A new investment company has been formed in the UK to provide businesses with an alternative form of growth capital. Draper Oakwood Royalty Capital is to make investments in growth companies, in exchange for a share in future revenues. Draper Oakwood calls their investment an ‘R Round’ (Royalty Round). Royalty-based

New rules have been introduced which allow Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) to be listed on the Channel Islands Securities Exchange (CISE). A SPAC is a cash shell which is used to raise money for a very specific investment objective. The SPAC is growing again in popularity as international markets

Invest Securities has launched PRE-IPO, the first European crowdfunding platform for private investments in the last financing rounds of unlisted growth companies a few months before they go public. A website describing the concept will be live between 20 November and 20 December, and will introduce PRE-IPO's first exclusive investment

Law firm Howard Kennedy and its regulated London Stock Exchange sponsor, Howard Kennedy Corporate Services, have advised Pembroke VCT on the launch of its 2015 share offer. Pembroke VCT, which is managed by part of Peter Duben’s Oakley Capital Group, will look to raise GBP15 million in 2015/16 and continue

White Star Capital, a transatlantic Venture Capital fund with offices in London, New York and Montreal, has closed its first institutional fund with USD70 million in Limited Partner commitments. White Star Capital will deploy between USD500,000 and USD5 million in initial investments into companies in North America and Western Europe. 

NexusCrowd has launched a new real estate redevelopment project on its online investment platform, after partnering with Downing Street Realty Partners, a Toronto-based real estate investment manager and merchant bank. Downing Street is the lead investor for the CAD12 million project, which includes three industrial properties in the Greater Toronto

Amicus Finance is to launch a new commercial finance business dedicated to serving the small business and professional services communities.  Amicus Commercial Finance will be led by two highly experienced and proven market specialists, John Wilde and David Hogg, who built SME Invoice Finance Limited (SMEIF) from start-up in 2000

Rakuten has launched the Rakuten FinTech Fund, a USD100 million global investment fund focused on investments in disruptive early to mid-stage fintech startups that offer ‘attractive return potential with strategic relevance’. The fund will target investments in startups and growth companies primarily in the US and Europe and build on