Statistics released on 27 April by HMRC* demonstrate a near 20% decline in the amount raised by companies using Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) tax relief, year on year. The number of companies using EIS scheme has decreased slightly while the total amount raised fell by over £200 million.

Scotland’s entrepreneurs are set to benefit from a major new partnership between Cazenove Capital, the premier provider of personalised wealth management services, and Entrepreneurial Scotland, the country’s leading organisation for entrepreneurial leaders.

GrowthEnabler has launched a Scoring System for the Internet of Things (IoT) market in the UK.

The rating is revealed in the company’s new Market Pulse Report on IoT, which uncovers key trends and insights on what is rapidly becoming one of the UK’s most innovative technology sectors.

The UK’s IoT market is set to receive £81 billion of investment and create 67,000 jobs by 2020 and the startups identified by GrowthEnabler will be fuelling this revolution. The rating includes 21 top disruptive UK IoT startups that have the potential to transform the way that we live and do business.

This new research categorises the top disruptive startups into early, mid and late-stage companies, assigning them a GrowthEnabler Score based on core parameters of business success.

This expansion will enhance the capabilities of Humaniq to solve critical and chronic issues of the world by repurposing Artificial Intelligence and DeepTech for social good and enabling leading scientists and entrepreneurs to solve the most critical problems facing humanity.

The total amount raised by VCTs in 2016/17 demonstrated the strongest demand in a decade. But which offers raised the most? Which closed earliest – and which raised money the fastest?

The answers might surprise you. We put together an infographic showing the offers that opened in the 2016/17 tax year. 

Offers are listed in the order they closed. The size of the circle indicates the amount raised. Two circles indicates over-allotment, where the initial target is met and the offer is extended.

https://www.wealthclub.co.uk/articles/investment-news/vct-fundraising-2016-17-infographic/

The latest OFF3R Index Report revealed that just over £40 million was invested in early stage businesses in March 2017 via some of the leading Equity Crowdfunding platforms in the UK.

This record breaking figure smashed the previous monthly high, set back in July 2015, by over £13 Million; making March the most successful month for the total amount raised via equity crowdfunding platforms in the young life of the asset class by a considerable margin.

Equity crowdfunding had a very strong finish to 2016 but had so far seen a slow start to the year. Therefore, this record breaking month comes as a boost to the sector. The OFF3R Index delivers a monthly view on the amount raised via some of the leading equity crowdfunding platforms in the UK (including Crowdcube, SynidcateRoom,  and Seedrs).

March saw some larger raises that contributed to the record breaking figure and OFF3R partner SyndicateRoom had a particularly strong month. Some notable raises last month included Monzo on Crowdcube and Hibergene Diagnostics on SyndicateRoom.

Every quarter we deep-dive into data to get a clear overview of the global funding of start-ups. This current report recaps how this industry has behaved during the first three months of 2017 and so far, the year has not started out on a very positive note. Overall, we’re seeing a pretty significant drop in the total funding of startups.

Download the report from Funderbeam

Chessable, the chess trainer lauded by YouTube chess star John Bartholomew, is ready to make a major push into the e-learning market after attracting nearly £100,000 of investment.

Mobeus Equity Partners has provided £2.9 million of growth capital to Buster + Punch, a London-based interiors brand founded in 2012 by architect and industrial designer Massimo Buster Minale.  

LoveCrafts, the creator of online crafts communities, with millions of users across 140 countries worldwide, today announces completion of a £26 million funding round led by Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), together with current investors Balderton and Highland Europe.  

Over 180 investors and entrepreneurs will gather tonight (Tuesday, 25^th April, 2017) to celebrate a quarter of a century of early stage investing by business angel syndicate, Archangels, and will hear that the syndicate has led more than £222m of investment by Archangels and its partners in 82 Scottish companies, creating over 3,500 high value jobs since launching in 1992.

The Enterprise Index, a quarterly barometer testing the views of over 200 business leaders and entrepreneurs, reveals that 85% of entrepreneurs and small business owners are planning for growth and 80% are optimistic about their own prospects over the next 12 months. Crucially, they are nearly 30% more positive about their own growth than at the end of 2016, the highest point since mid-2013