The British Business Bank has published Future Fund data that gives a detailed picture of the 1,236 companies that have been approved for £1.20bn (£1,203.7m) worth of Convertible Loan Agreements since the scheme was launched on 20 May.

Jenson Seed EIS Fund 1 & EIS Funds have completed successful exits from Voneus.  We initially invested via our first SEIS Fund in 2013 and invested over £420,000 via the EIS Funds across various tranches every year between 2015 and 2019.  The follow-on rounds enabled syndicated investment from co-investors to enhance growth with a further £2.5 million raised. 

Gamestop lessons for investment networks: financial advice on social media has consequences, says Envestors' Oliver Woolley

Calculus Capital portfolio company ActiveOps has completed a successful Initial Public Offering on the Alternative Investment Market, generating an impressive 6x return for Calculus EIS investors.

ActiveOps has placed 45 million shares with institutional investors, raising gross proceeds of £76 million for selling shareholders, including Calculus Capital. The placing price of 168 pence values the company at £120 million.

The government has published new statistics that show businesses across the UK have to date benefitted from 1,630,155 government-guaranteed loans worth £75.1bn to support their cashflow during the crisis through schemes delivered by the British Business Bank.

A University of Nottingham spin-out which has developed a rapid test that could be a ‘game changer’ in combatting tuberculosis (TB) in livestock has secured a £2.3m investment to help bring its product to market.  The funding for PBD Biotech has come from a consortium led by fund managers Mercia and the Foresight Group, which were both investing through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF); the University of Nottingham; the government’s Future Fund; and private investors including farmers and veterinary practices. 

Circular economy parenting app YoungPlanet has raised £500,000 through an “Equity for Parents” crowdfunding campaign as it looks to expand its offering following a year of seismic growth. 

YoungPlanet provides a ‘cashless’ platform based on a sharing economy model where parents can list or request a range of different children’s items; from books and clothes to toys and baby equipment. Everything on the app is always given or received for free.

Caristo Diagnostics, the medical imaging company, has completed a multi-million-pound investment round. The round was led by BGF, the UK’s most active growth economy investor, and existing investors including Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), Longwall Ventures and the Oxford Technology & Innovation Fund (OTIF).

The funding will be used to roll-out Caristo Diagnostic’s CaRi-Heart^®, a ground-breaking AI-based cardiovascular risk prediction technology, which has just received its CE mark accreditation and is available for use by doctors across the UK and Europe.

New staycation holiday specialist Caledonian Leisure Ltd has secured a multi-million-pound investment from Mobeus Equity Partners, the investors behind the recent IPO of Virgin Wines and the proposed IPO of Parsley Box.

nPlan, a company that uses machine learning to forecast the duration, risks and opportunities of construction projects, has secured an $18.5 million investment round, led by GV (formerly Google Ventures). The company’s proprietary AI algorithms have analysed nearly $1 trillion worth of global construction projects and deploys this learning to spot delays and recommend improvements with an accuracy and scale previously not possible. In doing so, nPlan’s data-led insights effectively reduce the volatility of and increase investor confidence in construction projects.

Personal money app Ziglu has raised nearly £900,000 through Angel Investment Network, the world’s largest online angel investment network, as part of a £6.1m seed round. Ziglu, founded by Mark Hipperson, bridges the worlds of cash and crypto by providing safe, simple access to cryptocurrencies fully integrated with a GBP account and Mastercard debit card.

Immersive communications platform PixelMax has secured £2m investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures, with participation from ACT Capital Partners.