Kartesia, the European specialist provider of capital solutions for small and mid-sized companies, has provided a senior financing package of up to €58 million, including a €10 million uncommitted incremental facility, to Spanish telecoms operator Excom. Established in 2001, Excom is a telecom operator in Spain, focused on smaller cities and rural areas, commercialising broadband and mobile services and making high speed internet available to regions with previously limited access to such services through the deployment of fibre to the home (FTTH) infrastructure. Since 2015, the Company has grown significantly through organic and inorganic growth, having completed 11 acquisitions between

European fintech, Hokodo, has raised $40 million in a Series B funding round, less than a year after completing a Series A fundraise. The funding, which comes on the back of a significant debt raise earlier this year, will fund the digital trade credit provider’s expansion into new European markets and the development of new products. Led by Notion Capital, who participated in Hokodo’s Series A, further investment came from continental European investors Korelya Capital (FR), Mundi Ventures (ES), and Opera Tech Ventures (FR), reflecting the enthusiasm for Hokodo’s product in a variety of markets. Additional funding came from existing

Hastings Equity Partners’ (Hastings) portfolio company, MKD Electric (MKD), a full-service industrial automation and electrical service platform, has invested in Bachelor Controls. This is the fourth investment MKD has completed since Hastings Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in lower middle market businesses, acquired the business in January 2021. Bachelor Controls provides mission critical control and systems integration solutions for Fortune 500 clients primarily in the food and beverage, pet food, and specialty pharmaceutical industries. The company helps manufacturing plants achieve optimal production efficiency along with cutting-edge production automation.   The partnership between MKD and Bachelor Controls

ESG Book, a global specialist in sustainability data and technology, has closed $35 million in a Series B funding round led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP), a global investment firm leading the transition to a sustainable future, alongside global sustainability leader Meridiam and Allianz X, the digital investments arm of leading global insurer and asset manager Allianz. The new capital will be used to advance ESG Book’s next-generation technology capabilities, enabling clients to meet increasingly complex sustainability requirements, and accelerate the company’s expansion as it responds to growing demand for technology-enabled ESG data solutions.    With the ESG data and

Duke Street has backed the acquisition of another business by portfolio company Compo, a European supplier of branded products for the home and garden. The business, Heinr Propfe Chem Fabrik GmbH, is a specialised family-owned business that develops and produces fertilisers using natural and organic raw materials. This deal follows the recent Compo acquisition of Störk, a producer of ecologically sustainable potting soils.    Compo can trace its roots to the 1950s, and it has been supporting gardeners across Germany and Europe ever since.    Duke Street has a strong record of investment in Germany, having previously acquired A-Rosa, the

Confianza Inc (Confianza) a provider of data analytics and machine learning to insurance agents, brokers, and carriers has held the first close of a seed funding round, led by Sandbox Insurtech Ventures. Founded in 2020 by seasoned insurance industry veterans Jeffrey Glazer and John Petricelli, Confianza empowers insurance intermediaries and carriers to make confident, data driven business decisions. The Company has built a leading third-party dataset from proprietary, licensed, and public sources incorporating over 270 million individuals, 170 million households, and 60 million large and small businesses, spanning more than 2,700 attributes.  Confianza’s unique advantage is the intelligence underlying the

British International Investment, the UK’s development finance institution, is joining Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries, in its joint venture with Scatec ASA to provide capital for Africa’s hydropower sector. This will be the largest investment in hydropower in BII’s 74-year history, with up to $200 million of capital committed over the next several years. Norfund is seeding the partnership with their existing share in their joint venture with Scatec and further capital commitments of up to $100m over the next several years.   The investment extends and compliments BII’s and Norfund’s existing commitments and partnerships to powering

Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm, has made a significant, majority investment in Titian Software Ltd, a UK company that develops innovative sample-management software and related services for life-sciences laboratories. Specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed.   Titian will use the new funds to support organic growth as well as potential future acquisitions.   Titian’s founder, Edmund Wilson, retains a meaningful ownership stake in the company and will remain closely involved in leading the business going forward.    Titian’s Mosaic helps researchers better manage and automate critical processes, allowing its customers to maximise research efficiency and

Ara Partners (Ara), a private equity firm that specialises in industrial decarbonisation investments, has acquired Genera Energy Inc (Genera), a manufacturer of non-wood agricultural pulp and moulded fibre products. Ara has also committed up to an additional $200 million of capital to support significant expansion of the company’s sustainable pulp and packaging business.   Proceeds from Ara’s investment will be used to develop additional integrated manufacturing facilities and expand moulded fibre production capacity, enabling production of more than 5,000,000 take out containers, plates, bowls, and other food and consumer packaging products every day, all made entirely from fibre crops and

Angeles Equity Partners (Angeles), in partnership with KJM Capital (KJM), has invested in OBS Holdings (Freymiller) a provider of refrigerated transport and freight brokerage solutions to support cold chain management. Angeles and KJM will partner with Freymiller President and CEO David Freymiller to drive the next stage of the company’s growth. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Freymiller provides refrigerated load, dedicated refrigerated trucking, logistics brokerage, and intermodal transportation services over a national network of freight lanes. Supported by its efficient fleet of more than 600 tractors, in-house maintenance, and fleet dealership capabilities, Freymiller provides highly reliable, late-model equipment to support the