Albion Capital has made a successful exit from its investment in three high-end care homes managed by Berkley Care Group, the boutique care home operator. The care homes with a total of 201 beds have been sold to Korian SA, the leading European care services group for elderly and fragile people, for an undisclosed sum.

Andrew Aldridge, Partner at Deepbridge Capital, discusses why the life sciences sector is now back in favour with investors.

The past twelve months have showcased the importance of medical developments like never before. Innovation in the life sciences sector has been headline news around the globe and all aspects of the healthcare system have been under the microscope. Not only the direct response to the global pandemic, with vaccinations and treatments, but also the importance of mental health, the care home profession, screening programmes and telemedicine, have had the spotlight shone on them. 

Data Duopoly, a Launchpad start-up has received backing from several angel investors which has unlocked further funding, sending the company into the next phase of expansion.

Anthesis, the largest group of dedicated sustainability professionals globally, and one of the UK’s fastest-growing private companies[1], has secured a significant minority investment from Palatine Private Equity, a responsibly-driven, mid-market private equity firm.

IW Capital has completed the leveraged buyout and growth equity investment into Olive Jar Digital, this is to facilitate the partial equity release to the founders and provide further growth capital for the business. This investment is focused on enabling the organic growth of the company through continued expansion into new segments in a growing market. IW Capital is pleased to continue to work with the founders that have built the business to its current position and have a clear strategy for the next stage of development.

Inovia Capital has announced the closing of its second growth fund with US$450M in committed capital. As part of the launch, Inovia is confirming its increased  presence in Europe. The London team is led by Inovia Partner Patrick Pichette, also recognized for chairing the board of Twitter and NYSE-Lightspeed. Pichette is now playing a larger role in the European technology industry, in part as a founding member of the CDL Oxford, a jury member of Falling Walls in Germany, and as a Board member of Zwift, the cycling App.

Leading globally compliant prospecting solution, Cognism, has raised $12.5 million in funding led by AXA Venture Partners and joined by Swisscom Ventures.  This latest funding was led by existing investors AXA Venture Partners alongside Investiere and VentureFounders. They are joined by new investor Swisscom Ventures.

Small Pharma Ltd and Unilock Capital Corp. have announced the closing of the brokered private placement of subscription receipts of Small Pharma Financing Inc., a special purpose British Columbia company incorporated solely for the purpose of the Financing, at a price of CAD$0.96 per Subscription Receipt for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$58,000,000, with substantial U.S., UK and Canadian institutional investor support, including significant participation from leading biotech funds.

Lead generation technology company, ROI Media UK, has acquired Copenhagen-headquartered Firstborn Capital 

Fy!, the next gen home, living and lifestyle retail platform for today’s modern shopper, has announced a £5 million funding round led by Hoxton Ventures, with additional investment from a number of angel investors. The funding will enable the team to focus on growth in international territories including the USA, Australia and the EU, and speed up the innovation of their proprietary, machine learning driven technology platform.

Tech Nation, the leading scaleup accelerator, has released its annual Tech Nation Report, the ultimate state-of-the-nation report on the UK tech sector. 

MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland has successfully closed its second private equity investment fund at €135 million.  The MML Growth Capital Partners Ireland Fund 2 has been supported by leading investors including British Business Investments, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), AIB Bank, the European Investment Fund and a number of large US institutional investors.