Livingbridge, one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investors, has appointmened Rebecca Osman as investment director and Nick Manning as investment manager.

Octopus Ventures, part of Octopus Group and one of the largest VCs in Europe, has released a new in-depth study identifying the universities that are leading the way in creating and commercialising their academic research through spinout companies. 

Queen’s University Belfast came first in the rankings after it was found to be the most effective in terms of its production of spinout companies, and successful exits, relative to the total funding received. Through QUBIS, the commercialisation arm of Queen’s, the university has had a number of notable successes such as Kainos, Andor Technology, and Fusion Antibodies, all of which have been listed on the London Stock Exchange. The University of Cambridge and Cardiff University are placed second and third respectively. 

BGF has invested a further £11m into Molson Group, the UK’s largest independent distributor of capital equipment to the construction and waste management sectors. The investment will be used to develop Molson’s existing sites and brands, as well as expand its international and waste management offerings.

Foresight Group, a leading independent private equity and infrastructure investment manager, has appointed Matt McLoughlin to join the Private Equity Team. Based in Cambridge, Matt will support the deployment and management of the recently launched Foresight East of England Fund.

Private equity house WestBridge has further expanded its team with the appointment of Rebecca Sinclair as Investment Executive.

HBAN, the all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment, and an initiative of Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland, has revealed that 43% of female angel investors are eyeing up exits from their investee companies in the next 12 months.

The survey, carried out by HBAN amongst angel investors across the island of Ireland, found that some 83% of female angels are particularly interested in getting involved with start-ups working in the medtech industry. At the moment, 67% of female investors have investments in this sector.

Bolt, the leading European on-demand transportation platform, has launched a dedicated environmental impact fund with seed capital of €10 million aimed at initiatives which deliver global social and environmental benefits.

US and Israel-based cybersecurity company Sepio Systems, has raised a $6.5 million in Series A funding round led by Hanaco Ventures and Merlin Ventures, with the participation of existing investors Energias de Portugal (EDP), Mindset Ventures and Pico Partners. Since its establishment Sepio Systems has raised $11 million.

Swiss startup Optune has successfully closed the first close of its seed rounds with Bexio founder Stefan Brunner and a UK family office, as well as with existing investors. Optune's B2B booking platform is already being used by more than 600 active artists in Switzerland. Now, the Swiss tech startup wants to establish itself Europe-wide.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative businesses and their investors, today announced that it has established a presence in Denmark to meet the needs of Danish companies and their investors within the technology and life sciences sectors.

The average small and medium-sized business (SME) in the UK estimates that it will spend £160,000 to fill the skills gap in their organisation in the next 12 months, according to recruitment specialist Robert Half UK.

Immersive Labs, the world’s first fully interactive, on-demand and gamified cyber skills platform, has closed $40 million in funding led by global growth equity investor Summit Partners, with participation from existing investor Goldman Sachs. The investment will be used to support expansion initiatives in North America, where customer demand highlights a clear need to optimize cyber skills and guard against constantly evolving threats. The company believes this new round of funding illustrates how this dynamic technology is ushering in a new era of active training that enables professionals to acquire additional skills in richly immersive environments at their own pace and on their own schedules.