Allocations
German independent asset manager Prime Capital AG has reached a EUR202 million first closing on its Prime Green Energy Infrastructure Fund, its first commingled product in the infrastructure space. The Fund focuses on wind-powered energy assets in the Nordic countries, with no reliance on government support and with the lowest cost of electricity in Europe. The Fund aims to secure assets in their late development stage and exploit their full return potential by employing a value-add strategy. This strategy includes the optimisation of permits, layouts and technology, together with full contract tendering whilst striking the optimal balance between long-term financing and
The State Street Private Equity Index (SSPEI) posted its second highest quarterly return in the past two years at 4.35 per cent return in the fourth quarter of 2019, up from the 0.82 per cent return in Q3 2019. Venture Capital funds rallied 5.68 per cent after last quarter’s decline of -0.05 per cent return, followed by 4.24 per cent return from Buyout funds and 2.43 per cent return from Private Debt funds.
“Private Equity performance rebounded in Q4 and scored a respectable 14.22 per cent annualised return for 2019. The total capital raised in 2019 also surpassed the previous peak
Livingbridge, one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investors, has invested in Irish insurance and financial services group Chill Insurance (Chill).Headquartered in Dublin where it employs almost 250 staff, Chill was founded in 2006 by brothers Padraig and Seamus Lynch and has subsequently grown into one of the largest independent personal lines insurance broker in Ireland with over 200,000 policyholders, representing a 6 per cent market share.
Chill has successfully disrupted the Irish personal lines insurance market through its strong brand and multi-channel distribution capabilities, offering high-quality service, whole of market choice through a panel of 14 major
SLAMcore, a UK company developing spatial AI algorithms for robots and drones, has secured USD5 million in a funding round led by Octopus Ventures and MMC Ventures, with participation from Amadeus Capital Partners and Toyota AI Ventures. The funding will allow SLAMcore to meet the increasing demand of the robotics market, which has seen demand skyrocket due to Covid-19. This has occurred particularly in drone, robots and AR/VR usage, as effective robotics solutions that can support the ‘new normal’ of a post-Covid-19 crisis world are accelerating.
SLAMcore has seen a spike in demand from companies looking to apply robotics with enquiries
The coronavirus crisis and nationwide lockdown have given clarity on how to evaluate companies’ ability to tackle social issues, “crystallising” what the S in ESG stands for, according to Bas NieuweWeme, CEO of Aegon Asset Management.
The impact from coronavirus and the changes to the way people have had to both work and live means this has now come to the forefront, according to the investment manager.
“The lockdown has allowed a crystallisation of the real performance on social issues versus mere policies and positioning,” said NieuweWeme.
He continued: “We can now look at how companies have behaved
Akia, a Menlo Park-based start-up focused on transforming the way hotels engage with their guests, has secured a new round of funding from GSR Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm with more than USD3 billion under management. Akia will utilise the capital to accelerate and expand implementation of its AI-enabled SaaS platform, which allows hotels to provide guests with contactless options such as pre-arrival check-in and shifting in-person guest communications to text messaging. Akia’s customers include brands such as Hyatt, Marriott, Best Western, NoMad, The Ritz-Carlton Club & Residences, and many luxury boutiques.
“Akia’s messaging platform helps hotels provide superior
Trinity Consultants (Trinity), a portfolio company of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP), has acquired Vision Environment Australia Pty Ltd (Vision Environment). Vision Environment, based in Queensland, Australia, is a leading provider of water quality monitoring services to clients involved in commercial dredging and other industrial activities that impact the marine environment.
Trinity is a leading provider of regulatory-driven environmental, health & safety and engineering consulting services. Trinity specialises in highly technical, compliance-driven services with a core presence in air quality and an expanding presence in adjacencies such as commissioning, qualification and validation, process safety management, toxicology and water quality. Trinity operates
Investcorp’s portfolio company Calligo Limited (Calligo), an end-to-end managed data services provider, has acquired Itomic Voice & Data Ltd (Itomic). Itomic is a Cork- and Dublin-based IT managed services provider, specializing in IT solutions and maintenance and managed Microsoft 365 and Azure services.
Founded in 2012, Jersey-based Calligo puts data and its privacy at the heart of a tailored collection of managed data services for SMEs and enterprises, including IT managed services, managed cloud services, data privacy services and privacy-by-design machine learning services. Investcorp Technology Partners via Investcorp Technology Fund IV backed Calligo in 2016 and has invested more than
Swappie, an end-to-end online marketplace for buying and selling refurbished smartphones, has raised a USD40.6 million (EUR35.8 million) Series B funding round. Participants in the round included TESI, alongside existing investors Lifeline Ventures, Reaktor Ventures, and Inventure – all of which participated in Swappie’s Series A in 2019 – bringing the total amount raised by Swappie to USD48 million (EUR42.5 million). The funding will be used to accelerate Swappie’s international expansion and to support the company’s rapid growth.
Swappie was co-founded in 2016 by Sami Marttinen (CEO) and Jiri Heinonen (CMO) with the simple mission of providing customers with a way to upgrade their phones
GreyLion Capital (GreyLion) has completed its spin out from Perella Weinberg Partners Capital Management (PWP). Established as part of Perella Weinberg Partners Asset Management business in 2012, GreyLion is now an independent, employee-owned investment firm, focusing on investing in a diversified portfolio of high-growth businesses in the middle market. Going forward, PWP will not have any role in GreyLion’s governance. Certain PWP employees and partners will continue as supportive limited partners in GreyLion-managed funds.
Chip Baird and David Ferguson will continue to lead GreyLion and will serve as the firm’s Managing Partners. All investment and certain related non-investment staff dedicated to
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
