London South Bank University (LSBU) is donating £150k to ‘Reskilling the Recovery’ which is creating new apprenticeships for low-paid Londoners.

Maxwellia, a business that is poised to transform the UK’s self-care market has secured a £3.2m investment in a funding round led by Praetura Ventures.

Maxwellia, which is based at Alderley Park in Cheshire, aims to give people easier and faster access to the treatments they need by converting prescription-only medicines to versions that can be bought in a pharmacy.

Following the initial investment in 2019, IW Capital has led the second round of funding to support the exciting development of this fast-growing business. Over the past year, Flarin has seen expansion through sales of Flarin Joint and Muscular Pain Relief into mass multiples such as Boots, Superdrug, Sainsbury, Morrisons as well as Amazon, Ocado and other online retailers.

Pembroke VCT has achieved a record fundraise, selling out of the £40 million offer, with the initial offer and overallotment facility now fully subscribed as at 29 March.

Same-day grocery delivery startup Grocemania has raised more than £170,000 on the crowdfunding platform Seedrs. 

The London-based business has exceeded its funding target of £100,000 at a valuation of £2.4 million. In this latest funding round, which concluded on 29th March 2021, more than 340 investors invested a combined £173,000 in Grocemania. 

JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd, India’s No. 1 co-investor network has partnered with an industry leading cohort of investment leaders as part of a $13m raise for Chingari,a global frontrunner in mobile entertainment. The social media start-up serves as India’s homegrown short-form video app; progressing onwards from the raise, the company is set to scale as a steady disruptor to its Chinese equivalent TikTok.

Global syndicated loan volume totalled US$969.1 billion in 1Q21, a decline of 7.2% compared to volume recorded for the first quarter of 2020 according to Refinitiv LPC. 

Commodities & Natural Resources is the top-performing investment company sector over the past year with an average return of 116%, following two years of negative returns. Commodities have a key role to play in the global recovery and transition to a greener future but they could also be well placed to protect portfolios from rising inflation.

Deepbridge Capital, the UK Venture capital investment manager has announced the appointments of Steve Shallcross as Chief Information and Technology Officer and Connor Grimes as Associate Investment Director, Technology.

Chia-Jung Tsay, Associate Professor for UCL School of Management talks about why thinking about the visual side of investment pitching is critical to securing funding.

Maven Capital Partners has led the £3 million funding round for Atterley.com, an online fashion retailer which enables independent fashion boutiques and brands to increase their reach and sell to customers across the UK and beyond.

The investment, which also includes commitments from Scottish Enterprise and existing shareholders will allow Atterley to execute its planned growth strategy with a key focus on developing its international footprint, particularly in the US.

In response to the increased volatility in the global financial markets created by the Covid-19 pandemic, Genius Group is launching a 4-week microschool designed to deliver expert investment knowhow in this current ultra-fast changing, global economic landscape. Running from 12 April to 7 May 2021, the course is aimed at supporting entrepreneurs and investors to thrive and capitalise on new opportunities during these unpredictable phases and into the digital decade.