Catherine Gannon comments on the benefits presented by Freeports and how you can best take advantage of the opportunity.

Have you thought abut what will happen to your Angel Investment portfolio when you are no longer around?  Modwenna Rees-Mogg considers this question and discusses some of the options that are available to angels in this scenario.

The word on the street is that the angel market is quiet.  Perhaps this is not surprising given the financial and practical strains on the average (is there such a thing?) angel in the last year. 

Fortunately, most angels sorted out their extant investments by the summer and a surprising number, I hear, have thrived in the pandemic rather than suffering too badly.  This is great news.  We may get sick of Zoom and Teams calls, but business has rapidly got used to the idea using this workaround to get things done.  And entrepreneurs and angels both are two of the most adaptable and innovative groups of people in the world, so I don’t worry too much about this part of angel investment activity.

BGF has completed a £5.7 million investment in Source BMX, the world’s leading omni-channel BMX retailer. The funding will be used to grow the company’s e-commerce offering and fast-track international expansion plans.

Source BMX was founded by brothers Rich and Marc Moore in 2003 and has grown to offer the largest selection of BMX bikes, parts and accessories anywhere on the market, sold direct to consumers via its website.

Enthuse, the donations, fundraising and events platform, has secured £3.5m investment in its Series A funding round led by Praetura Ventures, the venture capital fund that targets early-stage businesses in high-growth sectors. Co-investors included a consortium of existing investors to the business. This brings the total funding raised by Enthuse to £7.5 million.

Bowmark Capital has agreed to sell its stake in Oxford International Education Group, the leading international education provider, as part of two simultaneous transactions – the sale of the company’s schools division to Nord Anglia Education, and the sale of its university partnerships, online learning and languages business to a management buy-out, backed by THI Investments.

Nyobolt, the original founders of ultra-fast charging niobium-based battery technology, has appointed Mark Newman as CCO and Head of Strategy, following recent investment by IQ Capital.  

GP Bullhound, the leading technology advisory and investment firm, has released a new report charting the growth and progress of tech impact investing.

Impact investing and the rise of sustainable tech has revealed a record year for investment and M&A activity for impact technology companies.

Data shows that impact technology companies are receiving a fast-increasing amount of private equity investment. As the sector matures, those raises are becoming larger and focused on later-stage companies.

Renewable power investors continue to outpace fossil fuel investors across the globe, signalling a broader structural trend of decline for fossil fuels, according to new report from the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School.

Pollinate, the global software business that partners with banks to help them deepen and extend relationships with their business customers, has closed a $50 million Series C funding round, led by Insight Partners, the global venture capital and private equity firm. The round also includes participation from all existing investors including NatWest Group, Mastercard, National Australia Bank (NAB), EFM Asset Management, and Motive Partners.

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor, has completed a £10.5 million minority investment in e2e-assure, an established, fast-growth cybersecurity business based in Oxfordshire. The funding will be used to facilitate international growth and expand its go-to market offering.

CareLineLive, the all-in-one home care management software that increases efficiency, capacity, compliance and communication of both managers and carers by digitising their work flows, has announced that it has secured a £175k grant from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.