Leading Sports and Media, a Cardiff based sports promotion and digital marketing company that provides commercial development for professional cycling races and teams, has secured substantial investment towards the Lead Cycle Tour (LCT) Euro Cup series of races it has planned to start in 2019.

Over 300 professional road cycling races take place in Europe annually attracting millions of spectators. Historically, there is an under capitalization on the advertising, sponsorship and merchandising opportunities created from this spectator interest. Founder of LSM, Eifion Weinzweig, a former professional racer previously based in France but from South Wales, realised the opportunity, and secured the business rights to 20 of the top races. An innovative commercialisation model, which will be known as the Lead Cycle Tour (LCT) Euro Cup, was developed and quickly attracted the attention of professional cycling’s governing bodies. However, the company required investment to exploit the opportunity.

Maven Capital Partners has provided Mansfield-based Proskins Limited, a manufacturer of sports and fitness apparel, with a £250,000 funding package from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

The investment will be used to implement an ambitious marketing strategy to capitalise on the growing demand for its products globally and help build the firm’s presence in Germany and the US, whilst creating 10 new jobs in North Nottinghamshire.

Proskins designs and manufactures high performance leisurewear, including a wide range of men’s and women’s clothing which uses ‘compression technology’ to address poor blood-flow and fluid retention. The company has also developed a range of cosmetic products aimed at the beauty market.

Festicket, the world’s largest portal for music festival experiences, is announcing $10.5 million in Series D funding. The round is led by transatlantic venture capital firm Beringea and joined by Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital fund InMotion Ventures, Channel 4’s Commercial Growth Fund, Lepe Partners, U-Start and ex Spinnin’ Records CEO Eelko Van Kooten.

Eyal Malinger, Investment Director at Beringea, will join the Festicket board, along with Treatwell’s Chief Operating Officer, Ben Leaver. The company will be appointing an independent non-executive chairman in the near future.

Foresight Group has made a £1m investment into Nottingham-based Alpkit Limited on behalf of the Foresight Nottingham Fund, alongside bank funding provided by HSBC.

Alpkit is a fast-growing designer and retailer of outdoor clothing and equipment. Targeting the outdoor adventure enthusiast, Alpkit provides high quality clothing and equipment at an affordable price and offers over 500 lines across clothing, equipment and bikes. All products are designed at the Company’s HQ in Newthorpe, Nottingham, with a focus on technical performance, providing their customers with “gear that costs less but works harder.”

Dow Schofield Watts Angels has completed its second deal, with a £300,000 investment in Miribase Limited, the company behind the Shopblocks e-commerce platform.

Over 25 angel investors took part in the funding round, which will be used to accelerate Shopblocks’ revenues by investment in new sales and marketing resources.

The Shopblocks platform provides a hosted website and online shop solution for SMEs. Shopblocks makes it possible for businesses to launch a bespoke website in an easy and cost-effective way. It fills a gap in the market between inflexible, template-based platforms and custom-built websites which are typically developed by digital agencies at much greater cost.

Mayfair-based alternative finance house IW Capital has invested in Eos Leisure. The Company manufactures and sells its own branded eliquid products (Vapemate, Soda Steam, Directors Cut) into the UK vaping market and provides manufacturing and scientific testing services for other suppliers in vaping and other markets. The EIS qualifying investment of £2 million will be used to support the company’s growth, with a focus on building sales and marketing resources, continuing scientific accreditation work and product development.

Maven Capital Partners has completed a £2.15 million investment in Boiler Plan (UK) Ltd, a market disruptive platform that sells, installs and services boilers.  

The transaction includes a £1.65m investment from the Maven VCTs and a £500,000 investment from the North East Development Capital Fund, managed by Maven and supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The funding will help accelerate Boiler Plan’s growth, allowing the business to increase its geographic coverage and invest in its sales, marketing and digital functions.

Boiler Plan provides an innovative online platform for the purchase of a new boiler. Its ‘digital first’ solution offers consumers a quick and convenient way to complete the quote process online, with the installation able to take place within 48 hours. The platform supports the entire boiler sales process, handling everything from the choice of appliance, the initial home survey, finance payment options, installation by a qualified engineer, and the ongoing maintenance and aftercare service.

ReBOUND, the global returns management platform used by online clothing retailers such as ASOS, Gymshark and Charles Tyrwhitt, has received significant investment from BGF to support international expansion and IP development. 

With offices in Telford and Central London, ReBOUND assists retailers with the management of their UK and international returns service, improving efficiency, traceability and customer experience. Founded in 2015 by experienced logistics operators, CEO Graham Best and COO Phil Smith, the business has grown by 400% year-on-year and revenue will double in 2018. ReBOUND now has over 500 customers and manages 35 million returns transactions a year.

Axminster Carpets Ltd has secured £3.375 million of funding from Independent Growth Finance (IGF) as it continues to develop a strategy which meets the needs of discerning customers, both in the UK and Internationally.

Axminster Carpets are the inventors of world-renowned Axminster weave and has been a byword for quality and craftsmanship for over 250 years. The company continues to weave luxury carpets in Devon and combine thoughtful design with experience and innovation to deliver high performance natural floor covering for the Royal Household, stately homes and luxury hotels.

Piper, the leading specialist investor in consumer branded businesses, has led a £15m investment into Bloom & Wild, the online flower gifting brand that is disrupting Europe’s £14bn fresh cut flower market.

Founded in 2013 by Aron Gelbard and Ben Stanway, Bloom & Wild has transformed the online flower gifting market, pioneering the concept of ‘letterbox flowers’. Its offering allows customers the ability to gift beautiful, high quality, long-lasting, fresh flowers in a convenient slim box that fits through the receiver’s letterbox. More than 50 million flowers have been shipped to date across the UK, France and Germany. Piper’s investment will fuel further growth for the business which has doubled its revenue year on year since 2016 and is set to do so again this year.

Seasalt, the Cornish lifestyle and clothing brand, has announced a £16m investment in the company to support future growth and development in the business. The investment will see BGF invest £11.5m, with Santander Corporate & Commercial providing an additional £4.5m in funding.

In the last three years, Seasalt’s turnover has grown from £28m to £51m. The company now employs 869 people and is one of the largest private employers in Cornwall. In March, Seasalt opened its 50^th store in the UK, bucking the recent prevailing trend on the British high street.

With this new investment, Seasalt is set to open another 40 stores over the next 5 years, employing an additional 700 people across the UK and Ireland. By early 2019, the company will have over 1000 employees. As well as developing new career opportunities, the investment will support Seasalt’s ongoing drive to improve customer experience, both in-store and online.

CupClub, a returnable packaging service for drinks centred on the reduction of single use plastics, has received investment from a Henley Business Angels member, raising a total of £200k from their seed round.

CupClub’s packaging as a service is designed to hold both hot or cold drinks serving initially across offices, universities and closed campuses across cafés and canteens, self-service coffee/tea points and drinks vending. The service uses half the amount of carbon dioxide compared with ceramic or disposable cups (e.g. paper, Styrofoam or compostable).