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BGF invested close to GBP60 million within the Scottish growth economy in 2021 – more than double the previous year’s figures.
BGF is a long-term patient investor, making initial investments between GBP1 million to GBP15 million for a minority equity stake. Deals completed in 2021 by BGF’s Scotland team have taken place across a diverse range of sectors, from technology to healthcare to consumer goods, while also supporting a range of company growth stages – from early-stage through to IPO.
Strong regional momentum comes off the back of a significant year for BGF as a whole, which has seen the
Kester Capital (Kester) has promoted Peter Ralph to Partner.
Ralph joined Kester in 2019 and has been instrumental in the growth and success of the business. He has completed a number of deals for Kester and sits on the board of YouGarden and Optibrium.
At the same time, Daisy Driscoll has joined Kester as an Associate. She previously spent three years at Strategy&, the strategic consulting arm of PwC, where she had a particular focus on healthcare. Daisy is a graduate of Cambridge University with a degree in Geography.
GAINSystems, a provider of cloud-based supply chain planning solutions, has secured a majority investment from Francisco Partners, a global investment firm that specialises in partnering with technology businesses.
The investment follows an initial strategic growth investment from Francisco Partners in July 2020. With the investment, Francisco Partners will become the majority shareholder of GAINSystems.
Private equity holding company, Ames Watson (Ames) has raised USD250 million in a new round of funding via a Term B private loan issued by Ames affiliate, Lids.
Ames Watson expects to use this capital for add-on acquisitions and investments for Lids and for separate stand-alone control and passive investments.
Global private investments firm Northleaf Capital Partners (Northleaf) has appointed Michael Hyatt as a Senior Advisor supporting its venture capital and growth equity investment programme.
Hyatt will work alongside the Northleaf private equity and venture capital team to source and evaluate investment opportunities.
Hyatt is the co-founder of BlueCat (in which Northleaf was an early investor and which was acquired by a private equity firm in 2017) and previously co-founded Dyadem (a software company that was sold to IHS in 2011). He currently serves as a Director of BlueCat.
Independent financial services group PraxisIFM has made 45 promotions across its global network of offices.
Vespa Capital has invested in Digital Technology Advisory Group Ltd (DTAG), a group providing marketing strategy consulting, data-driven market research insights and tech-enabled communications solutions.
Vespa Capital has invested in DTAG alongside the highly experienced incumbent management team led by Mark Scott as CEO, Finance Director, Alison Drake, and Tim Blandford, Paul Gaskell and Barney Hosey, CEOs of 2CV, TVE and Signal.
DTAG consists of group companies: 2CV – a data-led consumer research agency; The Value Engineers (TVE) – a brand and marketing strategy agency; & Signal – a communications strategy and implementation agency. All three businesses have excellent reputations
Tuum, a ‘next-generation core banking platform’ has secured EUR15 million in a Series A funding round led by Portage Ventures.
Existing investors Blackfin Capital Partners and Karma Ventures also participated in the round, which will enable Tuum – formerly known as Modularbank – to continue investing in product innovation and support global growth, focusing initially on strengthening its EU and UK presence.
The funding will initially be used to expand operations in the UK, offering on-the-ground support to customers in its biggest market. It will also fund essential R&D efforts to continue enhancing and expanding the Tuum product portfolio. In
LoneTree, a New York-based growth capital firm backed by top-tier research universities, has made a significant growth investment in OneReach.ai, a specialist in conversational AI and machine learning through its flexible low-code/no-code development platform.
This is LoneTree’s first investment in this market.
OneReach.ai began as a research project by award-winning UX (user experience) pioneers that launched its first product in 2013, introducing a highly flexible, no-code platform for sequencing complex conversational AI and automation solutions.
Leading LoneTree’s growth investment in OneReach.ai were
Matt Koven, Jesse Zhou, and Stephen Miller led LoneTree’s growth investment in OneReach.ai.
Blank Rome has appointed David E Kronenberg as an energy finance partner in the Finance, Restructuring, and Bankruptcy practice group, and a member of the firm’s cross-practice Energy Industry Team.
Kroenenbrg, who will be based in the firm’s Washington DC, and Cincinnati, Ohio, offices, will focus his practice on the intersection of energy hedging, financing, and bankruptcy law, representing energy companies, financial institutions, hedge funds, and private equity firms.
Kroenenbrg joins from Sidley Austin where he served as counsel in the firm’s energy group.
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