ALGIERS:African Export - Import Bank's (Afreximbank) Angel investors participating in a pitch session at the just-concluded CANEX WKND 2024 in Algiers have committed a total of US$350,000 in investment into the three best pitches presented at the competition.

Nicholas Hyett, Investment Manager at Wealth Club comments on what the Budget means for the UK's venture capital schemes.

Diffblue, creators of the world's first fully autonomous generative AI-for-code software, has secured $6.3 million in new capital as it reaches a record six-month period with 326% net new ARR growth from the prior six months. Toffer Winslow (formerly StackState, Dynatrace, RSA Security) has also been appointed as Diffblue's new CEO to drive the firm's next stage of growth.

The British Business Bank has welcomed the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement at Wednesday's Autumn Budget confirming over £1bn of funding for the Bank to continue its programmes supporting access to finance for smaller businesses and thereby driving sustainable economic growth across the UK.

FRANCE: Fungiball, the revolutionary fantasy tennis platform, has announced a €2.2 million PreSeed funding round, by a combination of private business angels including Adrien Dassault and Stephan Altmuller, with additional support from Cliff Capital and BPI France. The funds will be used to grow the tech team to scale the platform and enhance user experience, develop new features, including free-to-play modes and fiat payment options, and kick off Fungiball's international expansion, starting with a focus on North America.

Green Angel Ventures has made a new investment in Lineat, an innovative sustainable technology in the carbon fibre composite market, as part of a £1.4 million equity raise, with additional investment from the Development Bank of Wales.  Lineat is pioneering an award-winning market-leading carbon fibre recycling process. The company is seeking to fund its continued growth and technology development.

The Emirates Angel Investors Association, usually known as Emirates Angels, recently held its elections, resulting in the selection of a new board of directors. Masaood Al Masaood has been reappointed as Chairman, continuing his successful leadership of the association. Additionally, several key figures have been appointed to critical roles, further strengthening the organization's leadership.

Investing Women Angels (IWA) will back a series of investment rounds over the next four months raising more than £4.5 million for four female-founded companies in Scotland. 

measurable.energy, the UK tech company that designs and manufactures AI-powered plug sockets that reduce electricity costs and carbon emissions in offices by up to 50%, has secured a UK£4m tranche of new investment.

adCAPTCHA, a new specialist security verification platform, has launched with £1m funding to tackle the ‘bots epidemic' and protect organisations against cyber fraud. The London-based company, founded by industry veteran and entrepreneur Alfie Scarborough, equips organisations with the capability to identify and block bots through its sophisticated in-house developed patent-pending human verification technology.

Behind every successful entrepreneur is a good business mentor. That’s why, on National Mentoring Day (Sunday 27 October), Virgin StartUp is welcoming some of Britain’s most successful start-up founders into its growing network of business mentors. 

The 14th edition of the Global Green Finance Index (GGFI) evaluates green finance offerings from 97 financial centres. The GGFI serves as a valuable measure of the development of green finance for policy and investment decision-makers.