Do you have life insurance to protect your dependants? Have you started your pension pot? Do you know how much you have saved towards your retirement?

A novel anti-bacterial agent which has been developed in Scotland by MGB Biopharma for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infections, is to enter Phase II clinical trials following a newly-completed £1.3m fund raise from existing and new investors, supplementing a £2.7m grant awarded earlier this year by Innovate UK.

Enterprise Investment Partners (EIP) and Start Up Funding Club (SFC) have announced the launch of the SFC SEIS Fund, a new generalist SEIS Fund targeting a portfolio of primarily early stage SEIS companies across all sectors with strong growth and compelling exit prospects.

Official statistics confirm that UK productivity growth is at an all-time low, with output per worker increasing by less than 1% in 2017. However, Britain’s growth companies are bucking the trend with research released today by ECI Partners showing that UK growth companies posted productivity gains of 13.5% for the same period, rising to 18% for companies in TMT and business services and 20% for London firms.

ECI’s 2018 Growth Survey, the only annual survey in the UK focused solely on high growth companies, polls business sentiment and analyses productivity gains. This year’s report shows that companies are achieving these gains by significantly investing in people skills, technology and social media:

Get the full report here: http://www.ecipartners.com/~/media/Files/E/ECI-Partners/ECI_Partners_Culture_Growth_Survey_2018.pdf

Private equity firm Chiltern Capital is making a significant investment in employee benefits provider PES (Premier Employment Solutions Limited). 

As debate rages around how various UK business sectors might react in a post-Brexit world, Andrew Aldridge explains why - throughout the country - the tecnology sector stands out as an obvious area of expertise

gohenry, the company behind the gohenry financial tool, which is enabling a generation of kids and teens to take part in the digital economy and learn about money, will soon launch a crowdfunding campaign via Crowdcube, the world’s first and largest equity crowdfunding platform. The proceeds will allow investment in the gohenry product and marketing, and fuel expansion in the vast US market.

Seneca Partners, the award winning specialist SME finance business, has completed a successful first close for its recently launched VCT offering, Seneca Growth Capital VCT, amid high demand from investors.  The VCT offering was launched in May and having already reached its initial fundraise target, the first £3.1m allotment of shares took place on 23 August 2018.  On the same day the VCT’s name was changed to Seneca Growth Capital VCT and Seneca was appointed as investment manager.

FBGS Technologies GmbH, a leading supplier of advanced fiber-optic sensing solutions and components (based on Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG) technology), has secured single-digit million-dollar growth financing, to accelerate its manufacturing automation programme and build out its sales operations in high-growth Asian markets.

In partnership with The Invested Investor, a project founded by Peter and Alan Cowley to help entrepreneurs and early stage investors achieve greater success by sharing lessons learned, Angel News is delighted to publish this interview focusing on the altruistic, enterprising, human genomic data expert and CEO of Repositive, Fiona Nielsen. 

This interview was originally published on The Invested Investor https://www.investedinvestor.com/articles/2018/9/11/start-up-spotlight-with-fiona-nielsen

Will Fraser-Allen, deputy managing partner at Albion Capital, comments on this year's VCT fundraising prospects.

ACA Compliance Group has completed the acquisition of Cordium, a leading provider of governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) products and services. As of today, ACA employs nearly 700 people and provides products and services to over 4,000 clients worldwide. The financial terms of the transaction will not be disclosed.