Managers
Avestria Ventures, a Bay Area-based life sciences venture fund, has closed Avestria Ventures Fund I.
Founded by veteran life science industry executives Linda Greub and Corinne Nevinny, Avestria invests in early-stage women’s health companies and female-led life science ventures.
Avestria seeks to generate strong returns by focusing on these two under-invested sectors. Although the NIH has accepted sex as a biological variable since 2016, less than 1 per cent of the venture capital invested in the USD4 trillion US healthcare industry was directed towards women’s health in 2020 according to Pitchbook Inc. Similarly, only 2.3 per cent of venture capital
AgFunder, a foodtech and agtech VC firm, has held the final close of New Carnivore, its alternative protein fund, at USD21 million. The fund was oversubscribed, surpassing its hard cap.
ADM Ventures, the VC arm of the global food and commodities company Archer-Daniels-Midland, invested in the fund. Alexandria Venture Investments, a unit of USD30 billion real estate investment trust Alexandria Real Estate Equities, also participated.
New Carnivore has made seven investments to date, co-investing with leading VCs such as a16z, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and DCVC, as well as celebrities like Natalie Portman, John Legend, and Jay-Z. The fund is targeting
Stewart Information Services Corporation (NYSE-STC) is to acquire Informative Research (IR), a specialist in providing credit, consumer, and real estate data and technology services.
IR serves more than 3,000 customers across the United States and offers a wide range of mission critical solutions through its proprietary platform to streamline the loan cycle.
“Stewart continues to invest in the creation of an end-to-end, customer-focused real estate services and technology platform,” says Fred Eppinger, Stewart Chief Executive Officer. “By bringing IR into the Stewart family of companies, we further reflect that commitment and advance our data and analytics capabilities. I’m excited about
The London Corporate practice of Maples and Calder, the Maples Group’s law firm, has advised on all Cayman Islands Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) that have listed on Euronext Amsterdam so far this year.
The team, led by Jack Marriott Partner and head of the London Corporate practice along with Associate Christopher Oliver, continue to be selected to act as Cayman Islands counsel on SPAC IPOs as a result of the firm’s market-leading experience and comprehensive capabilities in this area.
In its most recent role, the London team acted as Cayman Islands counsel for Crystal Peak Acquisition on its
BGF, the UK & Ireland’s most active investor, has invested more than GBP316 million across nearly 80 businesses in the first six months of 2021. Exit activity reached record levels during the same period, with 15 exits generating an average money multiple of 2.5x.
Successful exits in H1 include Alnwick-based pharmaceutical company, Arcinova; independent provider of dialysis services, Renal Services; ATM sector services provider, Cennox; Nottingham-based life sciences incubation business, BioCity; sustainable e-commerce returns tech platform ReBOUND; and data security and compliance solutions provider, Semafone.
In addition to its GBP2.5 billion balance sheet, BGF also started making investments alongside
Allocators are blurring the boundaries between the hedge fund and private equity sides of their portfolios, as once strictly segmented alternatives buckets begin to blend, according to investment firm Cambridge Associates.
Dan Aylott, Managing Director and Head of European Private Investments, at Cambridge Associates says that the distinction between hedge funds and private equity has become an increasingly “grey area”.
“Those parts of a portfolio are less distinct today than they were. Within Cambridge Associates, hedge funds don’t compete against private equity for the best ideas or vice versa, there’s a lot more overlap,” he commented.
The palette mixing of
Serrala, a global financial automation and B2B payments software company, has secured a majority investment from Hg, a leading global software and services investor.
Following the transaction, Serrala’s CEO Sven Lindemann and existing investor, Waterland, will continue to support the business and remain as significant minority shareholders in the business.
Founded in 1984 and based in Hamburg, Germany, Serrala provides software solutions for financial automation and B2B payments to medium-sized to large Enterprise customers globally, with a strong footprint across Europe and the US.
Serrala enables the ‘Office of the CFO’ to automate and optimise all processes for
Livingbridge, a UK mid-market private equity investor, has invested in RealVNC, a vendor of remote access and remote support software.
Beringea, a transatlantic venture capital firm, has led a GBP2 million investment in LITTA, a rapidly growing online platform for rubbish removals and waste collection.
LITTA was founded in London in 2017 by Aaron Georgiou, later being joined by Alexie Crassas, and Chris Yiannopoulos. LITTA provides a digital, cost-effective, on-demand platform for ethical bulky waste removal. LITTA’s online platform places jobs with approved suppliers and provides a speedy, seamless, and transparent user experience in an industry that has lacked digital solutions.
The process for disposing of cumbersome rubbish and waste has traditionally been painstaking, with few digital
North west based multi-family investment office, Arete, has led a private investment into business solutions group, Leonard Curtis, in a deal which values the business at GBP40 million.
The deal, which saw a GBP15 million investment into the professional services firm, was a venture led by Arete in partnership with Svella.
Arete and Svella will utilise their combined resource and expertise, working alongside the Leonard Curtis management team to enable the LC Group to enter its next phase of growth.
With 239 employees working across its 18 offices in the UK and the Channel Islands, the Leonard Curtis Business
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
