innogy Innovation Hub, which identifies, funds, and mentors game-changing technologies and ideas, today announced it has completed a seed investment in UK-headquartered AI powered CCTV monitoring company, Calipsa. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The investment will enable Calipsa to further refine its product and support its growth strategy in the UK and Europe, leveraging the Innovation Hub’s extensive global network.

Beechbrook Capital, the specialist direct lender, has reached the first close of its second UK SME Credit Fund, with commitments of £128m. The Fund has also made its first two investments, in Hosted Desktop UK and Gravity Global.

Beechbrook’s UK SME Credit II supports small and medium-sized businesses in the UK with a turnover of between £10m and £100m and EBITDA of £1m and above. It will provide mainly senior secured loans to non private equity-backed companies to support acquisitions, buy-outs, shareholder re-alignments, refinancings and general expansion plans.

P2PFA platforms facilitated loans worth nearly £3 billion during 2018, with more than 288,000 current borrowers during the fourth quarter, as further evidence of the maturity of the UK peer-to-peer lending market is revealed.

The quarterly data reveal that during the final quarter of 2018 more than £800 million of new lending was facilitated by P2PFA platforms, comprising £527 million to businesses and £282 million to almost a quarter-of-a-million consumers. Cumulative lending among P2PFA platforms has now exceeded £5.5 billion for business lending and £4 billion for consumer lending.

Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have retained an enduring appeal for investors, and the 2017/18 fundraising season saw the highest overall market raise for a decade, with £728m raised according to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). 

Clyde Blowers Capital (CBC), Duplomatic Motion Solutions (Duplomatic) and Alcedo SGR (Alcedo) has completed the successful sale of hydraulic technologies provider, Hydreco, from CBC to Duplomatic, sponsored by Alcedo. Cavendish acted as exclusive financial advisor to CBC for the transaction, with CMS acting as legal advisors for CBC.

Godwin Capital, the fundraising and investment arm of Godwin Group, has recruited senior debt funding consultant Stan Lersch.

VenueScanner has raised £1 million to roll out its sharing economy marketplace for booking venues.

VenueScanner aims to become the #1 online destination for events globally, changing the landscape of discovering and booking space online, by creating a simple and smart self-service platform for hosts and organisers.

Current investor Tom Singh explains: “We’re excited to continue to back the VenueScanner team. They've scaled a unique approach to innovating in the events market, with 18k spaces live across 15 UK cities. The range of companies using VenueScanner for finding event space, from Deloitte to Lululemon is testament to the product.

Draper Esprit portfolio company Trustpilot, the leading independent platform for companies to build trust with consumers, has raised $55 million in its Series E funding round.

Investment manager Downing LLP has completed the acquisition of Funding Empire, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lender and the company behind Downing Crowd’s platform technology.

Nico Valenti Gatto and Tanguy Confavreux at Partech Ventures have published a white paper analysing the relationships between corporates and start-ups.

Download the white paper : And Corporates and start-ups lived happily ever after.

A report released from venture capital firm MMC Ventures, in association with Barclays, shows that one in 12 new startups in Europe is an AI company – compared with just one in 50 in 2013. The report – State of AI 2019: Divergence – provides unique insight into the proliferation of AI, Europe’s 1,600 AI entrepreneurs, and AI’s implications for society.

Maven Capital Partners has led a £7 million investment in Northumberland based AVID Technology Group (“AVID”), a leader in the manufacture and design of components for electric and hybrid vehicles for an impressive blue-chip customer base.

The deal is led by Maven’s VCTs together with the North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Maven, and from AVID’s existing shareholders NVM Private Equity and Downing Ventures. The funding will enable AVID to increase production volumes of its current component product range and enable the firm to invest in further development of class leading electric motors, power electronics and battery systems.