Foresight Group LLP has announced a £4 million growth capital investment into Ten Health and Fitness Limited, a fast-growing provider of health and fitness services in London. 

NVM Private Equity has invested £7 million in Chemigraphic, a leading provider of Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) to the fast-growth medical technology, defence and power systems sectors. Chemigraphic has a particularly high presence in the radiology and medical imaging sector that in the UK has seen recent annual growth of between 8% and 10%. The investment from NVM will help to accelerate Chemigraphic’s international growth and drive continued development of its technology and expertise, particularly in the medical sector.

UltraSoC plans to substantially grow its worldwide operations to address emerging opportunities in the cybersecurity, high-reliability and safety-critical systems markets. This latest expansion follows the successful closing of a £5m equity funding round, in which cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm eCAPITAL, and Seraphim Capital, a specialist investor in the space ecosystem, joined existing UltraSoC investors Indaco Venture Partners, Octopus Ventures, Oxford Capital, Techgate, and business angel Guillaume d’Eyssautier.

London-based investment manager Downing LLP has appointed Tom Moore to lead its asset management capability.

With a huge shift in emphasis towards regional funding support, the Connected Investing event series, hosted by the UK Business Angels Association, will lift the lid on the latest initiatives open to both the investor and start-up communities. 

Poplars Forge, a traditional ironwork business is gearing up to move premises, improve productivity as well as teach the next generation of blacksmiths thanks to a loan from the Development Bank of Wales.  This will be the second time Poplars Forge has received funding from the development bank following a fast-track loan to purchase new equipment in 2018.

Pharrowtech, the designer of chip and antenna solutions for high-speed wireless applications, has raised more than €6 million for its Seed investment round. This ambitious investment round led by imec.xpand and Bloc Ventures with participation from imec and KBC, will allow Pharrowtech to further enhance the leading-edge capabilities of its products and prepare for high-volume production rampup aimed at Fixed Wireless Access, 5G, AR/VR and other bandwidth demanding wireless applications.  

Following a £6.3m equity investment in 2018, pioneering airspace developer Apex Airspace has secured a further £3million equity investment from BGF, the UK’s most active investor in growing businesses, to help roll out airspace developments across the UK and support business growth. The latest wave of funding, which brings Apex’s tally to £22m in 2019, will help fund the delivery of its growing pipeline of opportunities in London, Bristol and Birmingham as well as positioning the company for continued growth. This will include investment in new technology, market research to identify further airspace development potential across the UK and attracting best-in-class talent. 

The North East Development Capital Fund (“NEDCF”), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Maven Capital Partners, one of the UK’s most active SME finance providers, has, since its launch one year ago, invested £4.7 million in eight dynamic growth businesses across the North East, driving economic prosperity, safeguarding over 400 jobs.

A consortium of leading scientific research and academic institutions has teamed to identify innovative solutions to tackle climate change linked to the agri-food sector.

The SHAKE Climate Change programme is specifically designed to attract entrepreneurs or start-ups who have developed early stage science or tech-based ideas that can have a significant impact on climate change, as well as form the basis of a sustainable and socially responsible business within the sector.

Our resident wine expert, Caspar Bowes of Bowes Wine, looks at challenging terroir and resultant unique taste of single grape wines

London-based investment manager Downing has appointed six new senior team members across its investment, venture capital, asset management, and business development divisions.