Veteran risk management executive, Andrew Hersh, in partnership with middle market private equity firm Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP), has launched Sigma7, a risk services company founded to support large organisations facing today’s dynamic environment of complex risks.

Zolar, Germany’s leading digital solar platform, has raised €100 million in a Series C round led by the US-investor Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. Existing investors including Inven Capital, Heartcore Capital, Statkraft Ventures and Pirate Impact Capital also participated in the round.     With the investment zolar will roll out new digital energy products. Among others the company’s app will be expanded to include an energy management system and a dynamic electricity tariff. The app will intelligently control the solar power supply of homeowners while maximising their energy independence and cost savings. For example, the

SpotOn, a software and payment company providing solutions for restaurants, retail businesses, and enterprise venues, has secured $300 million in a Series F funding round led by Dragooned Investment Group. The funding, which comes eighty months after the company’s Series E round, raises SpotOn’s valuation to $3.6 billion.  The funding will be used to develop technology products that enable businesses to meet the evolving needs of today’s consume.

Ergon Capital Partners III SA (Ergon) is to sell its entire majority stake in Indo to Rodenstock Group (Rodenstock), a portfolio company of Apex Partners. The Company’s minority investors Sherpa Capital and Oquendo Capital will also sell their stake alongside Ergon while Indo’s management team will reinvest in the Rodenstock Group.  The transaction is subject to anti-trust clearance by the competent authorities. Founded in 1937, Indo is a Spanish independent manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses and one of the largest distributors of optical and ophthalmologic equipment. 

Mirabaud Asset Management’s private equity team has taken an equity stake in Monyco, a B2B specialist in installing luminous materials on watches. Based in La Chaux-de-fonds, Switzerland, Monyco, whose “watch urbanism” is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list, serves 120 international clients including the largest watchmakers. This investment is a perfect fit to Mirabaud Patrimoine Vivant’s mission of supporting the development of Euro- pean houses possessing unique know-how, alongside outstanding managers. The investment is in the form of a merger between Monyco and Korloff Paris – a Parisian diamond dealer, of which Mirabaud Patrimoine Vivant has been a shareholder

Circularity Capital has continued to build its portfolio of European growth stage businesses enabling the circular economy, by leading a £16.75 million growth capital round in children’s cycle subscription service Bike Club. Founded in 2016 by James Symes and Alexandra Rico-Lloyd, Bike Club is revolutionising the cycle industry by offering families the chance to subscribe to new or refurbished bikes and scooters online and exchange them as their child grows. Already the largest bike subscription scheme in the UK, the business has ambitions to expand into Germany and France within the next 24 months.   Circularity Capital will play an

Blue Whale Materials (BWM) has secured an investment commitment of up to $80 million from Ara Partners, a private equity firm that specialises in industrial decarbonis. Blue Whale will use the funds to build a network of advanced lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling facilities in the US and Europe, offering a sustainable solution to meeting the growing demand for critical battery materials.    BWM’s proprietary, leading-edge technology – validated at a commercial scale plant in Asia – recycles spent lithium-ion batteries and produces high value recycled product used in manufacturing new battery components. This helps create a sustainable, secure domestic supply

Thought Machine, a cloud native banking technology company, has closed a series D funding round, led by Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore, with participation from Intesa Sanpaolo and Morgan Stanley. Existing investors following-on in this round include: Eurazeo, ING, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, and SEB. Thought Machine is now valued at $2.7bn – a 100% increase from the company’s valuation at the close of its series C round. 

Kaizan, a Client Intelligence Platform building ‘Siri for Client Success teams’, has closed a $1.2 million pre-seed funding round led by Jigsaw. This investment will advance Kaizan’s R&D into an innovative intelligent AI for Client Success teams to guide them on how to increase revenue and client happiness. Early traction with customers, including Bidstack PLC, Fnatic and Scale Digital, and promising advancements in Kaizan’s R&D have led to early-stage VC Jigsaw leading an oversubscribed pre-seed round. With participation from angels from Entrepreneur First, Charlotte St Capital, Founders Factory, Silicon Roundabout Ventures, NICE, Ledger, IPONWEB, MIQ and Gtmhub.

Sagard NewGen has acquired a majority stake in Horizon Software – a speclialist in Market Making and Algo Trading Technology – alongside a management buy-out, to support expansion into new markets and strategic capabilities. Sagard NewGen will take over Capza’s majority stake. During the past two years with Capza, Horizon has successfully developed a single cross asset platform for market making, agency trading and algo trading, alongside with portable and scalable trading services around pricing, trading, risk, and market connectivity.     With this new investment, Horizon will focus on expanding its Trading-as-a-Service offering – bringing together agency trading and