Playfair Capital and Tech Nation have joined forces to expand their nationwide initiative to improve access to funding and mentors for female founders with two special events taking place on 5th and 12th November.  Female founders from across the UK will have the opportunity to meet four investors during one hour of remote office hours to discuss their tech business idea, ask for advice, pitch for investment and find a mentor. 

Tech Nation, the growth platform for tech companies and leaders, announces the 31 tech companies that have been selected to join the Fintech Cohort 3.0, in conjunction with revealing new data that shows the UK is leading fintech in Europe. 

The cohort includes companies from across the fintech sector; operating in areas such as: insurance, regtech, open banking and digital ID. This year’s cohort features a high proportion of insurtechs, at 20%; with this being the first year that insurtech companies qualified for the programme. It reflects the strong growth of insurtech as a sub-segment of fintech in recent years. 

Investment banking fees generated in the UK total £3.3 billion so far during 2020, 5% less than the value recorded at this time last year and the lowest year-to-date total since 2016 according to research by Refinitiv.

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has launched an online resource for prospective investment company directors, which aims to encourage a wide and diverse group of candidates to find out more about the role.

The business failures in key sectors since the UK locked down in March has created a domino effect of debt amounting to nearly £800m of invoices outstanding within their supply chain at the point of administration, according to corporate distress data analysts Red Flag Alert. 

With an average individual debt of £28,501, the research found there are a further 227 businesses across the bars and restaurants, construction, retail, logistics and real estate sectors, which are at very high risk of failure.  

Finch Capital has published its latest annual research, The State of European Fintech 2020.

Dublin start-up FoodMarble has raised €1.2M in a funding round which included HBAN business angels from the MedTech syndicate who invested alongside Enterprise Ireland, SOSV and Delta Partners. The investment will support the company's ongoing research and development, along with expansion into the US and Canada.

A Northern Ireland start-up which appeared on TV's Dragons' Den earlier this year has successfully closed a £350,000 funding round with local business angels to bring its innovative new insulated cable clip to market.

Gray's Clip, run by Lisburn-based co-founders Davy and Julie Gray, secured £250,000 of investment from a group of nine private investors through the Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) and a further £100,000 from Co-Fund NI, part of Invest Northern Ireland's Access to Finance portfolio.

Bounce Back loans, the most popular HM Treasury support measure, used by SMEs are running low, finds the latest insights [1] from fintech business lender MarketFinance. These SMEs are aware they can get more HM Treasury support by applying for larger loans through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) but did not know the deadline was end of this month. 

28 September marks 25 years since the launch of the first VCT. From humble beginnings in 1995 the sector has grown to back winners from Zoopla to Secret Escapes and cutting-edge UK businesses such as Femtech provider Elvie, video games developer Frontier Developmentsand internet-of-things business Simulity.

To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of VCTs the Association of Investment Companies (AIC)has spoken to VCT managers about their best-performing investments, the many companies they’ve backed and the future of the sector.

Pembroke VCT plc, the venture capital trust focused on building the consumer brands of tomorrow, has launched a new share offer to raise up to £40 million (an initial £20 million, with an over-allotment facility for a further £20 million). The additional cash will allow the company to grow its existing portfolio and take advantage of a healthy pipeline of prospective investment opportunities.

Deepbridge Capital and Boundary Capital backed diagnostics firm Glyconics® has been awarded an internationally recognised quality certification for the development of its diagnostic medical devices product range.