Allocations
NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance and XTX Ventures has invested GBP2.5 million in Logically, a tech startup using AI to detect misinformation and to provide a fact-checking service to combat fake news ahead of the US election.
Foresight Group has made a GBP1 million growth capital investment into Ajenta Limited, a provider of specialist video conferencing services to schools, colleges and universities and other public sector organisations. This is the fifth investment made by the GBP20 million Foresight Scottish Growth Fund, which is financed by the Scottish Growth Scheme through a combination of Scottish Government funds and the European Regional Development Fund.
Ajenta provides video collaboration software to education and public sector organisations with a focus on creating real-time environments that improve communications and enable a remote and dynamic learning and working culture. With organisations having to transition rapidly
Octopus Renewables, the specialist clean energy investor arm of Octopus Group, has acquired two UK operational ROC accredited onshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 16.8MW. The acquisition marks the first deployment from the Renewable Energy Income Partnership III (REIP III), a £185 million institutional mandate announced earlier this year that is closed for further investment.
The two wind farms, located in South Lanarkshire and Northamptonshire, provide the equivalent energy to power more than 17,000 UK homes, or the equivalent saving of CO2 to removing close to 50,000 petrol or diesel cars from the road. The wind farms were purchased
Dash cam manufacturer Nextbase has completed a GBP10 million round of growth funding from Sandton Capital Partners, a London and New York based private equity fund (Sandton).Nextbase has an 80 per cent os the dash cam market in the UK and 50 per cent in Europe and is already a market leader in the US, where it only recently launched. A similar growth and share pattern is anticipated in new territories around the world.
Sandton’s investment will be used be used to accelerate the implementation of cutting edge new technologies, including 4G/5G functionality, and the development of leading Automotive and
London-based ETF Partners has closed its third Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF3) at GBP167 million, which will focus on innovative companies in the UK and Europe that help deliver long-term and sustainable economic prosperity.
International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges has advised bd-capital on its preliminary fundraise to acquire Symprove Holdings Limited (Symprove), a manufacturer and distributer of food supplements. Launched to the public in 2010, Symprove is an innovative probiotic containing live, multi-strain bacteria, with a unique water-based delivery system which actively maintains gut health and the gut microbiome.
The Weil team was led by corporate partner Jonathan Wood and private funds partner James Bromley, working alongside corporate associates, Kirstin Fyffe, Dominika Javornicka and Lottie Hudson, private funds counsel, Marloes Zaman with support from associate, Imaan Gangi, and private funds tax partner
Growth Capital Partners (GCP), a UK SME private equity firm that specialises in partnering with owner-managers, has realised its investment in Chaucer Consulting (Chaucer), one of the UK’s leading challenger consultancies specialising in people-led digital transformation in the UK and US. The deal will see Chaucer partner with Business Integration Partners (BIP), an Italian headquartered international consultancy.
GCP backed Chris Laslett and the senior Chaucer management team in February 2014, since then the business has doubled revenue and profit. Chaucer has expanded its digital-led services capability, widened its customer base, acquired the CIO advisory consultancy Virtrium and doubled consultant headcount to
Nordic life science venture fund Eir Ventures has held a first close of its new fund, that will be focusing on healthcare innovation, on EUR76 million.
Eir Ventures will invest in companies with products and technologies addressing unmet medical needs and a potential to improve the life of patients. “In the current environment, where financing has become even more sparse and startups are struggling to fund development, healthcare innovation is more important than ever,” said Dr Magnus Persson, managing partner of Eir Ventures.
The fund is backed by Swedish and Danish institutions such as Saminvest, a VC company founded by
CAPZA, a private investment platform specialising in small and mid-caps, has acquired a majority stake in French fire safety specialist Eurofeu group. The investment was made alongside the founder, Michel Lahouati, the Managing Director, Philippe de Panthou, the new Chairman, Eric Hentgès, and the entire management team. The main objectives are to accelerate the consolidation of the fire safety market, to pursue the diversification of the group’s offer and to initiate its development across Europe.
Founded in 1972 in Senonches (Eure-et-Loir) by Nicole and Michel Lahouati, Eurofeu produces, markets, installs and maintains fire safety equipment, including fire extinguishers, emergency units
Specialist asset manager, Mercia Asset Management, has sold its stake in The Native Antigen Company, a leading producer of infectious disease reagents, to global life sciences tools company LGC for a total cash consideration of up to GBP18.0 million.Mercia has supported The Native Antigen Company since it commenced trading, investing from both its own balance sheet and its third-party funds under management, and held a 49.4% stake. The sale is anticipated to generate an 8.4x return on Mercia’s balance sheet investment and a 12.1x return on its managed funds.
Mercia’s Chief Operations Officer Peter Dines sat on the company’s board
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
