BGF has exited its investment in CHS Healthcare, a provider of outsourced services for the NHS and social care, following its acquisition by Acacium Group (formerly known as Independent Clinical Services), a specialised healthcare solutions partner with its head office in London.

BGF invested £10 million of growth capital into CHS in 2018, which helped the business expand its infrastructure and operations, supporting the provision of services to the NHS and local authorities nationwide. The investment also enabled CHS to bolster its senior management team and pursue an acquisitive growth strategy. 

Growth capital investor VGC Partners has provided £150,000 funding to VozLab, the creator of a self-serve development platform for the next generation of flexible voice apps.  This is the first investment that VGC Partners has made from its Technology Seed Fund IV. VozLab is also the first start-up to join Amazon’s UK Alexa Incubator Programme, which provides technical and business mentorship support from the Amazon Alexa team.

The Learning and Development (L&D) sector has reached a critical stage; with four key areas open for disruption and emerging new innovators, according to a new green paper launched by Emerge Education, the only VC fund backed by the world's leading education entrepreneurs, and FutureLearn.com, the leading social learning platform.

Monument has raised over £28 million, significantly ahead of expectations and successfully completing one of the largest Series A funding rounds in fintech / banking of 2020 / 21, backed by a combination of new and existing experienced investors. Since inception, Monument has raised circa over £40m in funding, and it is now well placed to complete the build of its technological and operational capabilities and to be ready for launch in the Summer of 2021.

London-based investment fund RLC Ventures led Alloxentric’s seed round of $275,000, providing the necessary capital to build on their early success. To-date, Alloxentric has been operational across Latin America in countries such as Chile and Colombia, providing an omnichannel platform as a service, powered by AI, for customers across numerous industries.

Cox Powertrain, a leading British manufacturer of high-powered diesel outboard engines for the global marine industry, has raised £9 million from existing shareholders, together with a £3 million loan from HSBC UK Equipment Finance, to allow the company to expand and ramp up production of its CXO300 diesel outboard.

The investment follows a year of significant progress in 2020, where production of the CXO300 began and engines were shipped to Cox’s international network of distributors, including in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The amount raised from existing investors signals their strong confidence in the business and its potential, with a strong order book for 2021 and beyond. 

Luke Davis, CEO of IW Capital, discusses how scale up finance was key prior to pandemic, and why now it is of critical importance for recovering businesses.

The government has published new statistics that show businesses across the UK have to date benefitted from 1,593,620 government-guaranteed loans worth £72.9bn to support their cashflow during the crisis through schemes delivered by the British Business Bank.

Transmit Startups says a surge in demand for finance from lockdown entrepreneurs means it has now supported thousands of members of the UK’s business community with £100million-worth of funding.  Transmit, which is the UK’s leading provider of Start Up Loans for business, has invested in 8,578 new entrepreneurs across the length and breadth of the UK since being set up in 2013. Businesses backed range from valet-style bike parking to vegan handbags, and everything imaginable in between.

The age-old investment debate about ‘cheap’ value stocks versus ‘expensive’ growth stocks shows no sign of going away. 

Birmingham-based Linear Diagnostics has secured £800,000 from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) and other investors in the company’s second round of funding.  The finance will facilitate the ongoing development of the company’s high-speed platform technology for point of care diagnostics. The funding package includes backing from MEIF Equity Finance, managed by venture capital firm Midven, the University of Birmingham and the UKI2S Fund. The UK Future Fund matched the investment from the initial investors. 

Maven Capital Partners has invested £1m into Fintech platform, Pockit Ltd as part of Pockit’s £15m Series B funding round. The business has secured £1 million funding through the North East Development Fund,supported by the European Regional Development, and £1.3 million via private investors, Crowdcube and the Future Fund, a government scheme backed by the British Business Bank.