Malt, the leading European freelance consulting marketplace, has entered into exclusive negotiations for a new funding of 80 million euros, led by Goldman Sachs Growth Equity and Eurazeo, to accelerate its tech development and international expansion. This funding will enable Malt to reinforce its leadership position within the freelance consulting market, currently estimated at 350 billion euros in Europe alone, by providing a "one-stop-shop" where freelance talent and companies can join forces to fuel digital transformation.

Foresight Group has made a further investment into Fresh Relevance, following  on a record quarter of growth for the Company, to accelerate product roadmap roll out and support scaling. Some of the management team have participated in the funding round, demonstrating strong support for the business and its growth.

As part of its activity to support Scale Up Week (18 – 21 May), NatWest has today launched a new flagship programme open to all SMEs across the UK, to help their business grow throughout 2021. Each year a specialised team of NatWest’s Acceleration Managers will host over 200 sessions across the UK, helping 1,400 businesses to scale up.

Churches Fire, a Southampton-based provider of fire safety and security compliance services, has secured a significant £75 million refinancing package from HSBC UK and HSBC Asset Management, Northleaf Capital Partners and Siemens Bank.

BGF has completed a £5.2 million investment in Odro, a Scottish-headquartered technology business that provides video interviewing and engagement software to the recruitment industry.

UK-founded marketing technology platform ContentCal has secured $6.2 million in Series A investment from Fuel Ventures and Guinness Asset Management.

The investment will be used to drive growth of its content marketing and intelligence platform: making new hires; developing a proprietary content intelligence platform; and opening a new US headquarters as well as expanding its UK headquarters.

The UK’s first online marketplace for building supplies is relocating to Wales having completed a seed funding round with £500,000 secured from the Development Bank of Wales and BSKG Holdings.

Established in 2016 by the late Rami Naori, Go Banana has relocated from London to Brunel House, Cardiff. Featuring an online platform where tradesmen can buy building supplies from hundreds of trusted merchants, the rapidly growing tech business already lists over 100,000 products on its platform and has over 10,000 customers.

Private-Equity backed Access Partnership is set for a period of sustained expansion by acquisition following an undisclosed investment from Shawbrook Bank.

A former Teacher whose passion for upcycling led her to launch her own business two years ago is set to go full circle, with ambitions to launch dedicated workshops later this year to teach her skills and ideas to fellow creatives.

STANME, the world’s first community marketplace for independent creators, has smashed its fundraising target in just a few days of launching on crowdfunding website CrowdCube.

Haystack, a Newcastle-based tech startup, has raised £1 million in seed funding. The funding enables Haystack to expand their territory reach and with advanced matching technology, help more companies and “techies” to hire smartly and find their ideal roles respectively. Mike Davies, Co-founder and COO said: “This is a really exciting time for Haystack. This funding will allow us to continue the incredible growth we’ve seen since we officially launched in November 2020”.

Legislate Technologies, a legal technology startup building a SaaS platform to enable small businesses and landlords to easily create, sign, and manage contracts, has secured a £1 million seed round. Investors include Parkwalk Advisors - the UK’s most active investor in the university spin-out sector investing from its Opportunities EIS fund - alongside Perivoli Innovations and private investors. The raise will enable the company to accelerate the development of its platform and go to market in the UK. This investment follows a £150,000 pre-seed round, raised from private investors and closed in January 2020.