Allocations
While the seed funding of early-stage European start-ups is healthy, there is a scarcity of follow-on capital for later-stage businesses, according to figures released by DFJ Esprit and Go4Venture Advisers.
The data, compiled from the latest Dow Jones VentureSource figures, also reveals that the UK, which remains the top location for investment, has for the first time lost out to France in terms of the number of larger deals completed in the first half of this year.
Of the USD1.8bn invested in European venture deals in the year to date, the UK holds the total investment lead at
Arthurian Life Sciences Limited, manager of the new GBP100m Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund, has arranged a GBP13.8m funding commitment from the Welsh Government to enable ReNeuron to relocate to Wales and continue to grow the stem cell R&D, clinical trials and manufacturing base of the company.
The funding package is made up of GBP5m direct equity investment from the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund and a GBP7.8m commitment of non-dilutive grants from the government.
This investment has formed the cornerstone of a total fundraising of GBP33.2m for the company in which several other international life sciences
Venture capital fund manager Mercia Fund Management has invested GBP150,000 in Oxford Genetics.
The new biotechnology company is behind SnapFast – a system that simplifies the purchase of synthetic DNA molecules (plasmids).
Chief executive of Oxford Genetics, Dr Ryan Cawood, invented the SnapFast system and likens it to “Lego for DNA”. Historically, most genetic engineering has been performed by combining pieces of DNA, gathered from a variety of sources that were never intended to fit together. This can make clinical research and drug development time-consuming, costly and often frustrating. Oxford Genetics provides all of the standard DNA components
Private equity and venture capital firms invested USD126m across nine Indian agri-business companies during the first six months of 2013, 75 per cent more than the USD72m invested across six companies during the same period last year, says data from Venture Intelligence.
The largest PE investment in the industry during 2013 was Multiples Private Equity’s Rs.250 crore (USD43.24m) investment in Bangalore-based Milltec Group which develops technology and machinery for rice milling, roller flour milling, maize (corn) milling and agro processing plants.
Another buyouts focused PE firm, India Value Fund, has committed USD40m to pick up a majority stake
HgCapital has made a majority investment in IntelliFlo, a provider of front and back office software to financial advisors, advisor networks and brokers.
The investment was made from its Mercury Fund which was raised to specifically target software and other technology companies across Europe.
Led by chief executive Nick Eatock, IntelliFlo combines a decade-long track record in the UK market, with a best in class SaaS product and significant capability created by investment ahead of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). Nearly 10,000 advisors and administrators use IntelliFlo’s software on a daily basis to manage front and back-office workflows
Host Europe Group, the largest privately-owned hosting group in Europe, has been acquired by European private equity firm Cinven from Montagu Private Equity.
Headquartered in the UK, Host Europe Group is a provider of hosting and domain services to small and medium enterprises, with around 600 employees. It offers an end-to-end product suite including domain registration, application hosting, cloud hosting and managed hosting, with most of its revenues generated in the UK and Germany.
The business has established market-leading positions in its core markets leveraging a large base of 1.5 million customers, well-recognised brands (including 123-reg, Webfusion, Heart Internet
HIG Capital’s Brazilian affiliate has completed a strategic investment in Creme Mel Sorvetes, a Brazilian ice cream company.
Headquartered in Goiás, Creme Mel is the largest ice cream producer in the Mid-West of Brazil. The company has over 900 employees and sells ice cream in nine Brazilian states.
HIG’s investment will allow Creme Mel to expand its production capacity with the construction of a new plant and will provide capital for a faster expansion throughout Brazil.
“We are very excited to have HIG as a partner. Their ability and experience in helping companies grow all over the
Venture capital funds TT Venture, a fund managed by Fondamenta SGR, and Atlante Seed, a fund managed by IMI Fondi Chiusi SGR, an Intesa Sanpaolo Group company, have invested in MilkyWay, a start-up in Modena focused on the design, manufacture and online sales of bike-trial and extreme sports equipment.
The investment operation totals an initial EUR720,000, which MilkyWay will use to expand its range of products on the extreme sports market (such as kitesurfing, downhill biking and parkour) and to develop the online community (www.milkywaytribe.com).
In just a few months the MilkyWay community has positioned itself as a
Edison Ventures has made a USD5.5m investment in a USD7m total financing round in Ontario, Canada based eSentire.
Existing investor VentureLink joined Edison in the round.
The proceeds will be used to increase sales and marketing, expand product development to address markets beyond financial services eSentire combines behaviour-based technology with seasoned security professionals to provide a unique managed services offering. To date, the company has focused exclusively on serving the financial services market, specifically hedge funds. With Edison’s investment, eSentire will continue to penetrate the hedge fund sector and, expand into other markets.
Lenard Marcus, Edison principal
NBGI Private Equity (NBGIPE), the lower mid-market buyout firm, has sold its majority stake in Ochre House to US-based Pinstripe backed by Accel-KKR, which delivers a 4x return on NBGIPE’s original investment.
The sale will result in the combined business becoming the largest independent provider of global recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and talent management solutions.
Ochre House has rapidly grown to become a leading provider of talent management services in the UK, Continental Europe and the Middle East and represents a significant EMEA platform for the US buyer, Pinstripe. The EMEA market is estimated at approximately USD967m and
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