Catherine Gannon of Gannons Solicitors looks at what SEIS/EIS can offer to investors.

The new world definitely brings new opportunities. Opportunities require funding. Rumour has it that taxes will rise but it would be a harsh (not to mention foolish) government that takes an axe to SEIS and EIS investment relief – one expects that Rishi will not go there.

Primer, the low-code payments infrastructure and online checkout API, has announced a £14 million Series A funding round led by Accel. Existing investors Balderton, SpeedInvest and Seedcamp also participated and were joined in the round by RTP Global. 

Retail expert Dr Gordon Fletcher, of the University of Salford Business School, looks at what has gone wrong for the former titan of the high street and its boss Philip Green.

UK-based biotechnology company ILC Therapeutics has announced that it has secured significant investment from its first global investor Medical Incubator Japan. The Scottish life sciences company, which has received international attention through its work exploring COVID-19 therapeutic treatments with the University of St Andrews, is MIJ’s first investment in a biotech company in Europe. 

Two former Newcastle University students who developed a unique range of alcoholic tea drinks have raised £1.4m from investors to help them further expand their business.  NOVELTEA has already proved popular with customers in the UK, Germany and also China. The funding will allow founders Vincent Efferoth and Lukas Passia to target new overseas markets, expand their product range and create 20 new jobs at the company’s base in Newcastle.

Swiss SaaS start-up GUURU Solutions Ltd has closed a $5M Series A extension, which brings the total Series A financing to $7.9 million. The funds will be used to expand market reach in Europe and support GUURU's ambitious growth plans. The financing round was led by Spark Invest and joined by existing investors Investiere, EquityPitcher Ventures and Swiss Post Ventures.

Research technology company uMed has raised £3.7m in venture capital from AlbionVC, Delin Ventures and Playfair Capital, along with Silicon Valley’s 11.2 Capital.

The latest round of funding¹ will see uMed give healthcare providers in the UK and US, including GPs and hospitals, the tools to run patient research more efficiently while safeguarding patient data and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Small business specialist investor IW Capital has completed a £3.7million investment into Rockwater Hove, a community driven hospitality venue on Hove’s seafront. Testament to its community ethos, over £1million of the funding was raised by local residents, many of whom have already been customers over the summer. 

NVM Private Equity has sold its stake in Agilitas IT Solutions Limited to the international private equity investor Perwyn, providing NVM funds with an 8.4x return. 

FreeFlow Technologies (FFT), the developers of the world’s lightest power to weight e-Bike motor has secured £1.85m from a heavily over-subscribed funding round.

The new investment will support a move to a new headquarters and R&D facility in East Kilbride and further strengthen the team with senior technical positions and assembly engineers recruited.

Newable Ventures and Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC) have secured £10m in new funding from British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, to fund early stage businesses across the UK.

Mauro Moretti, the founder of Three Hills Capital Partners, has set up Atypical Partner, a digitally led multi-strategy asset management platform dedicated to identifying and propelling innovative financial entrepreneurs.