WiseWorks AI, a communications intelligence platform, has secured a $1.2 million investment to build a one-stop solution for financial institutions to analyse surging virtual communications for compliance and to automate everyday tasks. The heavily oversubscribed round was led by Veridian Ventures, with investment from funds including Silicon Valley-based R42, SyndicateRoom’s Super Angel fund, and Istcapital, joining initial investors Founders Factory. The funding will be used to expand the team and accelerate product development. WiseWorks is backed by serial entrepreneur and AI veteran Dr Ronjon Nag, founder of R42, who has founded and advised speech recognition companies sold to Motorola, RIM/Blackberry,

Maven Capital Partners’ (Maven) Maven VCTs have invested £1 million in ORCHA Health Limited (ORCHA). Cheshire based ORCHA is a global leader in assessing and distributing digital health, enabling private, local, and national health systems to adopt digital solutions, supporting healthcare professionals to prescribe digital health apps to patients. The company’s products are used in 12 countries, including the UK, Canada and parts of Europe. Customers include Public Health England, MHRA, NHS Digital, Mental Health Commission of Canada, and the American Telemedicine Association. The business is led by CEO Liz Ashall-Payne, a former NHS speech therapist, who recently won the

Pemberton, a leading alternative credit specialist, has provided financing to support Inflexion’s re-investment in global technology staffing and consulting specialist, K2 Partnering Solutions (K2). To support Inflexion’s re-investment, Pemberton is using an innovative cross-fund financing structure through its Senior Loan and Mid-Market Debt strategies. K2 is a specialist in the provision of human capital, talent and solutions to global corporations and systems integrators operating in the enormous and high-growth enterprise resource planning (ERP) and cloud technology environments. The company serves over 520 clients globally from its 750,000 contractors across 19 offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Konvoy, an early-stage investment firm that invests at the ‘frontier’ of gaming, has launched a new $150 million fund. With the new fund, Konvoy will have $270 million under management.  Konvoy Fund III will focus on pre-seed, seed, and Series A gaming companies within a number of different gaming verticals – including technology, platforms, Web3 gaming – and gaming companies operating at the intersections with other industries, including education and healthcare. Geographically, Konvoy, which leads the majority of the investments it makes, will continue to focus on North American, European and African markets, while actively expanding its investments into Latin

Eurazeo has closed the sale of its entire stake in Reden Solar to a consortium led by Macquarie Asset Management and also comprising British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and MEAG. This sale was completed on the basis of an enterprise value of €2.5 billion and generated cash proceeds of €633 million for Eurazeo, representing a cash-on-cash multiple of 4.4x and an internal rate of return (IRR) of around 42%. A shareholder since 2010, Eurazeo partnered with InfraVia in 2017 to help refocus the company’s business on solar PV projects, anticipating this market’s rapid growth.  Reden Solar has an operational

Reports of global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity entering a dry spell appear premature with dealmakers recording the third highest number of completed deals in an opening six months since M&A deal research by WTW began in 2008. According to analysis based on WTW’s Quarterly Deal Performance Monitor (QDPM), the only years that have surpassed the 441 deals (valued over $100 million) completed in the first half of 2022 were 2021, during an exceptional pandemic rebound, and 2015. Although deal activity has slowed from its record-setting 2021 pace, when 484 deals were completed in the first six months, M&A volumes

Temasek, a global investor headquartered in Singapore, has completed its acquisition of Element Materials Technology (Element), a specialist in testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) services. Temasek has been a minority shareholder in Element since 2019. Temasek acquired Element from Bridgepoint, whose ownership has been an important part of a more than ten-fold increase in Element’s turnover over the past decade. The acquisition, which was subject to regulatory approvals, was previously announced on 25 January 2022.

Two of primary buyout specialists Kester Capital’s portfolio companies, Rephine and Jollyes, have completed strategic acquisitions. In addition, Kester has provided follow-on funding to another portfolio company, Optibrium, to accelerate development and expansion.  This investment activity comes on the back of the recent sale of Avania, which delivered in excess of 8x ROI for Kester.   Rephine, a leading provider of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) audits and regulatory consulting services to the pharmaceutical industry, has acquired Barcelona-based GxP audit organisation Forum Auditorias, and its manufacturing supply chain compliance consultancy TDV. Jollyes, meanwhile, a UK retailer of specialty pet products, has

Happeo, tanhe intranet platform for fast-moving companies, has raised $26 million in a Series B funding round led by Endeit Capital, Smartfin and Evli Growth Partners. Happeo’s earlier investors INKEF Capital, Maki.vc and Vendep Capital, among others, also joined the round.  The investment will allow Happen to develop its social intranet platform further at a time when companies need to centralise their information more than ever.  Happeo gives companies a ‘virtual headquarters’ that centralises information and knowledge internally making sure employees have everything they need to do their best work – and build connections and a positive culture in the