Menlo Microsystems (Menlo Micro) has raised USD150 million in a Series C round, bringing the company’s total cumulative funding to over USD225 million.  Vertical Venture Partners and Tony Fadell’s Future Shape led the round with participation from new investors Fidelity Management & Research Company, DBL Partners and Adage Capital Management along with existing investors, Standard Investments, Paladin Capital Group, Piva Capital, and PeopleFund.   Menlo Micro will use the funding to expand the company’s domestic manufacturing and supply chain for the Ideal Switch, the most disruptive technological innovation in the electronics industry since the advent of the transistor.

Yep! has raised USD1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Greenhouse Capital as the company launches its new digital financial app on iOS and Android in five African countries (Nigeria, Niger, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso).  The company has ambitious growth plans of doubling an existing network of about 100,000 merchants to over 200,000 by the end of 2022. The founders are also in discussions with international credit providers to increase the super-app’s debt facility to USD10 million by the end of this year as the company scales its lending operations. Yep! joins Greenhouse Capital’s portfolio of

GED Capital (GED) has exited its investment in Vitro Group (Vitro) through a dual exit route, first selling its flow cytometry division (Cytognos) to the healthcare multinational Becton Dickinson in January 2022 and then its molecular diagnostics and anatomic pathology businesses into a single asset continuation vehicle branded GED Strategic Partnerships I (GED SPI) in February 2022. Cytognos specialises in flow cytometry solutions for blood cancer diagnosis, minimal residual disease (MRD) detection, and immune monitoring research for haematological diseases. The sale of this subsidiary enables Vitro to focus as a new worldwide diagnostic player in key market segments of molecular

Findem, a people intelligence company applying AI to fuel the next phase of talent acquisition, has secured USD30 million in Series B financing.  Four Rivers and Quarry Capital Management led the round, with participation from existing investor Wing Venture Capital. The round brings Findem’s total funding to date to $37.3 million.  This new capital will allow Findem to build upon a strong 2021 and support the company’s product development advancements, including the Q1 launch of a new self-service model that enables users to post their open positions to job boards and obtain a new and highly-targeted candidate pipeline.   

An affiliate of Clearlake Capital Group is to acquire Discovery Education – a global edtech company whose digital learning software platform supports educators and improves student achievement – from Francisco Partners.  Francisco Partners will retain a minority equity stake in the busines, while Scott Kinney, CEO of Discovery Education, will continue to lead the Company supported by the existing management team.  The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.    

ABANZA has completed a funding round of EUR1.2 million led by the Navarran Government-owned development company SODENA and Clave Capital, an alternative asset investment management company specialised in technology transfer projects (through its UN I+D+i Tech Transfer fund.  Spanish start-up ABANZA develops medical devices and instruments for the arthroscopic soft tissue repair market. SODENA has invested EUR350,000, and Clave Capital EUR500,000 since 2017. The round also attracted the interest of national and international industrial investors with knowledge and experience in the sector, adding value to the market access strategy.

The Riverside Company has formed a strategic partnership between its portfolio company Toolport, a European specialised online provider of professional tents and spare parts for the consumer and industrial markets, and GFP, a specialised online provider of greenhouses, raised garden beds and related products in the DACH region. Riverside invested in Toolport in 2019 and, since then, has worked with Toolport’s management to significantly grow the business through a dedicated internationalization strategy, as well as through enhancements to key operational areas such as procurement, logistics and marketing.   GFP and Toolport share a common DNA – both companies are specialised

Olsam Group (Olsam), an ecommerce platform that acquires and scales businesses, has completed the acquisition of Colapz, a UK-based camping and outdoor brand which sells patented, collapsible outdoor and camping products.  The acquisition is a key step for Olsam, which recently raised USD165 million, into the camping and outdoor market. Colapz’s team of product designers will also be joining Olsam as part of the deal.  Olsam’s expertise as a UK based acquirer will help expand the Colapz brand globally, notably into Amazon US, EU, as well as Asia.