NatWest has announced that it will offer SMEs up to £1million of cashflow funding through its digital overdraft alternative Rapid Cash, as it looks to support UK SMEs as they enter the next phase of economic recovery.

GP Bullhound has made a follow-on investment into Glovo, one of the world’s leading multi-category delivery players, as part of a Series F funding round of €450M ($530M) led by Luxor Capital Group, with participation from existing investors including Delivery Hero and Drake Enterprises.  Founded in Barcelona in 2015, Glovo is a pioneering multi-category delivery app and one of the world’s leading delivery platforms. It operates in Southern Europe and EEMEA, connecting users with restaurants, grocery chains, pharmacies and retail stores.

STANME, the world’s first community marketplace for independent creators, has smashed its fundraising target in just a few days of launching on crowdfunding website CrowdCube.

Leading mid-market private equity firm NorthEdge has launched a dedicated app to facilitate cross-portfolio collaboration and encourage networking amongst peers.

The platform, Nexus, will be a central hub of information and has been designed to give NorthEdge’s portfolio company teams a forum to collaborate, communicate and share best practice approaches on building successful businesses. The app will also provide access to NorthEdge’s wider network of experts and operating partners.

More than four-fifths of investors in VCTs (81%) feel the pandemic has made supporting smaller UK businesses more important according to new research from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) conducted by Research in Finance.

Haatch Ventures has recruited Jeremy Luzinda as Investment Associate after an exciting 12 months that has seen Haatch Ventures invest in 13 new companies and seen its portfolio companies create 250 new jobs.

Sogelink and Geodesial Group, two leading providers of software solutions for infrastructure, construction and property management professionals, have announced their merger to establish a new European Construction Tech leader, supported by their common shareholder Keensight Capital, one of the leading private equity managers dedicated to pan-European Growth Buyout1 investments.

NatWest has published the findings of an industry wide review into the UK SME recovery, conducted in consultation with BCC and the FSB.

GoStudent, the Vienna-based e-learning start-up, has completed a Series B round led by new investor Coatue together with existing partners Left Lane Capital and DN Capital. With the total investment of €70M GoStudent becomes the highest funded consumer-facing K12 education start-up in Europe. The new investment was landed only 4 months after the increase of the Series A. In 2020 GoStudent received a total funding of €13.3M. The trust of the existing and new investors indicates a strong conviction in the continued exponential growth of the online education start-up.

Sorted, the global delivery experience pioneer, has raised $15m in growth capital after another consecutive record year helping retailers to deliver products to customers worldwide with the boom in online sales. $7m of this funding was led by an existing investor, Chrysalis Investments.  The growth capital supports the acquisition of a number of leading brands, as the SaaS tech delivery disruptor plans to further support the retail industry’s digital transformation – accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The capital will also support product development, growth in the team, and global expansion plans.

Butter, the London based fintech platform that started life as the UK’s first Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) travel agency, has just closed a £15.8m funding round to accelerate the rollout of its responsible open-banking based BNPL shopping app. 

Maven Capital Partners has led a £1.5 million investment in Boiler Plan (UK) Ltd, a market disruptive online platform that sells, installs and services boilers across the UK.  The transaction includes a £500,000 investment from the North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and £250,000 investment from NPIF Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), both funds are managed by Maven. A further £750,000 was invested on behalf of the Future Fund, a government scheme backed by the British Business Bank.