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Inflowz, an AI process optimization company, has completed its seed round, securing USD3.5 million solely from Glilot Capital Partners, a venture capital fund specialising in enterprise software.   Inflowz’s artificial intelligence technology helps sales leaders optimise their sales processes.   Presently, there is no effective way to understand how sales processes truly run, and as a result, no way to automatically analyse their performance. Companies typically identify the anomalies, then analyse them and manually refine their sales playbooks.   Inflowz’s technology is based on three principles that allow it to simplify the entire process: CRM hygiene, process scoring, and tailored recommendations. By observing
BGF, an investor in small and mid-sized companies in the UK, has backed the online wedding company Prezola with a GBP3 million investment.   BGF’s funding will be used to develop mobile app technology, making it easier for couples to create and share their wedding plans and gift lists online and on the move.   Prezola is the UK’s largest independent wedding gift list company. Launched in 2012 by husband and wife team Dom and Ali Beaven, the business has already sold over 1 million wedding gifts to date.   The service allows couples to create wedding gift lists with
Pat Lardner, Irish Funds
Irish Funds, the representative body for the cross-border investment funds industry in Ireland, has launched a guidebook for Chinese asset managers in partnership with the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC).   The Guidebook is the latest initiative in the funds industry’s ongoing drive to develop and grow the industry in Ireland by partnering with the global asset management community.   By bringing together the unique skills and expertise of both the Chinese and Irish industries it provides a foundation for greater understanding and cooperation.   The Guidebook provides a detailed set of resources to support inbound investment and the
Primus Capital has made a major growth investment in MBO Partners.   Based in Herndon, Virginia, MBO is the largest provider of independent workforce solutions.   At present, more than one in five workers are independent, and in the next five years as the gig economy matures, more than half of the workforce will have worked independently at some point in their careers. This dynamic requires new ways for workers to obtain their safety nets of benefits, traditionally delivered by employers. It requires companies to manage complex worker classification risks mandated by a multitude of government regulators and tax collectors.
PNC Bank has closed a USD37 million senior secured credit facility for Derby Fabricating Solutions, a portfolio company of Prophet Equity Management.   PNC Capital Markets led the syndication as sole lead arranger, with PNC Bank serving as administrative agent. Steel City Capital Funding, a division of PNC Bank, provided a portion of the financing.   Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Derby Fabricating Solutions is a converter and fabricator of foam and other non-metallic sealing, noise vibration and harshness abatement components primarily servicing North American automotive suppliers.   Derby will use the funds, in part, for its acquisition by Prophet, and to
Life sciences venture capital fund Pappas Capital’s new fund Pappas Ventures V has invested in OrphoMed, a clinical stage company that is developing therapies for treatment of inadequately-controlled gastrointestinal disorders.   The investment in OrphoMed is the first investment by the new Pappas Ventures fund.   The USD39 million Series A funding round was led by New Enterprise Associates and also included Takeda Ventures, Relativity Healthcare Partners and the Mario Family Fund.   OrphoMed’s lead programme is aimed at treating irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea (IBS-D), a disorder that affects the intestinal tract and causes cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, gas
DC Capital Partners Management has held the final close of its first institutionally-backed private equity fund, DC Capital Partners Fund II, at its hard cap of USD450 million.   The fund was established to make control, private equity only investments in middle market, US based, government services and engineering & construction services businesses.   The fund targets equity investments of USD25 million to USD75 million in aggregate per platform and has significant equity co-investment capacity from the general partner and the limited partners to pursue larger investments.   The principals of DC Capital have been investing primarily in the target
Clearwater International has advised the shareholders of Buchbinder on the sale of the company to Europcar Group.   Founded over 60 years ago, Buchbinder is a well-established company in Germany, with an extensive network of 152 stations of which 18 airport stations and an average fleet in excess of 20,000 vehicles. It is the fifth largest car rental company in the market with a solid positioning as a low cost car rental operator, as well as a leading position in the vans and trucks segment.   Buchbinder is also a market leader in Austria and is present in Hungary and
The Europe-focused infrastructure market is developing at a rapid rate, with both fundraising and deal making hitting record levels in recent years, according to analysis released by Preqin.   A total of 34 Europe-focused unlisted infrastructure funds closed in 2016, raising a record USD25 billion. This accounts for nearly half (45 per cent) of all the funds closed globally through the year, the highest proportion recorded in the past six years.   At the same time, the aggregate value of infrastructure deals in Europe surpassed USD100 billion for a second consecutive year in 2016, with a record 772 transactions completed.
Bob Shaw, Eze Castle
By Bob Shaw (pictured) – As cyber threats continue to mature and firms become increasingly dependent on third-party service providers and Internet applications to support operations, they not only begin to benefit from greater efficiencies and advanced technologies, but also open themselves up to more security vulnerabilities. Investment firms need to evaluate all risks that pose potential threats to their firm and leverage the safeguards necessary to protect themselves, clients, partners and their assets.  “Cybersecurity threats vary in scale, motive and target, and it may not be realistic for your firm to employ every cybersecurity technology available in the cyber space.

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