Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has led a GBP4.25 million funding round for Mypura.com Group Limited (Pura), a baby care brand which specialises in eco-friendly baby wipes and nappies. The transaction includes GBP4 million of funding split evenly across the Maven VCTs, NPIF Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and Maven Investor Partners, Maven’s high net worth investment syndicate. Michael Law, former Operations Director at Next Plc, has also invested and will join the Board. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Glasgow-based contact lens technology pioneers Ocutec Limited have secured GBP1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Deepbridge Capital. The funding round, which includes provision of GBP1 million of funding via the Deepbridge Technology Growth EIS fund, GBP360k from Intuitive Investments Group (IIG) and a GBP100k SMART grant to support the Company’s development projects, is to be used for recruitment, new equipment and further product development.   The University of Strathclyde spin-out has patented technology covering the formulation of contact lens products, contact lens comfort solutions, and injection moulding technology for rapid manufacturing using polyethylene glycol (PEG).

Fast growing Edtech startup Vygo has raised GBP1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round supported by online age investment platform Angel Investment Network. Vygo is a Saas platform reinventing the conventional social support ecosystem in higher education.  The round was led by Edtech VC Sparkmind and supported by Angel Investment Network. Other participants include Edtech accelerator Supercharger Ventures and the Australian Catholic University. The funds will be used for platform development and expansion of its UK and European presence.  Offering personalised support services beyond the physical campus, the business already works with a third of Australian Universities and is rapidly

Shaken Udder, a husband-and-wife founded milkshake company that supplies to major UK supermarkets, has secured a minority investment from mid-market private equity firm LDC to support the next stage of its growth journey. Headquartered in Tiptree, Essex, Shaken Udder blends fresh milk with real ingredients to create a variety of flavours, from its signature ‘Chocolush!’ to Strawberries and Clotted Cream, which are now stocked in retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons, ASDA, Co-op and Boots.  The business has expanded through new product development including a 750ml share bottle and a dairy-free, plant-based alternative range, Shaken Other.   LDC’s investment will

Heidelberg Pharma AG and Huadong Medicine Co have entered into a strategic partnership with the signing of an exclusive licensing agreement as well as an investment agreement.

WestBridge has exited bChannels following the company’s acquisition by The Channel Company, a US trade buyer with a complementary service offering, backed by US-based Eagle Tree. The transaction marks the second successful exit for WestBridge in the last 12 months and delivers a 4.2x multiple of cost to WestBridge’s investors.   WestBridge backed the buyout of the global technology marketing agency in July 2014 and has worked closely with the executive team over the period to deliver a scalable and repeatable business model.

CVC Credit has further supported Markerstudy Group (Markerstudy) by providing incremental facilities for the add-on acquisitions of Clegg Gifford Co Ltd (Clegg Gifford), a UK-based Lloyd’s broker which provides personal and commercial insurance products and, BGL Insurance (BGLi) a digital-focused, personal lines insurance broker in the UK. CVC Credit has supported Markerstudy since January 2021, when it financed Pollen Street Capital’s and Qatar Insurance Corporation’s investment in the business.   Founded in 2001, Markerstudy is one of the fastest growing general insurance players in the UK with close to six million policyholders, it is known for its investment in technology,

Four separate private equity firms are considering a cEUR1.5 billion bid to acquire a stake in Ligue 1 – the top professional football league in France – according to a report by the Financial Times. CVC Capital Partners, Hellman & Friedman, Silver Lake and Oaktree Capital are all said to be preparing formal bids for a take in a newly created company that will market Ligue 1’s TV and online broadcast rights. Silver Lake is already involved in football through its holding in City Football Group, the owner of Manchester City and a stake in the French Ligue 1 club ES

Pantera Capital and Patron, an early-stage venture capital firm, have co led a USD6 million seed funding round in Web 3 startup, Fast Break Labs. Other participants in the round include: Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai’s family office; Marc Merrill and Thomas Vu of Riot Games, the developer of the League of Legends video game; and Sacramento Kings co-owner Aneel Ranadive. Fast Break Labs is the company behind the forthcoming Virtual Basketball Association, an online fantasy sports league built on the Solana blockchain. Users will need to buy packs of player NFTs to build their teams and then compete against

The RMA Group of Companies (RMA), a portfolio company of OceanSound Partners, has acquired Coating Specialists and Inspection Services, dba CSI Services (CSI), a specialty coating inspection services business based. Following the previously announced merger with Western Technologies (WT), the acquisition of CSI is RMA’s second transaction as it executes an acquisition-driven growth strategy to build a national test and inspection services platform for critical infrastructure end-markets.  Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.   Founded in 2004, CSI provides specialty inspection services of protective paints and linings used to prevent corrosion of critical infrastructure assets, including water storage