Specialist property peer-to-peer lender CrowdProperty has reached three major landmarks after fully funding the 70th project on the CrowdProperty platform. CrowdProperty has now funded the development of 500 Great British homes, worth over £80,000,000 having lent over £30,000,000.

The rapid pace of innovation, new technologies and the digitalisation of almost all segments of the economy pose a huge recruitment challenge for companies all over Europe. The number of job vacancies requiring digitally skilled workers is estimated to rise to 700 thousand by 2020 on an EU level. To tackle these challenges, Budapest-based IT education startup Codecool launched a disruptive model for training coding and other digital skills three years ago. The recipe has proved to be successful as the company is now adding EUR 3,5 million of Series-B round venture capital - provided by Lead Ventures and Portfolion - funding to finance its European expansion.  

In a welcome development for global equity investors, the pace of 2019 earnings downgrades has eased markedly during the first three weeks of February. Furthermore, while 2019 consensus corporate profits growth has fallen from initial expectations of around 9-11% in developed markets to 6-8%, and from 12% in emerging markets to 10%, a profits recession now appears less likely.  

British technology company Rotolight, which specialises in creating advanced LED lighting for the photography and filmmaking industries, has secured substantial equity investment from the Development Capital team at Octopus Investments to support its ambitious business growth plans. The £5 million ($6.5M) growth capital funding will strengthen the company’s future, as it invests heavily in research and development to deliver 15 cutting-edge products in the next five years, as well as marketing and international expansion, which will lead to the creation of a number of new jobs at its headquarters at Pinewood Studios UK. 

Andrew Aldridge from Deepbridge Capital considers why EIS is so vital to the health of the NHS. 

The Growth Stage, the world’s first and only regulated, membership only funding platform for institutional investors and growth-stage private companies, hosts the first in a series of international scale-up summits in Manchester. Launched in partnership with 10 of the world’s leading professional advisers, including EY and WeWork, the summit will provide an opportunity for private companies, who are in a scale-up phase, to discuss -  with a leading panel - the issues affecting them currently. In addition to hearing insights relevant to the scale-up community, speakers will specifically address challenges surrounding funding for growth and finance and potential solutions offered by institutional investors supporting The Growth Stage.

AlbionVC, the technology investment arm of Albion Capital, has hired Jay Wilson to the role of investment manager.

Jay’s appointment further strengthens the firm’s specialist tech investment team as it seeks to capitalise on the opportunities provided by the UK’s leading early stage digital businesses. His newly created role is part of an ongoing expansion of AlbionVC’s technology expertise and follows the appointment of Cat McDonald, Nadine Torbey and Tanel Ozdemir to the team last year. 

A leading SaaS video management platform which holds both current and archive footage for major sporting organisations and news outlets, including Premier League, World Tennis Association and the BBC, has secured £6.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Downing Ventures. The round also included capital from Guinness Asset Management Ltd. and existing investor Cambridge Innovation Capital.

The UK’s BGF has been named the world’s most active investor in businesses seeking growth and expansion funding in Pitchbook’s 2018 global league tables, following a record year of investment.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative businesses, enterprises and their investors, has released the 10th anniversary edition of its Startup Outlook Report. The report is based on a survey of 1,400 startup founders and executives primarily in the UK, the US, China and Canada. Startup Outlook reveals respondents’ thoughts on business conditions, funding, exits, hiring, workforce diversity and public policy issues, including Brexit and business relocation plans. 

FLOWERBX, the online, wholesale, flower-delivery service, has announced it has closed a £4.2m ($5.5m US) fundraising round. The new funding will pave the way for the company’s US launch, scheduled for May 2019.

The Growth Company has been awarded a £56.5m contract package as a result of bidding for ESF from the Education and Skills Funding Agency. This European Social Fund investment package will be delivered in partnership with Local Enterprise Partnerships in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Sheffield City Region over the next two years.