A Midlands software company which uses the power of video games to help businesses manage and motivate their sales teams has raised a further £600,000 for expansion.  Stormburst Studios secured funding from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), and Mercia’s EIS funds. The latest investment follows an earlier funding round of £150,000 in 2017 from Mercia’s EIS funds.

Heja, the vertical social platform for Team Sport communication, has scored a $4.2m seed round led by Amsterdam-based Peak Capital. Peak is joined by existing investors, including Luminar Ventures, Bonnier Ventures, Inbox Capital, and Max Ventures, as well as various high profile angels, namely Ted Nelson (ex-Truecaller CCO) and former NHL player Mattias Weinhandl.  Heja’s social platform allows coaches, parents and players to easily organize and communicate in one place.

Bright Star Studios has secured over $2 million in funding from multiple investors for its forthcoming free-to-play MMORPG (massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game) Ember Sword. This investment comes ahead of the game’s first Solarwood land sale of 12,000 plots on May 27th. Bright Star Studios intends to use the funding to further Ember Sword’s development, enabling it to deliver on its vision of a high-quality and immersive player-first gaming experience supported by an innovative play-to-earn economy powered by the blockchain.

Money Alive, a regulatory technology business based in Bedford, is set for further growth following a £749,000 financial investment from Foresight Group using equity finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) as part of a £1 million funding round together with a number of private investors.

The world’s first live sports streaming and advertising platform built specifically for commercial venues, Screach, is rolling out its technology globally after securing $2m in investment.

Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) and managed by Maven Capital Partners, has led a £600,000 funding round for YR Free Labs Limited, a business providing secure technology for digitally recorded media via a video collaboration platform called ‘eviid’. The NPIF - Maven Equity Fund invested £600,000, alongside £225,000 from the Government’s Future Fund.

Live streaming sponsorships platform inSTREAMLY has raised a €1.1m seed round led by Supernode Global to expand into new markets.  Founded in 2019 by a team of live streaming and marketing professionals, inSTREAMLY has built a platform that enables all streamers – regardless of size – access to brands and to participate and execute sponsorships. 

Immersive communications platform PixelMax has secured £2m investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures, with participation from ACT Capital Partners.

Livingbridge has sold disguise, the global leader in Extended Reality (xR1) technology, to The Carlyle Group. Livingbridge are re-investing alongside management. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Soccer Manager – the UK-based online soccer management game – has secured a further £3m to support its continued growth in a funding round led by its existing investor Mercia.  The latest investment, which comes from Mercia’s own funds, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and the Government’s Future Fund, will allow it to grow its user base in the Middle East and Far East through local language translations, further develop its SM 2022 game which is due to launch this autumn, and relaunch its original multi-player game, SM World, by creating new apps and adding new features.

GP Bullhound acted as exclusive financial advisor to Byte, a marketing technology agency focused on fast-growing digital platform brands, on its sale to Dept, an international digital agency for creativity, technology and data, backed by The Carlyle Group.

BGF has invested $11 million in Genflow, a London & LA based Influencer brand building agency with a unique ecommerce and mobile tech platform, to support its global expansion plans.