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Pembroke VCT, a venture capital trust focused on backing early-stage businesses led by exceptional founders and management teams, has invested in My Expert Midwife, a midwife-founded brand for pregnancy, birth and beyond.
The £2 million fundraise was led by Pembroke, who invested £1.5 million alongside existing shareholders and angel investors.
My Expert Midwife was established in 2017 by registered midwife, Lesley Gilchrist and massage specialist, Claire Charlton. Drawing from their personal experience and professional expertise of caring for women throughout pregnancy, the brand launched a range of no-nonsense products developed to tackle taboos around pregnancy and childbirth for new
Ophelos, a, AI technology firm and pending B-corp focused on the debt resolution process in the UK, has raised £5 million in a seed funding round led by AlbionVC.
Contributions were also made by Vast Ventures, an early investor in Coinbase and Tala, regulatory and public policy experts Form Ventures, as well as existing investors Connect Ventures and Fly Ventures. A group of angel investors – including Matt Robinson (Co-Founder, GoCardless & Nested), James Meekings (Co-Founder, Funding Circle), Jonah and Noah Goodhart (Co-Founders, Moat), and more – also participated.
AlbionVC’s fintech investing track recored includes Quantexa and Credit Kudos.
Foresight Group (Foresight), a listed private equity and infrastructure investment manager, has made a £600,000 growth capital investment in Lillicoco Limited (Lillicoco), using equity finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).
Lillicoco is an e-tailer of women’s affordable luxury antique jewellery, including rings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants – ranging from £100 to £5,000 per item. Each item is authenticated and certified in-house. It is then listed on Lillicoco.com with a detailed condition report, as well as high-definition photos and videos. The Company boasts a 4.9/5 Trustpilot score, making it the most positively reviewed and trusted online operator in the
Claira (www.claira.io), a document intelligence fintech, has secured a strategic investment from Citi Spread Products Investment Technologies (SPRINT), the strategic investing arm of the bank’s Global Spread Products division.
Diligend, a cloud-based due diligence software provider for asset allocators and managers has partnered with Suite2Go, a specialist consultancy headquartered in Australia that connects FinTechs with financial services organisations.
Dynamo Software, a provider of end-to-end cloud software solutions for the alternative investment management industry, has partnered wwith Northfield Information Services, to further augment its analytics and reporting by providing Limited Partners (LPs) with enhanced modelling and forecasting of cash flows and fair values.
The Dynamo-Northfield partnership responds to the growing demand for insight and transparency into investment performance – which investors want readily available in today’s dynamic environment. The integration empowers Dynamo’s LP clients, including endowments, foundations, pensions, family offices, and fund of funds (FOF), to design allocation plans, assess potential cash flow shortfalls, and conduct stress/scenario testing with
Castleforge, a vertically integrated, operationally focused private equity real estate manager targeting the UK and select European cities, has promoted Adam MacLeod and Julian Feldman to partner, effective immediately.
Founded in 2010, Castleforge is a London-based private equity real estate manager combining research-led investment themes with vertical integration and in-house operating platforms. Castleforge conducts extensive research into global trends and merges this with local market knowledge in developing its investment themes. Using this process, the firm selectively builds and manages unique operating platforms that fill critical gaps in UK and EU real estate marketplaces and incorporate a socially responsible strategy.
BlackPeak Capital has held the final closing of the Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund at €126 million, surpassing the fund’s original target of €120 million.
BlackPeak Southeast Europe Growth Equity Fund is based in Luxembourg and is backed by the European Investment Fund, the EBRD, the IFC, Erste Asset Management, and leading regional pension funds.
The fund has already invested in two companies – Verdino, a leading regional meat replacement producer, and euShipments, a leading regional integrator of logistical services for e-commerce shops. The Fund targets growth equity investments of €5-15 million in dynamic SMEs in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia,
Cosmetique Totale, a portfolio company of BB Capital Investments, has acquired injectables specialist Van Lennep Kliniek.
Cosmetique Totale is a market leader in the Benelux in the field of skin care and laser therapy. With the support of BB Capital, the business has now added the three branches of Van Lennep Kliniek in The Hague and Oegstgeest, having last week announced a multi-million Euro financing from international private debt fund Kartesia.
The acquisition of Van Lennep Kliniek marks the twelfth add-on acquisition since BB Capital acquired a majority stake in Cosmetique Totale in 2020.
FFL Partners (FFL), a private equity firm focused on growth investments in tech-enabled business services and healthcare companies, has completed a strategic growth investment in Abacus Group (Abacus), a financial services-focused IT Managed Services Provider (MSP) specialising in hedge fund, private equity, venture capital and family office clients.
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