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Dutch blockchain investment fund Maven 11 Capital has raised EUR40 million which it will invest in start- and scale-ups creating innovative financial services and building Web 3.0. using blockchain technology.  The new fund is a direct response to the explosive demand for investment in, and mentoring of, start-ups in decentralised finance, where cutting edge technology plays a central role. Due to this, and the rapid development of DeFi and Web 3.0, the fund could very well close before summer’s end. “Blockchain technology allows the creation of a completely new infrastructure enabling financial services without the intervention of a third party.
The North East Development Capital Fund (NEDCF) has led a GBP500,000 funding round for Newcastle-based HiveHR Ltd (Hive), an employee listening tool, operating in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) space.  The Fund, which is managed by Maven Capital Partners (Maven), has invested GBP250,000, alongside GBP250,000 from the Future Fund, a government backed scheme supported by the British Business Bank. The transaction follows an impressive six months of growth with more and more organisations now prioritising how their people are feeling in the midst of significant changes to their ways of working. The funding will be used to accelerate Hive’s roadmap alongside a
Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has led a significant investment in Pagabo, a procurement services specialist, and Sypro, a contract management and compliance software provider.  The two businesses share common ownership and the transaction will allow for the creation of a formal group of companies (Group). Pagabo and Sypro have highly complementary propositions which provide a compelling end-to-end solution for public sector and large enterprise clients when managing complex construction projects. Pagabo’s innovative framework agreements enable organisations to procure suppliers for a range of goods and services more efficiently, while Sypro’s Contract Manager software empowers contractors to comply with contract obligations
CSC, a provider of business, legal, tax, and digital brand services, has acquired PEF Services LLC (PEF), a leading provider of technology-enabled fund administration services to private capital firms and their investors, including private equity, private debt, venture capital and US-based small business investment companies (SBICs). This strategic acquisition greatly accelerates CSC’s fund services growth plans in the US, adding expertise and a robust technology platform to CSC’s increasingly sophisticated solutions. The deal underscores CSC’s commitment to the growing private capital fund administration market and builds upon CSC’s other recent expansion efforts in the US, Europe, and Asia. “We’re very
Two months after the acquisition of SocieteInfo, Explore, a specialist in the development of B2B business solutions, has acquired Belgian company Codata.  This new merger will enable Explore to deploy innovative solutions on the B2B data market for retail chains and commercial real estate professionals, and thus strengthen its position on its market.   Based in Namur (Belgium) and founded in 1989 by Claude Raick, Codata offers the reference database on the market describing the offer of commercial sites and locations in France and the Benelux, through online search tools allowing the consultation and downloading of data.   This exclusive
Phil, a software therapy deployment platform, has secured USD56 million in a Series D fundraise led by Warburg Pincus, a global growth investor.  The investment is part of an arrangement for Warburg Pincus to invest up to USD100 million and enables Phil to accelerate the development of innovative products while continuing to support the growth of its customers. As part of the investment, Fred Hassan, Director at Warburg Pincus, will join the company’s board of directors. Fred has a multi-decade career in pharmaceuticals, including roles as CEO of Schering-Plough and Pharmacia, as well as Board roles at Bausch & Lomb,
Investment firm RDCP Group has acquired Ipswich-based Ancient House Printing Group for an undisclosed sum. This latest deal is RDCP’s fifth acquisition in the last 12 months, following its purchase of Chilango, Macair, Buxton Water and Su-Fix Precast last year. Established in 2015 by Sameer Rizvi and Iryna Dubylovska, RDCP Group is a diversified conglomerate that controls USD200 million (GBP140 million) of investments across five sectors and employs 675 staff members in the UK. The acquisition of Ancient House Printing Group is RDCP’s 15th acquisition since 2015.   Taken over by the previous owners in 1971, Ancient House Printing Group
Kushki, a Latin American Fintech backed by GED Capital’s Conexo Ventures fund, has closed a Series B investment round of USD86 million, reaching a valuation of approximately USD600 million, the largest in Latin American history. The investment is focused on Series A investments in entrepreneurial teams set to become leaders in their fields in the US and Latin America.   Kushki’s clients include large companies around LATAM such as Telefónica, Cabify, Uber, Rappi, OfficeMax, Nubank and SURA. These companies choose Kushki for its cutting edge technology, tailored service and higher payment acceptance rate.    Since it was founded four years ago,
VSS Capital Partners (VSS) portfolio company Quatrro Business Support Services (QBSS), a provider of end-to-end tech-enabled business process management services, has completed the acquisition of EAB Solutions Inc. (EAB), a Chicago-based provider of outsourced finance & accounting, and human resource services to Not-For-Profit (NFP) organisations in Chicago as outlined further in the attached press release. EAB’s customers include schools and non-profit educational institutions, arts and cultural organisations, and health and human services organisations that rely on its accounting, financial and human resource services to focus on their core NFP mission activities.   For VSS, this acquisition demonstrates VSS’ expertise in
Meat Alternatives
By Mark Lynch, partner at Oghma Partners – The food industry appears to be going through a revolution in its structure which may turn out to be as far reaching as the shift to factory made processed foods which we saw in the 19th and 20th century, when the likes of John Cadbury and Henri Nestlé set up their businesses in the 1840’s and 1860’s, and the age of industrial food processing was born. This change is occurring across the industry and incorporates areas which we would define as ‘low’ food tech – that is, changes from the way product is sold and distributed

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