By Simon Murdoch, Episode 1

In its acquisition by Apple which closed on the 24th September, it could be said that Shazam has found its spiritual home. The move was announced last December but finally got the all-clear from EU antitrust regulators last week after fears were raised that the deal could harm European competitors to Apple’s streaming music service. But Apple played a crucial role in Shazam’s development as a music recognition app?—?and perhaps in its survival as a business?—?by launching the first iPhone in 2007. This was the point at which consumer electronics caught up with Shazam’s technology that was far ahead of its time.

London-based investment fund Fuel Ventures has raised £20 million in its third fund since launching in 2014, having grown to a portfolio of more than 20 companies. Founded by award-winning entrepreneur, Mark Pearson, best known for founding several high profile online ventures such as MyVoucherCodes and with a team of experienced entrepreneurs in its principal team, Fuel Ventures was created by founders for founders. It’s one of the rare funds that gives 100% EIS tax relief to UK investors, with others investing alongside.

Inverleith LLP, the specialist consumer brands investor, has taken a majority stake in Planet Organic, the London health and wellbeing supermarket, food-to-go chain and online retailer.  Inverleith has injected equity into the Company to expand the existing store footprint in London, to more than double the current portfolio of stores over the next 5 years.

Exciting sports start-up BATFAST, now the UKs leading cricket simulation company, has raised over £600,000 through private investment to fund its future growth.

The British company, whose clients include the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB), designs, builds and manufacturers intelligent cricket simulators to help make cricket accessible and fun to all ages and abilities.

Notable investors include MasterCard Chairman Rick Haythornwaite, who has invested a substantial sum in BATFAST. The company is looking to capitalise on the expected cricket boom in England over the next few years, with 2019 seeing the Cricket World Cup hosted in England as well as a home Ashes series. The company projects revenue of over £3 million by the end of next year, rising to £11 million by the end of 2020.

In-app ad-verification platform Pubguard has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of the former president and chief operating officer of SYZYGY as its chairman.

Andy Stevens founded online media planning and buying agency Unique Digital in 2001, which he then sold to SYZYGY in 2010. Andy has a wealth of experience and has previously worked with a number of global blue chip clients, including Avis, Mazda and O2.

Elements Talent Solutions, a disruptor to the $200+ billion worldwide recruitment market, has received a £3.45m investment from BGF to accelerate its growth across Europe, the US and the APAC region.

While recent years have seen no shortage of technological innovation in the hiring market, Elements has pioneered a model which focuses on people and seeks to change the fundamental “transaction” mechanics of the industry. Its ‘embedded model’ involves Elements consultants working on-site within the client’s hiring function and partnering with them on every stage of the hiring process.

Piper, the leading specialist investor in consumer branded businesses, has led a £15m investment into Bloom & Wild, the online flower gifting brand that is disrupting Europe’s £14bn fresh cut flower market.

Founded in 2013 by Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway, Bloom & Wild has transformed the online flower gifting market, pioneering the concept of ‘letterbox flowers’. Its offering allows customers the ability to gift beautiful, high quality, long-lasting, fresh flowers in a convenient slim box that fits through the receiver’s letterbox. More than 50 million flowers have been shipped to date across the UK, France and Germany. Piper’s investment will fuel further growth for the business which has doubled its revenue year on year since 2016 and is set to do so again this year.

Idinvest Partners, a leading investor in SMEs across Europe, has announced that its Private Debt team has financed three direct lending transactions as appetite for non-bank funding solutions continues to grow.

Hometree, the online-led boiler installation service, has secured $8.5 million in financing from a group of leading investors led by AV8 Ventures in its Series A funding round. Hometree, launched in 2016, has been spearheading a much needed shake-up of the UK boiler market by putting control back into the hands of consumers, where previously the industry has been opaque and uncompetitive, with limited consumer knowledge.

Beauhurst has analysed the UK's leading angel networks. They have defined what makes an angel network stand apart from other types of investors, such as venture capital firms, private equity funds, and crowdfunding platforms. These collections of wealthy individuals play an important role in several localised high-growth ecosystems, such as Cambridge and Scotland. 

British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has launched a new £100m Regional Angels Programme designed to help reduce regional imbalances in access to early stage equity finance for smaller businesses across the UK. Such finance can play an important role in funding businesses with growth ambitions.

This new commercial programme aims to address this issue by increasing the availability, supply and awareness of angel and other early-stage equity investments across the country, particularly in areas where this type of finance is less readily available.

HBAN (Halo Business Angel Network), the all-island organisation responsible for the promotion of business angel investment, and a joint initiative of Enterprise Ireland and InterTrade Ireland, today announces that its MedTech Syndicate has led a €1.1 million Series A funding round in medical device start-up, Ostoform. HBAN Angels contributed €280,000, with venture capital investor, SOSV, Enterprise Ireland, and other angel investors making up the rest of the funding round.

Dublin-based Ostoform was set up to address the management of a stoma – a small surgical opening on the surface of the abdomen to divert the flow of waste. A common complaint is irritation, redness and discomfort around the skin caused by leaks of the acidic content contacting the skin. Ostoform has developed the Ostoform Seal with FlowAssist. This is a seal that is secured to the skin around the stoma to effectively guide the acidic stoma output into the ostomy bag, thereby preventing it from contacting the skin.