Luminovo – an AI-powered software suite helping electronics leaders bring vital innovations to market faster, cheaper and more sustainably – has raised €11 million in a seed round led by Chalfen Ventures with participation by Tencent, Verve Ventures and Khadjavi Capital Partners, as well as existing investors La Famiglia and Cherry Ventures.  Launched in 2020 and led by Munich-based Stanford alumni Sebastian Schaal and Timon Ruban, Luminovo is the world’s first end-to-end cloud-based software suite built to help fuel technological progress through the improvement of hardware development on a global scale.  Luminovo’s unified data model and modular software suite streamlines,

Zing Dev Limited (Zing), a consulting partner of global cloud-communications provider Twilio, has launched as a fully independent company following significant new investment from Maven Capital Partners (Maven) and existing shareholders. Twilio is the customer engagement platform that drives real-time, personalised experiences for today’s leading brands. Its platform powers trillions of interactions annually to create engaging experiences for their customers. Its portfolio of services includes flagship cloud-based programmable contact centre solution, Twilio Flex. Based in London, Zing spun out from ProspectSoft just over two years ago, but remained part of the same group. With Maven’s profitable sale of ProspectSoft to

RENA Technologies (RENA) – a specialist manufacturer of equipment for wet-chemical surface treatment and part of the portfolio of funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone) since 2019 – is selling its China solar business to Productive Technologies Company Ltd (PDT).  The financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. RENA, headquartered in Guetenbach/Germany, was founded in 1993 and has grown into a global technology leader in the area of wet-chemical surface treatment. RENA’s products cover a range of technologically demanding and fast-growing areas in the industrial and technology sectors, such as semiconductors and wafering, batteries, renewable energy, glass

Solsten has raised $21.8 million in a Series B round, bringing its total funding to $31 million since inception in 2018. The round was led by Denver-based Konvoy, an early-stage investment firm that backs companies at the frontier of gaming, with participation from returning investors Inventure, the Nordic venture fund, consumer entertainment-focussed GFR Fund, early-stage games experts Sisu Game Ventures, and University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni fund Bascom Ventures.  The round also included new investors Galaxy Interactive, Japanese marketing and communications industry specialists Dentsu Ventures, and the blockchain-focussed private equity group Warburg Serres.  Co-founded by Joe Schaeppi (CEO) and Bastian Bergmann

LitCapital, an independent growth capital fund focusing on investments in high-growth companies in the Baltic region, has invested in Sena lt UAB (Horizontal Media, or HM). HM is currently managing a peer-to-peer (P2P) and business-to-customer (B2C) platform for used books in Lithuania and planning to execute an ambitious business plan aimed at growing the business via expansion into new products and services. HM is currently developing the platform, with close to 130 thousand users. After the initial investment from the entrepreneur – Per Moller, a new strategy to grow through organic development with heavy emphasis on acquisitions was developed. LitCapital

Align Capital Partners’ (ACP) accounting, tax and valuation advisory firm, WilliamsMarston has acquired Paradigm Advisory Group (Paradigm), an Atlanta-based boutique advisory firm that provides complex financial and accounting advisory solutions to private equity-backed and public companies.   This marks the firm’s sixth acquisition in two years and brings WilliamsMarston’s headcount to more than 225 professionals.   With a presence in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, Paradigm assists its clients with complex accounting advisory services including technical accounting, external audit support, IPO readiness, carve-out support, due diligence and other challenges commonly encountered in connection with a financing or M&A transaction.  Co-Founders

Cairngorm Capital Partners’ (Cairngorm Capital) portfolio company, Verso Wealth Management (Verso), has acquired Campbell Thomson Insurance Services Limited (Campbell Thomson).  This acquisition advances Verso’s strategy to build a market leading, national wealth management group and takes its assets under management to over £1 billion. Founded in 1978, Campbell Thomson is a second generation firm providing specialist financial advice and planning for businesses and individuals across the UK. With a reputation for outstanding service, the firm has a team of 13 advisors, planners, researchers and support staff based in Glasgow. Campbell Thomson is providing advice on assets exceeding £315 million as

Live and social shopping SaaS solution provider LiSA has raised €2.7 million investment in a seed round led by TechVision Fonds (TVF).  The investment will help to both accelerate the growth of its social commerce SaaS business and make frictionless, cross-platform social commerce a reality through its headless solutions and API-based partner ecosystem.  The German startup, which participated in Brent Hoberman’s Founders Factory accelerator program in 2019, also received funding from the UK’s VC Venrex and angel investor Georgie Smallwood, part of Accel’s first cohort of Scouts and chief product officer at micro mobility startup Tier. Having worked with an