Ethereum Classic and ZCash have been added to deVere Crypto, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, due to strong client demand.

NPIF - Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, has invested £200,000 as part of a £700,000 funding round in Biorelate, a technology platform using artificial intelligence (AI) to efficiently curate data in biomedicine.

Existing investors, Catapult Ventures via the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund, provided £150,000 and the Manchester Tech Trust Angels provided £350,000. The funding will be used to expand the team, and to develop its product offering, including three new SaaS products.

Divido, the consumer finance platform for retailers, lenders and payment intermediaries, today announces a $15 million USD Series A raise led by Dawn Capital and DN Capital, with additional participation from Mastercard, American Express Ventures and previous investors. The Divido board has also appointed Renier Lemmens as chairman. Mr. Lemmens has previously served as Chief Executive Officer of PayPal EMEA and Chief Operating Officer of the International Retail & Commercial Banking Division of Barclays.

Talis Capital, a London-based venture capital firm focused on technology companies, has invested $2.5million into Learning People, the UK’s leading online training company, and SkillsFox, its B2B arm serving corporate training and development needs. 

aescuvest and EIT Health have launched the first pan-European equity crowdfunding platform for European healthcare companies today: aescuvest.eu will be the number one such platform dedicated to foster and fund innovations from European start-ups and SMEs in an end-to-end digital process, and allow companies to promote campaigns and EU citizens to invest across borders. The platform will give both, retail and institutional investors access to best-in-class companies in the core health sectors biotechnology, medical technology and digital health. As prospectus-based security offerings, investment opportunities went through a thorough approval process. The start of the first campaign is expected in Q4 2018.

Office workers are being urged to swap out sugary treats for these ten brain foods in order to stay alert and proactive throughout the day.

The Invested Investor speaks to angel investor and is a Senior Partner for Frog Capital, Shirin Dehghan

Shirin has a fascinating story about resilience, understanding when to make tough decisions and planning for her company’s sale. Shirin is a successful entrepreneur, having founded and sold Arieso. She is a seasoned angel investor and is a Senior Partner for Frog Capital. In Part 1 of her podcast you will hear how she learnt so much from the pitfall of a lost contract, and how much time and effort she spent to ensure the company was ready for a potential buy-out. This is a truly exciting entrepreneurial story, that includes a tough decision to ask her husband to step down as her CTO in order for the company to succeed in the States.

Judy Naake, the founder of St Tropez Tan and all round successful businesswoman, has been announced as a keynote speaker at this year's VCT & EIS Investor Fourm on 30th November in London.

Angel investment is one of the most notable avenues for capital in the UK. Business angels tend to invest in businesses who are either in the early stages of their growth or in established companies seeking to achieve expansion, in return for equity shares.

Aside from the capital, angel investors offer a wealth of experience and have access to a depth of valuable contacts from a range of industries. Their value is signified by a study conducted by ‘Oxford Economics’, who found businesses that were backed by angels between 2010 - 2015 boasted an astonishing turnover of over £9 billion and contributed £4.5 billion to gross domestic product (GDP).

Interestingly, research conducted by ‘Company Check’ discovered that from 3,000 business owners and entrepreneurs, 38% believed a business plan was the paramount deciding factor in an angel’s intention to invest in a business. After a business plan – they thought sales figures (27%), the founder (15%), business idea itself (9%) and then the economy (8%) were focal in a business angel’s considerations.

Octopus Investments, part of Octopus Group and the largest provider of venture capital trusts (‘VCTs’) in the UK, today announces it has opened fundraising for Octopus Titan VCT (Titan).

Octopus is targeting another £120 million fundraise for its flagship VCT. This follows last year’s record breaking fundraise when Titan raised a total of £200 million.  If fully subscribed, the total fund size could rise to over £800 AUM, providing significant capital for investment in early stage businesses across the UK.

Seasalt, the Cornish lifestyle and clothing brand, has announced a £16m investment in the company to support future growth and development in the business. The investment will see BGF invest £11.5m, with Santander Corporate & Commercial providing an additional £4.5m in funding.

In the last three years, Seasalt’s turnover has grown from £28m to £51m. The company now employs 869 people and is one of the largest private employers in Cornwall. In March, Seasalt opened its 50^th store in the UK, bucking the recent prevailing trend on the British high street.

With this new investment, Seasalt is set to open another 40 stores over the next 5 years, employing an additional 700 people across the UK and Ireland. By early 2019, the company will have over 1000 employees. As well as developing new career opportunities, the investment will support Seasalt’s ongoing drive to improve customer experience, both in-store and online.

The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Early & Growth Stage Funds have invested €1.7M in Sytorus Ltd, this is in addition to simultaneous investment from Enterprise Ireland and private investors.