A Newcastle tech start-up whose software helps sales staff to find and close new leads has raised £400,000 to further develop its product and expand its team.  Allegrow has secured funding from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia, along with investment from Mercia’s EIS funds and a number of private investors.

Allegrow is a sales automation platform for business to business companies – where generating new opportunities is a top priority. The platform puts sales representatives in touch with key decision-makers in their target industries through data-driven outreach, which allows them to attract more leads and book more meetings.

Turnaround investor Jon Moulton has described the Covid-19 environment as the biggest disruption he has seen in his 40-year business career.  Mr Moulton, who lives in Guernsey and is Chairman of The International Stock Exchange, headquartered in the island, is one of two panellists speaking at Guernsey Finance’s Virtual Funds Forum later this month.

New research released from venture capital fund MMC Ventures, shows that while 2,700 blockchain companies have been created in the UK since 2008, only 9% of these  have been equity funded. Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) had been the ‘go-to’ source of funding for blockchain companies until early 2018. As the ICO funding model has become increasingly difficult since the crash in crypto prices in the beginning of 2018, companies are shifting back to equity finance and placing a greater emphasis on company fundamentals.

Cardiff based fintech company Yoello has joined forces with non-profit organisation FOR Cardiff to launch a campaign to ‘#BackCardiff’ - offering cashflow support to Cardiff based hospitality and retail businesses struggling whilst social distancing restrictions are in place.

YFM Equity Partners (YFM) is continuing to expand its team with the appointment of Laura Sisson as investment manager.

Intertrust, a global leader in providing tech-enabled fund and corporate solutions to clients operating and investing in the international business environment, has automated its loan administration, cash management and facility agent services by integrating its platform with IHS Markit’s market accredited and acclaimed Wall Street Office (WSO) software. 

A Liverpool-based chemical technology company that is helping in the fight against dementia, cancer and respiratory illnesses has secured £2.25m in a funding round led by the VC firms Deepbridge Capital and Praetura Ventures.  Liverpool ChiroChem (LCC), the developer and manufacturer of chemical components that are critical to the research and development of new drugs, also saw investment from NPIF - Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

QVentures is to lead the funding round in Glean.ly, a scalable repository for user experience research and insights.

Almost all companies rely on user experience and there is a growing need for companies to produce a unique user experience. Very few companies have the tools to allow employees to easily access and understand research previously carried out in their companies which often leads to duplicating work.

TransFICC, the specialist provider of low-latency connectivity and workflow services for Fixed Income and Derivatives Markets, has closed its Series A investment round for £5.75 million. Led by AlbionVC, it included new strategic investments from ING Ventures and HSBC.

The proportion of UK small businesses predicting growth has plummeted from 39% to just 14% in the last three months.

Lifebit Biotech, a leading innovator in bioinformatics and cognitive software solutions, has closed its Series A funding round of US$7.5M (£6 million) led by Idinvest Partners, to fuel ongoing product innovations and global market expansion. Previous investors Pentech Ventures LLP, Beacon Capital, and Connect Ventures also participated in the round. 

A Newcastle-based company which provide the UK’s fastest-growing text donation service has secured a second round of investment funding worth £350,000.