Managers
Turquoise, a UK merchant bank specialising in energy, environment and efficiency, has announced its seventh deal for the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2), a GBP330,000 investment in mobility app company SKOOT RIDE.COM Ltd (SKOOT).
SKOOT was founded in 2019 to promote and facilitate lift sharing amongst friends and colleagues. Passengers share the costs of the journey, but as the driver does not make a profit, this ensures that the driver is not subject to the regulations governing taxi services. The passenger will pay between 10% and 30% of the cost of a traditional taxi.
SKOOT’s app went live on
Innovate Finance, an industry body representing UK FinTech, has released investment figures for the global FinTech sector in 2020 that reinforce the UK’s position as a global and European leader.
The UK FinTech sector has retained its role as the top-ranking investment destination in Europe, with USD4.1 billion venture capital and growth private equity invested across a total of 408 deals. This represents a YoY drop of 9 per cent – an expected shift given the global Covid-19 pandemic and the surrounding economic challenges. Globally, the UK ranks second only to the US in total capital raised.
Overall, global
Greenspring Associates, has successfully completed a continuation fund transaction for Giza V, a 2008 vintage venture-capital fund, managed by Giza Venture Capital (Giza).
The continuation fund, with around USD100 million in commitments, provides Giza with the opportunity to increase the value of the portfolio companies by providing additional time and capital for growth. The portfolio companies were transferred into the continuation fund with limited partners in Giza V having the option to cash-out or to roll-over into the continuation fund.
“As global venture investors in fund, direct and secondary opportunities, we have seen increasing volume in GP-led restructurings, both on
BV Investment Partners (BV), a middle-market private equity firm focused on the tech-enabled business services, software and IT services sectors, has invested in PixelMEDIA (Pixel), a digital commerce services firm dedicated to helping brands launch, manage, and grow their ecommerce business on Salesforce.
Co-founders Erik Dodier, Chief Executive Officer, and Thomas Obrey, Chief Technology Officer, will continue in their current roles and maintain a significant ownership interest in partnership with BV.
Pixel is a digital commerce services firm dedicated to helping brands launch, manage, and grow their ecommerce business on the Salesforce platform.
Pixel’s certified global team covers
Blue Horizon Ventures, a sustainable food system focused venture capital fund, has held the final close of its first flagship fund Blue Horizon Ventures I, well beyond its initial target size at EUR183 million.
The fund has attracted Limited Partners (LPs) around the world, ranging from private investors (numerous large single and multi-family offices) to corporates and institutional investors. Renowned investors include among others the European Investment Fund EIF, Wire Group’s Private Markets Funds, Givaudan, Group Bimbo, Sigma, B8Ventures, Korys/Colruyt Group. In total, more than 100 different investors from around 20 nationalities subscribed to the fund.
The mission of
New York-based Grafine Partners, established by former Riverstone Holdings’ executive Elizabeth Weymouth, is hoping to fill what it regards as a key gap in the market, by providing institutional investors with a dedicated direct investment platform; one that places emphasis on patient, creative and sophisticated capital and a way for large investors to look beyond the usual ‘2 & 20’ fee model charged by traditional commingled funds.
Weymouth, who founded Grafine Partners and acts as Managing Partner and Chair of the Investment Committee, has been in the investment world for 25 years, building up two substantial investment platforms; one at
Claret Capital Partners Limited (Claret) (formerly Harbert European Growth Capital), has held the first closing of its third fund, Fund III, which will continue to invest in innovative growth stage tech and life science businesses throughout Europe primarily to support organic growth and M&A.
Claret Capital Partners was formed through the MBO of Harbert European Growth Capital in 2020. Over the past seven years, the team behind Claret Capital has become one of the preeminent providers of growth debt to SMEs in Europe, investing in excess of half a billion euro.
The previous funds have backed over 120 European SMEs
BlackCurve, a pricing optimisation company, has closed a GBP1 million funding round, led by Chairman, Martin Fincham, with participation from Nauta Capital, The Cambridge Angels Network and other prominent Angels, members of the ScaleUp Group and then bolstered by a matching contribution from the UK Government’s Future Fund.
Founded in 2016, BlackCurve’s pricing optimisation platform helps retailers manage and optimise the price of every item they sell to achieve their business goals. This SaaS platform, powered by Artificial Intelligence, ingests data sources ranging from sales history and web shop transactions, through to competitor pricing and stock levels, enabling every retailer
M&A valuations are soaring, with rich valuations and intense competition for many digital or technology-based assets driving global deals activity, according to PwC’s latest Global M&A Industry Trends analysis.
Covering the last six months of 2020, the analysis examines global deals activity and incorporates insights from PwC’s deals industry specialists to identify the key trends driving M&A activity, and anticipated investment hotspots in 2021.
In spite of the uncertainty created by COVID-19, the second half of 2020 saw a surge in M&A activity.
“Covid-19 gave companies a rare glimpse into their future, and many did not like what they saw.
European private debt manager Pemberton has provided financing alongside Partners Group to support CapVest’s acquisition of Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN), a FMCG pet food company based in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1923, IPN has grown into a leading independent pet food company in the United Kingdom, providing premium, natural products at an affordable price point. The company owns two of the top three dry dog food brands in the UK, Harringtons and Wagg, and has a strong private label offering supplying leading pet specialist retailers and grocers.
IPN has an outstanding track record of
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