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AI-based SaaS consumer research company Wizer is announcing the completion of the company’s USD4 million Series A Round. The funding was led by SOMV (State of Mind Ventures), a venture capital fund focusing on technology infrastructure.
Nielsen Innovate, the early stage investment arm of Nielsen, also participated in the round.
Wizer provides marketers and agencies with comprehensive end-to-end market research solutions for brand positioning, product and concept testing, advertising effectiveness measurement, and more, utilizing proprietary artificial intelligence technology to deliver insightful client-ready research, quickly and affordably.
Wizer uses advanced AI and machine learning technology to provide turnkey research,
Align Capital Partners (ACP), a growth-oriented private equity firm that targets control investments in lower middle market companies, has added two new team members to its Dallas office.
Matt Iodice joins as Vice President while Maseel Mir is Director of Finance and Chief Compliance Officer. With these new hires, the team at Align Capital Partners now totals 12 individuals.
Iodice oined ACP upon graduating from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Prior to business school, he spent three years at Saw Mill Capital, a middle market private equity firm that acquires manufacturing, industrial services, and specialty distribution businesses. While
City-headquartered professional services firm RPC has hired James Kaufmann as a Legal Director in its funds team.
Kaufmann joins RPC from Hedge Fund MSK Capital Partners where he was COO. Before joining MSK he was General Counsel and Head of Compliance at global investment management firm RWC Partners, sitting on the firm’s management committee.
He trained as a lawyer at US law firm Dechert before qualifying into its investment funds team in 2004.
Speaking on James’ arrival at RPC, Head of Corporate Karen Hendy says: “We have for some time been building a high-calibre investment funds practice. To
Mourant Ozannes’ Hong Kong banking and finance team has recently advised United Overseas Bank Limited in connection with the financing of the acquisition of Chinese manufacturing businesses, Broadway Foam Plastic Solutions and Compart Flow Control Devices by global private equity firm, Platinum Equity.
Mourant Ozannes Partner, Simon Lawrenson, says: “This transaction reflects a continued trend of private equity interest in China’s manufacturing industry, and in this case the advanced manufacturing space. Our dedicated offshore finance team, the fastest growing in Asia, is regularly instructed to advise on the offshore aspects of complex buyouts and we are pleased to have worked
Berlin start-up company labfolder, which is developing an electronic lab notebook, has been selected from 475 applicants worldwide to participate in the Merck Accelerator program.
Over the next three months, labfolder will benefit from support, coaching and consulting from Merck as it continues to develop its lab notebook which aims to help researchers around the world manage ever-larger and more complex data sets more efficiently, replacing the traditional paper lab notebook.
Merck is a specialist in healthcare, life science and performance materials, and manufactures liquid crystals for screens, as well as laboratory materials.
Simon Bungers, co-founder and CEO
Océalia, a cooperative in France’s Nouvelle Aquitaine region, has raised EUR4 million from Unigrains and IDIA Capital Investissement through a capital increase of its diversification subsidiary, Sodevat, in order to finance the development of its downstream and distribution activities.
Sodevat’s management plans to use the funds to support future growth.
Philippe Delusset, President of Sodevat, says: “New investors with external views on our strategy and acting as a force of proposal for our development, in particular in the sourcing and analysis of external growth opportunities, is a real asset. We are delighted to begin this collaboration with Unigrains and
Global law firm Reed Smith has added Leith Moghli as a partner in the firm’s Global Private Equity and Investment Funds practice, based in London.
Moghli joins Reed Smith from Kirkland & Ellis, where he was a partner in, and a founding member of, the firm’s funds practice in London.
Moghli advises Global and European fund sponsors and financial institutions on the formation of their investment vehicles across a broad range of strategies and asset classes, with a particular emphasis on private equity, venture infrastructure, natural resources, energy, secondary and debt funds. He also counsels fund managers on
Peter Elston, CIO, Seneca Investment Management, says too many people have retirement savings invested in poor products…
I abhor poor active management because there are so many people whose retirement savings have been invested in poor products; because it has given the active management industry a bad name; and because the big firms who are the worst offenders (1) continue to peddle the notion that bigger is better. With, for example, football clubs, bigger generally means better quality. This is absolutely not the case with active management; the more interesting investment opportunities tend to be smaller and out of the reach
FPE Capital (FPE), a growth private equity investor in UK lower mid-market companies, has appointed Chris Kay as Investment Manager.
Kay joins FPE Capital from PwC, where he was a member of the firm’s global TMT Advisory team. Kay is a fully qualified ACCA and is a graduate of Durham University where he graduated with a Frist Class degree in Modern Languages.
The appointment marks a further step in the development of the FPE Capital investment team as it continues its focus on the lower end of the UK mid-market. Kay will be responsible for the sourcing and execution of investment
The Greater Manchester Loan Fund (GMLF) has completed three investments, committing a total of GBP885,000 to support local businesses.
The GBP500,000 investment in Estio Training, GBP265,000 investment in The Essential One and GBP120,000 investment in Intact Projects will safeguard existing jobs and create over 20 new positions across the three regional companies over the investment horizon, as well as providing capital to expand product lines and invest in enlarged premises.
The funding secured by Estio Training, an IT, digital, and tech apprenticeship and training firm, will be invested in improving and expanding the company’s existing training facilities to help
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