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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
LBO France has partnered with Bertrand Talbotier and the company’s management team, plus investment fund AfricInvest Europe, BNP Paribas Développement, BPI and Trocadéro Capital Partners, to acquire a majority stake in PIEX.
PIEX is a specialised distribution company which was founded in 1979 by Robert Jamain, incumbent CEO, and is now a key player in the distribution of pharmaceutical and parapharmaceutical products in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa.
PIEX has recorded an average annual growth (CAGR) in its revenue of circa 12 per cent since 2005 and has reached EUR80 million in revenue in 2016, spread over more than 30 countries,
Moringa, a private equity impact investment fund specialised in agroforestry projects in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, has closed the fifth investment of its portfolio, taking a stake in Floresta Viva.
The Brazilian company is developing a groundbreaking agroforestry system revolving around organic heart of palm, a Brazilian delicacy that is commercialised through two environmentally-conscious brands.
Some 150,000 tons of heart of palm were produced in the world in 2015, and global production has been increasing year-on-year since the 1990s. Brazil is the first producer and consumer of heart of palm, absorbing 75 per cent of this USD500 million market.
NorthEdge Capital has made a significant investment in Cubic Motion, a creator of advanced computer vision for digital entertainment.
NorthEdge Capital manages GBP540 million of private equity funds and typically invests between GBP5-GBP45 million. The partnership provides growth capital to accelerate the deployment of the SIGGRAPH award winners’ real-time facial animation technologies.
Headquartered at Manchester Science Park, Cubic Motion is led by CEO Dr Gareth Edwards – winner of the 2015 IEEE Test of Time Award for Face and Gesture Recognition. The company employs a strong team of over 70 internationally acclaimed computer vision researchers, engineers, animators and producers.
PGC Capital, the Shanghai-headquartered boutique investment bank, specialising in property development and private equity, has applied for planning permission to build 517 residential apartments on a former car dealership site in Digbeth, Birmingham.
PGC intends to demolish the Renault site at 75-80 High Street and replace it with a new residential block containing a mix of 263 one-bedroom, 252 two-bedroom and two three-bedroom apartments.
The plans also include ground floor commercial units, parking for 153 cars and secure bike space for all residents with the possibility of an on-site cycle repair workshop also under consideration. The development will include two
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