Moore Stephens, the top ten accounting and advisory firm, has carried out an in-depth survey amongst directors of AIM companies and their professional advisers to explore one overarching question – is AIM still considered the world’s leading growth market?

Eggplant (formerly Testplant), the provider of Digital Automation Intelligence solutions, has announced the acquisition of NCC Group’s Web Performance Division.

Three Hills Capital Partners has announced its investment in Sigma Retail Solutions. Sigma is a leading provider of outsourced solutions to blue chip retailers across the UK, Europe and Australia. The Company offers a wide range of services from procurement to project delivery and supply chain solutions of various specialist fixtures and fittings.

LetsGetChecked, the medical health testing platform that allows customers to access regulated laboratory testing and self-test from the comfort of home.

LendingCrowd has secured an external funding round of £2 million following a strong 2017 for the peer-to-peer (P2P) lender, with the proceeds earmarked for ramping up its sales and marketing activities.

Growth Street, an alternative finance provider for UK SMEs, plans to inject £20m into growing Welsh businesses over the next 12 months. 

Breed Reply, a leading active operational investor in early-stage Internet of Things (IoT) businesses, has today announced investments in France-based METRON and TAG Sensors, a Norwegian company.

The two companies raised a total of £3.75 million from Breed Reply and other investors. These new investments mean Breed Reply’s pan-European investment portfolio of early-stage IoT businesses has increased to 20 in a variety of different sectors, including health, industrial IoT, smart buildings and cities, and transportation.

The UK Business Angels Association has opened a new Angel Investment Hub in the heart of Cambridge.

Business is booming across north Wales, with the latest figures from the Development Bank of Wales showing an increase in investment appetite across our region. £15 million was invested into 65 north Wales businesses in 2017. The figure is three times the amount invested in 2016. 

A tiny group of UK companies are punching well above their weight showing they can be a significant force in driving the country’s economic growth, increasing UK productivity, skills and employment, according to The Octopus High Growth Small Business Report 2018.

One in every five new jobs in the UK and more than 20% of economic growth was created by high growth small businesses between 2015 and 2016. Representing less than 1% of UK business, these 22,074 companies created on average more than 3,000 new jobs each week.

The Development Bank of Wales has invested in Coursematch, a social network designed to help young people research, compare and discuss their university and career options. Coursematch also secured investment from seven angel investors.  The funding round was led by the Development Bank of Wales, following an introduction to the company through Colin Batten of Innovation Point, the digital innovation company behind accelerators like the Digital Dozen and IoTA (Internet of Things Accelerator) Wales.

Glyconics has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Ghent University in Belgium for its proprietary method for the measurement of Diabetes