Managers
NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners (Maven) and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, has invested GBP200,000 as part of a GBP700,000 funding round in Biorelate, a technology platform using artificial intelligence (AI) to efficiently curate data in biomedicine.
Existing investors, Catapult Ventures via the Greater Manchester and Cheshire Life Sciences Fund, provided GBP150,000 and the Manchester Tech Trust Angels (MTTA) provided GBP350,000. The funding will be used to expand the team, and to develop its product offering, including three new SaaS products.
Founded in 2014, Biorelate uses existing knowledge to help scientists solve
Nosto, a specialist in ecommerce personalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) tools for retail, has closed a new round of funding totalling USD7.4 million led by European investment companies Tesi, Open Ocean and Idinvest.
The new funds will be used towards investments in Nosto’s machine learning core, omni-channel personalisation and continued international expansion.
Nosto’s innovative retail personalisation solutions have fuelled a three-year growth rate of 260 per cent in North America driven by deep relationships with 2,500 of the world’s fastest growing retail brands. To date, Nosto has raised more than USD25 million from investors to further expand its leadership
ThinCats, a fintech lender to SMEs has launched a new programme for up to GBP300 million with global asset manager Insight Investment to fund UK SMEs with commercial loans.
On top of GBP300 million from existing investors, ThinCats now has a potential GBP600 million to fund UK SMEs across the full risk spectrum in all regions and sectors from GBP100,000 to GBP10 million. ThinCats’ lending focus remains on meeting borrowers’ ambitions through funding of up to five years to companies with asset backing or reliable cashflows for working capital, acquisition, refinance or growth.
Damon Walford, Chief Development Officer, ThinCats,
LBO France has widened its fund range, usually reserved for institutional investors, with the launch of the FCPR White Caps Sélection, a private equity fund for high net worth clients with a minimum investment amount of EUR25,000.
The FCPR White Caps Sélection fund will invest directly or via funds managed by LBO France in profitable and growing unlisted French or European small or midcap companies within the framework of expansion capital or buyout capital transactions. To ensure additional diversification, the fund will also be able to invest in real estate.
Investors in the FCPR White Caps Sélection fund will
Mariana Enevoldsen (pictured), Director at Estera, explains how the recent IPO of music investment fund Hipgnosis demonstrates how Guernsey continues to be popular and trusted by advisers and investors, and highlights the attractiveness of the island for alternative asset classes…
This summer Merck Mercuriadis, a former manager of Sir Elton John, Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden and Morrissey, floated his new music investment fund on the London Stock Exchange. Hipgnosis Songs Fund raised GBP202 million to invest in music royalties. Shortly after the IPO, Hipgnosis announced the acquisition of its first catalogue of hits from The-Dream, which includes hit songs
ForeVest Capital Partners (ForeVest), a private equity fund manager operating primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, has closed a general partner-led secondary transaction of a fund it advises, PineBridge New Europe Partners II (NEP II).
In the transaction, a new investment fund advised by ForeVest acquired portfolio companies from NEP II. The new fund also obtained commitments from new and existing LPs for new capital to support and develop the acquired portfolio. Park Hill advised NEP II on the transaction.
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) Strategic Equity team led the transaction from the buyer’s side and became the largest investor
EnTrustPermal, an affiliate of Legg Mason, is to launch a USD250m direct lending investment trust to capitalise on the shipping industry’s USD80 billion debt requirements.
The Blue Ocean Maritime Income investment trust will target a yield of 7 per cent a year by providing debt finance to high quality shipping companies. The trust will seek to exploit the dislocation between the shipping industry’s significant capital requirements, and the shortfall caused by a significant reduction in the financing provided by banks since 2008.
Svein Engh, Portfolio Manager, Blue Ocean Maritime Income, says: “Shipping is a large and diverse industry, which
Perpetual Corporate Trust, an independent provider of corporate trustee services to the managed funds industry and debt markets in Australia, has formed a strategic partnership with FundRock Management Company (FundRock).
The collaboration will enable clients of both firms to leverage the expertise and services offered in their respective core markets.
FundRock is an independent European fund management company employing over 100 industry professionals with presence in Ireland, UK, Luxembourg and Singapore. Established in 2004 as part of RBS, FundRock is a full-service host Authorised Corporate Director (ACD), Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) and ManCo, and now services over 300
Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, has made the company’s first private equity investment in China since its inception in 1982.
Investcorp has partnered with China Everbright Limited (Everbright), a sovereign-backed cross-border asset manager that is publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Investcorp, has agreed an investment of up to USD150 million in the second round of the China Everbright Limited New Economy Fund, as well as an additional co-investment right of up to USD100 million. In the first round, the Fund received an aggregate commitment of USD313 million from other investors that has
O’Melveny has represented Silicon Valley-based electric vehicle company Lucid Motors in connection with securing over USD1 billion in investments from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
The transaction represents a major milestone for Lucid Motors as it moves towards the commercial launch of its first electric vehicle, the Lucid Air.
The O’Melveny team was led by partners Nima Amini, Sung Pak and Andrew Dolak, with support from counsel Andrew Sorkin and associates Nolan Shaw and Amanda Bradley.
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
