Managers
YFM Equity Partners-advised funds have sold their shares in GroupBC to strategic acquirer Bentley Systems, a provider of comprehensive software and digital twins services for advancing infrastructure.
GroupBC was backed by British Smaller Companies VCT plc and British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc, both are advised by YFM.
The exit has delivered a money multiple return in excess of 3x for the investors, according to YFM, which has been investing in UK SMEs since 1982. The Mayfair-based firm’s portfolio includes companies like Springboard, Tonkotsu and Sharpcloud.
“GroupBC has scaled strongly since the YFM-backed MBO in 2014, breaking new ground with project
Capricorn Partners has joined a double-digit million growth financing round for plant-based protein firm Prolupin with an investment of EUR7 million, from its Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund and Quest for Growth.
The funding round was led by Capricorn Partners, an independent manager of private and quoted equity funds that invest in minority shareholding positions of companies with technology as competitive advantage, and Stockholm-based growth investor Novax powered by the Swedish Axel Johnson family.
The round was initiated by existing investors Munich Venture Partners and eCapital Entrepreneurial Partners. Investment bank Bryan, Garnier & Co acted as financial advisor on the transaction.
The
Proptech VC, Pi Labs, has secured a strategic GBP2.5 million investment from leading pan-European real estate fund manager, Revcap, into the Pi Labs business. The funding willsupport Pi Labs’ expansion internationally, to grow its multidisciplinary team of real estate, finance, and technology professionals, and to invest into its platform.
Andrew Pettit, Founding Partner at Revcap, will join the Pi Labs board. This investment will provide strategic support to Pi Labs as it continues to raise capital following the first close of its third fund, Fund 3, in which Revcap also participated.
Faisal Butt, CEO and Founder of Pi Labs,
Zinnov, a global management and strategy consulting firm, released a comprehensive study titled, “Private Equity Investments in the Enterprise Software space”. The study evaluated the US Private Equity (PE) landscape, with a specific focus on Enterprise Software, analyzing 2500+ PE transactions including buyouts, growth capital investments, and add-on acquisitions in Enterprise Software in the last five years across the United States. For each transaction, Zinnov has investigated 20+ data points including PE AUM (Asset Under Management), deal size, software verticals & horizontals, valuation multiples, add-on transactions, etc., to assess why Enterprise Software is emerging as the go-to vertical for investments.
Worries of
Peter Jones CBE, known for his role on Dragon’s Den, and BGF have joined forces to support two high-growth tech businesses, with plans for further collaboration in the future. An initial GBP9 million has been invested across Localised Group, an e-commerce platform for global brands which recently signed British retailer Boden as its latest customer, and Retail Services Group, a business that provides in-store end-to-end retail experiences for some of the world’s leading technology brands.
The collaboration between the investors brings together the joint networks, capabilities and financial firepower of two of the most significant voices in British enterprise, with the potential to
The Mercia AM managed Northern VCTs have invested GBP 3 million in Oddbox, the company behind the UK’s first sustainable fruit and veg box delivery.
The Northern VCTs provide series A venture investment of up to GBP 5million for SMEs. They are now managed by Mercia following its acquisition of the VCT fund management business of NVM Private Equity in December 2019.
Investment managers Ishaan Chilkoti and Jason Warren from Mercia worked on the deal. According to Chilkot, Oddbox offers a compelling proposition and a positive social impact.
The funding will allow the London-based company to expand its services beyond
Baird Capital has invested in Aura Futures, a UK-based provider of workspace technology to mid to large-size enterprises.
Baird Capital -– the private investment arm of Robert W Baird & Co – partners Andrew Ferguson and director Michael Holgate will both join Aura’s board of directors.
The Aura team is led by Alpesh Unalkat, CEO, who most recently ran Capita’s workplace tech business.
Operating across six offices globally, and servicing 300 clients in over 60 countries, Aura is a technology provider specialising in workspace design, collaboration solutions, workflow and management print services, digital media and transformation management.
Baird Capital has made venture
An award-winning IT company which provides cloud and network solutions to blue-chip clients nationwide, has secured a GBP2 million investment from the Northern Venture Capital Trust Funds (VCTs), which are managed by Mercia.The funding will allow Atlas Cloud to further develop its range of solutions and pursue its ambitious growth plans. The company expects to create 20 new jobs at its Newcastle headquarters in the next two years, increasing existing staff numbers to 55, and increase turnover from GBP2.5 million to over GBP10 million by 2025.
Established in 2010, Atlas Cloud offers a complete range of managed IT solutions
ESO Capital Partners UK (ESO), a provider of flexible capital solutions to European SME’s, has backed Churchill Group (Churchill) the UK-based business services company.The investment provides institutional capital and support to Churchill, with ESO taking a minority stake in the business and both Stephen Edwards and Stuart Hamilton of ESO will join the Churchill Board. ESO’s track record of backing high-growth businesses will assist the Company as it continues its upward trajectory through both impressive organic growth and strategic acquisitions.
Founded in 1988 by Joel Briggs and Phil Moxom, Churchill is a rapidly growing organisation with turnover now exceeding £230
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Covid-19 crisis is a ‘shared shock with shared solutions’, says Invesco
Covid-19 crisis is a ‘shared shock with shared solutions’, says Invesco