Venice Swap, a Lithuanian-based one-stop crypto exchange platform led by the Venetian engineer and entrepreneur Gianluca Busato, has secured a $100 million capital commitment in the form of a Token Subscription Facility from GEM Digital Limited (GEM).

Raiven Capital, a global early-stage tech venture fund, has invested in Vertical Harvest, an AI-driven, urban hydroponic farming startup. Raiven Capital co-led the investment with Nicoya AB out of Sweden. Raiven General Partner Paul Dugsin and Limited Partner Bjorn Oste have also joined the board. Vertical Harvest’s agricultural output is attractive from an investment standpoint. Over five years, the company proved their model and streamlined operations in their 14,000 square foot pilot facility. They are now scaling to ten farms across America, each over 200,000 square feet of space.

Portal Innovations, a venture development engine that provides  seed funding, specialised equipment, lab space, and management expertise to high-potential early-stage companies, is partnering with Life Technologies Corporation, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. This partnership will further Portal Innovations’ mission to provide premier scientific equipment and resources to its portfolio companies that work out of Portal’s 50,000 sq ft of life science laboratories in Fulton Labs in Chicago. The partnership will combine Life Technologies’ lab equipment and software with Portal’s seed investments and laboratory infrastructure to allow its portfolio of life sciences startups to quickly and efficiently access premier equipment

Private equity firm MiddleGround Capital’s Race Winning Brands (RWB) platform, has completed its second add-on deal with the acquisition of TPT Solutions (TPT). TPT trades under three market-leading brands—TransGo, RevMax and Transmission Specialties, providing transmission-focused automotive aftermarket performance products for light truck, automotive and SUV/CUV market. MiddleGround, which makes control investments in North American middle market B2B industrial and specialty distribution companies, acquired RWB in December 2021, and made its first add-on acquisition earlier this month with the purchase of PAC Racing from Peterson American Corporation. 

Keensight Capital, a private equity managers dedicated to pan-European growth buyout investments, has exited its investment in SFA Romani, a high-end fragrances house based in France, to Symrise, a global supplier of fragrances, which is acquiring 100% of the shares of the company, held until now by the Romani-Caruso family and Keensight Capital. Founded in 1963, SFA Romani is internationally recognised for its choice of the finest natural raw materials, its craftsmanship in fragrance creation and the quality of its compositions. For nearly 60 years the company has developed unparalleled know-how in high-end fragrance compounds. The company’s strong reputation is

Green Angel Syndicate has secured a further £5 million commitment from British Business Investments, bringing its total investment since November 2021 to £10 million. Green Angel Syndicate is the UK’s largest network of specialist investors fighting climate change. This commitment is being made through British Business Investments’ Regional Angels Programme, which seeks to reduce regional imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance. It will match funds raised via Green Angel Syndicate’s network of investors and their EIS Climate Change Fund.  The GAS EIS Climate Change Fund supports a portfolio of UK-wide start-up and early-stage companies across the following sectors: energy,

Grant Thornton UK LLP’s Thames Valley Corporate Finance team has completed on three transactions to US private equity-backed companies within the first quarter of 2022, as activity levels continue to remain strong after a record 2021. The first of the three deals is the sale of international development consultancy IMC Worldwide, as it joins the DT Global family, a US leader in the international development market.  The second deal saw global technology marketing agency bChannels sold to another private equity backed US-buyer The Channel Company, while deal number three saw Grant Thornton advise on the sale of the Vaccine Manufacturing