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FUND LAUNCH
The UK-focused Blue Impact Fund, with a pipeline of an estimated value of up to GBP90 million, launched at the Natural Capital Finance & Investment Conference today (24 November).
The fund focuses on ocean recovery and resilience and aims to harness the power of seaweed, mussels and oysters in order to counteract the impact of climate change.
Dr Bruce Howard, director of the Ecosystems Knowledge Network – the conference organiser – believes this is the missing piece of the jigsaw in the UK’s commitment to reaching net zero by 2050.
“Nature based finance is a critical asset class which needs to be
NEWS
Reckitt Benckiser’s venture arm RB Ventures has backed laundry and dry-cleaning startup Oxwash, which provides laundry services to the Oxford University coronavirus vaccine trial.
RB Ventures is partnering with early-stage start-ups who share its ‘fight for access’, with Oxwash being one of its first investments. Founded in 2017 by former NASA scientist Kyle Grant, Oxwash is using technology and methods that are aiming towards net zero carbon emissions.
The company has raised a total of GBP1.75 million in seed funding so far from RB, TrueSight Ventures, Biz Stone (co-founder of Twitter), Paul Forster (founder of Indeed.com), Founders Factory, Oxford Technology
PODCAST
The latest PEWire podcast features an interview with Stuart Veale, Chair of the VCTA and Vice Chair of the BVCA. Listen in to find out why he believes that strict EU state aid regulations are preventing VCTs from unlocking fresh capital to support UK growth businesses during the current economic climate, as well as his view on patient capital and how government-funded tax relief could potentially have the power to support the UK’s economic recovery.
GUEST ARTICLE
The lead up to the US election, and the results of it, have had and will continue to have, an impact on the global private equity industry. Here Hasib Howlader, director at the London accountants Howlader & Co, outlines some considerations on how the Biden victory, a win for the Democrat party, will affect private equity in the long run.
NEWS
Eight Roads Ventures and London-based VC firm Balderton Capital, with participation from existing investors including San Francisco-based Founders Fund, have led a Series B equity round into digital electricity supplier Tibber.
Tibber also secured working capital funding by Nordea alongside equity, in order to support its growth. With this, Tibber has closed a total of USD 65 million in new capital.
The capital will be used for scaling up the team, as well as expanding into new markets, including the Netherlands in 2021. “For us, this means that we can continue our mission of making energy smarter at an even
SPONSORED CONTENT
By Jeffrey Kirk and Simon Gray – Ever innovative and commercially minded, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) has recently introduced a new regulatory regime for private equity, venture capital and other closed-ended funds – adding to its already well established, cost effective and popular stable of incubator funds and approved funds.
NEWS
Sub-Sahara African-based Pacer Ventures has launched a USD3 million fund for early-stage startups, with a focus on healthcare, financial inclusion, education and agriculture on the African continent.
With offices in Lagos and Johannesburg, the firm has begun to support early stage founders by participating in seed rounds, including in financial services app VPD.Money.
The GSMA Mobile Economy Report states that 84 per cent of Africa’s population – or one billion people – will have access to a SIM connection by 2025.
Gbemi Akande, general partner at Pacer Ventures, said: “We see a huge opportunity to support early stage founders who are making meaningful
GUEST ARTICLE
By David Genn, chief executive officer at Goji – As private capital managers look to individual investors as the next frontier for asset growth, technology may finally provide a path.
FUND LAUNCH
Israeli VC firm Peregrine Ventures has launched its fifth fund and first growth fund, Peregrine Growth, focused on late stage life science companies that are on the verge of an IPO or M&A deal.
Peregrine Growth will invest USD20 to USD30 million per round in sectors including medical devices, pharma and digital health.
“With the renewed focus on biotech, health, and life science in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the potential of Peregrine Growth is great,” says Eyal Lifschitz, managing partner and co-founder at Peregrine Ventures.
Several of Peregrine’s current portfolio companies have pivoted to combat Covid-19. For example,
NEWS
Alternative investment firm Värde Partners has held a final close of The Värde Dislocation Fund with more than USD1.6 billion of commitments. Raised entirely with no in-person meetings, 55 per cent of commitments to the fund come from new investors.
“The strong demand for this strategy from a diverse, global investor base underscores expectations for a deep credit cycle,” said president Jon Fox. “We took innovative steps to engage investors through virtual platforms and were able to exceed our target in just five months.”
The fund will invest in opportunities presented by the market dislocations and economic disruption following the pandemic.
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
