Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, has invested in Blue Ridge ESOP Associates (Blue Ridge), in partnership with the existing owners and management team. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.Blue Ridge is the leading provider of technology enhanced solutions and services for the administration and record-keeping of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and associated 401(k) plans.  Blue Ridge’s comprehensive service offerings and highly experienced professional administrators address the complex and mission-critical needs of ESOP businesses, which has provided the Company with an unmatched reputation as the highest-quality service provider in the market. The

Iconic British ceramics brand Emma Bridgewater has secured an GBP8 million investment from BGF.Founded in 1984, Emma Bridgewater designs and manufactures hand-decorated pottery and a wide selection of home products. It was established by Emma after she was unable to find the right gift for her mother’s birthday and to this day the pottery products are handmade in a renovated 19th Century factory in Stoke-on-Trent. Its products are are sold through its website, own stores, as well as wholesale customers such as John Lewis and Next. More recently, the Emma Bridgewater brand has diversified into glassware, stationery, picnic-ware, wallpaper and

Forager, a technology company providing cross-border solutions to the logistics industry, has secured USD10 million in a Series A financing round led by US Venture Partners (USVP) with participation from existing investors Chicago Ventures and new investor Soma Capital. The investment brings Forager’s total funding since launch to USD14.5 million and will help the company rapidly grow its engineering and product teams to expedite product development as well as add additional logistics experts and hungry talent eager to disrupt the industry. USVP General Partner Rick Lewis will join Forager’s Board of Directors. USVP partners with entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into

TA Associates, a global growth private equity firm, has completed a strategic growth investment to join Basil Technology Partners (Basil) as an investor in Accion Labs (Accion), a digital-focused software product engineering company specialising in emerging technologies. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.   Founded in Pittsburgh, PA in 2011, Accion is a leader in helping technology companies and enterprises leverage the power of emerging technologies. Accion’s expertise ranges across advanced UX, artificial intelligence and machine learning, big-data/analytics, migration to cloud/SaaS and re-engineering of legacy platforms, process automation, mobility, augmented reality and IOT. The company’s clients include software

VoxSmart, a specialist in communications surveillance technology for Financial Markets, has secured a strategic funding round of GBP5.5 million (USD7.2 million) from NatWest. VoxSmart has a proven track record of developing innovative compliance and surveillance technology for financial markets and this funding will help the company reach new markets and accelerate the innovation of new products. As the first vendor globally to offer a WhatsApp and WeChat compliance solution to financial markets, VoxSmart has an impressive customer portfolio of over 100 blue chip customers from within financial services. The financing from NatWest reinforces the values and commitment by NatWest’s Chief Executive