Latest News
Luminous Ventures’ existing portfolio company, Hadean – creator of the cloud-based operating system (HadeanOS) and distributed simulation engine (Aether Engine) – has secured a further GBP7 million investment in a third round of funding.
Luminous Ventures – a venture fund which focuses on supporting early stage deep-tech companies – was Hadean’s original venture investor, funding the startup from concept, and leading through two seed rounds of funding in October 2016 and May 2018.
This current funding is being led by venture capital firm Draper Esprit, with additional investment from Aster Capital and specialist gaming investor LVP. Existing investors Entrepreneur
HarbourVest Partners, a global private markets asset manager, has made a series of promotions, including five new Managing Directors: Rich Campbell, Minjun Chung, Edward Holdsworth, Craig MacDonald, and Laura Thaxter; as well as eight new Principals and three Senior Vice Presidents.
“It has long been our belief that our people are at the heart of our business and our greatest asset,” says Pete Wilson, Managing Director, HarbourVest. “We continue to develop talent and invest in our team to deliver the best possible results for our clients across our business and the regions in which we operate.”
In addition to
One Equity Partners (OEP), a middle market private equity firm, is to acquire Walterscheid Powertrain Group, (Walterscheid), a provider of original equipment and aftermarket parts and services for off-highway powertrain applications, from GKN Limited.
Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Lohmar, Germany, Walterscheid manufactures, distributes and services shafts, gearboxes, attachment systems, clutches and other parts for off-highway applications. The Company’s 2,100 employees also provide a wide range of services for agricultural, construction, mining, and industrial OEM and aftermarket customers in Europe, China, and North America.
OEP will partner with the management team of Walterscheid, led by CEO Wolfgang Lemser,
Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners (Quinbrook), a specialist global investment manager focussed exclusively on lower carbon and renewable energy infrastructure investment and operational asset management in the US, the UK and Australia, has held the closing of its Low Carbon Power Fund, raising a total of over USD1.6 billion in investor commitments to the strategy.
David Scaysbrook, co-founder and managing partner of Quinbrook, says: “We are very grateful to both our longstanding investors and our new institutional clients who have enabled us to achieve our largest fund raising to date. We especially value their commitment to Quinbrook’s investment strategy, which seeks to
Assetz Capital has partnered with Varengold Bank AG to provide funding, alongside its retail investors, to UK SME borrowers through the Assetz Capital platform.
Varengold is a German private bank which is active in deploying funds through marketplace lending platforms across Europe.
The partnership with Varengold brings additional institutional funding to further support the strong growth in lending by Assetz Capital and further broadens the sources of funding available to the leading peer-to-peer business lender. This is the latest in a string of institutional funding partnerships and further bolsters Assetz Capital’s funding lines for the support of the SME business sector
South Summit has launched South Summit Fund, a new venture capital fund created in partnership with Red Capital Partners, which will invest EUR6 million per year among the hundred finalist startups of South Summit 2019.
The fund will make an investment of EUR3 million and two investments of EUR1 million each in three startups chosen from the annual competition. The fund will focus on scale ups, startups in the growth phase that make a difference in innovation and are at a key moment in their development, which implies greater capacity to attract resources and greater interest for investors and corporations.
Law firm Paul Hastings has added M&A infrastructure and energy partner Steven Bryan to the firm’s London office. Bryan joins from Hogan Lovells, where he was part of the leadership committee of the global corporate practice.
“The addition of another pre-eminent partner such as Steven to our London office shows our continuing commitment to a critical market for Paul Hastings,” says Seth Zachary, Chair of Paul Hastings. “Steven is known for his skillset in dealing with complex and high-end premium work in the energy and infrastructure space, which fits in very well with our strategy in that area.”
“I have
Private equity investor Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has led a GBP7 million investment in Northumberland-based AVID Technology Group (AVID), a specialist in the manufacture and design of components for electric and hybrid vehicles.
The transaction is led by Maven’s Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) together with the North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Maven, and from AVID’s existing shareholders NVM Private Equity and Downing Ventures. The funding will enable AVID to increase production volumes of its current component product range and enable the firm to invest in further development of class leading
Vistra, a global trust, fund administration and corporate services provider, has appointed Alan Brown as Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Geoff Weir as Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Both will join Vistra in April.
Based in Vistra’s headquarters in Hong Kong, Brown and Weir will also join the company’s Board. Their appointments are subject to regulatory approval. Simon Hinshelwood, who has been leading the business as the Executive Chairman, will resume his Non-Executive Chairman role on the Board.
Brown has extensive experience in leading global organisations, in particular, businesses going through significant transformations. He has worked across a number
Beechbrook Capital, a specialist direct lender, has reached the first close of its second UK SME Credit Fund, with commitments of GBP128 million. The Fund has also made its first two investments, in Hosted Desktop UK and Gravity Global.
Beechbrook’s UK SME Credit II supports small and medium-sized businesses in the UK with a turnover of between GBP10m and GBP100m and EBITDA of GBP1 million and above. It will provide mainly senior secured loans to non-private equity-backed companies to support acquisitions, buy-outs, shareholder re-alignments, refinancings and general expansion plans.
The Fund completed its first investment in Exeter-based Hosted Desktop
Special Reports
Featured
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
