Sukendhu Pal talks about the impact of Coronavirus on London's start ups and offers advice on what they can to help mitigate some of the worst impacts on their businesses.

BGF reported strong investment and financial performance in its 2019 Annual Report and Accounts, remaining the number one growth capital investor in the world by number of transactions in 2019, despite the ongoing economic uncertainty which impacted overall entrepreneurial confidence in the UK.

Against the backdrop of a challenging market environment, Amati AIM VCT latest fundraising has reached its targeted £25 million capacity.  The Company’s Directors will review the option to trigger a £20m over-allotment facility later in 2020, dependent upon an appropriate number of investment opportunities arising. 

Newable has completed a £120,000 equity investment in Echion Technologies. This is the second Echion investment round that Newable related Funds have participated in after a deployment of £140,000 in 2018.

Echion Technologies, led by Jean De La Verpilliere are developing a portfolio of advanced Lithium-ion battery materials that look to provide low barriers to market entry along with rapid customer access. The result of their technology is the creation of batteries that possess very-fast charging characteristics and are produced using sustainable materials.

One in ten British businesses face a high risk of entering insolvency as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. 

eFront, the leading financial software and solutions provider dedicated to Alternative Investments, has published a retrospective analysis of private equity performance, capital calls and distributions over the past 20 years, offering insight into the likely impact on the asset class of the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

A Coventry-based manufacturer responsible for producing all electric black taxis - ‘Hackney Carriages’ - approved by Transport for London has secured a £1.25m loan.  The funding, which was provided by the Midlands Engine Investment Fund and Maven Capital Partners, will enable Dynamo to recruit and train 50 new employees. The firm is also set to scale up its production capacity.  Dynamo produces an electric taxi known as the ‘Dynamo taxi’. A fully electric version of London’s iconic black cab, the zero-emission vehicle is based on the Nissan e-NV200 and is manufactured in association with Nissan.

Zeitgold, the intelligent software platform for small business accounting automation, raised €27 million in Series B funding. The round was led by new investor Vintage Investment Partners, a leading global venture firm. Existing investors BatteryVentures, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Saban Ventures, and btov Partners, as well as insurance company AXA Germany (AXA Innovation Campus) and Deutsche Bank, also participated in the investment round. The new round brings the total fundraising of the German-Israeli tech company (with offices in Berlin and Tel Aviv) to more than €50 million.

Scoota , the leader in automated omni-channel digital branding technology, has raised £2 million from Notion Capital, the Angel CoFund and VentureFounders. The growth funding will be used for rapid US expansion plans for the latter part of 2020 and early 2021. 

Peanut, the leading social network for women, today announces the closing of a USD $12M Series A funding led by the EQT Ventures fund, the multi-stage Venture Capital fund which invests in the most ambitious founders in Europe and the US. 

Oxwash, the space-age laundry and dry-cleaning startup overhauling the traditional laundry service, has raised £1.4m investment from TrueSight Ventures, Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter), Paul Forster (founder of Indeed.com), Founders Factory and other angel investors. Oxwash’s service is taking medical-grade laundry technology typically used in spaceship and hospital sterilisation and making it accessible to all.  The new investment will be used to expand Oxwash’s reach across South East England and scale the team.

A Carmarthen carpenter has led his management team to complete a multi-million management buy-out of the double glazing company that he set-up in 1989.