorded the highest number of deals ever in the final quarter of 2020, according to Deloitte’s latest Alternative Lender Deal Tracker. Deal count had dramatically slowed earlier in 2020 resulting in an overall decrease of 25% in the annual total of 385 deals, compared to 2019’s total of 512 deals. Direct lenders consist of a wide range of non-bank institutions that lend directly into corporates at senior secured levels of the capital structure. 

Luke Davis, CEO of IW Capital discusses how SMEs will help boost the nation’s recovery and future growth

Maxwellia, a business that is poised to transform the UK’s self-care market has secured a £3.2m investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures.

Maxwellia, which is based at Alderley Park in Cheshire, aims to give people easier and faster access to the treatments they need by converting prescription-only medicines to versions that can be bought in a pharmacy.

Following the initial investment in 2019, IW Capital has led the second round of funding to support the exciting development of this fast-growing business. Over the past year, Flarin has seen expansion through sales of Flarin Joint and Muscular Pain Relief into mass multiples such as Boots, Superdrug, Sainsbury, Morrisons as well as Amazon, Ocado and other online retailers.

Pembroke VCT has achieved a record fundraise, selling out of the £40 million offer, with the initial offer and overallotment facility now fully subscribed as at 29 March.

Same-day grocery delivery startup Grocemania has raised more than £170,000 on the crowdfunding platform Seedrs. 

The London-based business has exceeded its funding target of £100,000 at a valuation of £2.4 million. In this latest funding round, which concluded on 29th March 2021, more than 340 investors invested a combined £173,000 in Grocemania.