DrinkWell, the low-calorie alcohol retailer, has secured £1M investment from a private investor to fuel its ambitious expansion plans.  The funding will enable the Manchester-based eCommerce retailer to scale, growing its team, while investing in product development including the launch of two new brands, Lean Brew IPA and Traces Wine. In addition, DrinkWell has plans to add several new features to its retail business, expand into the European market and invest in marketing to further build its brand, plus drive recruitment, creating jobs across various areas of the business.

Occupational therapist Martina Tierney from Limavady has been named the Catalyst Impact Award Winner 2022 for her exceptional work with Seating Matters, designing therapeutic chairs to meet the wide-ranging needs of patients with disabilities.

Online recruitment platform Smart Recruit Online is planning to double in size after raising a further £2m in investment from the MEIF.

Insolvency figures released for July 2022* by the UK Government’s Insolvency Service showed corporate insolvencies at 1,827, up 67% compared to the same month last year (1,827 in July 2022 and 1096 in July 2021).

Live and social shopping SaaS solution provider LiSA has raised €2.7 million investment in a seed round led by TechVision Fonds (TVF). The investment will help to both accelerate the growth of its social commerce SaaS business and make frictionless, cross-platform social commerce a reality through its headless solutions and API-based partner ecosystem. 

The German startup, which participated in Brent Hoberman’s Founders Factory accelerator program in 2019, also received funding from the UK’s VC Venrex and angel investor Georgie Smallwood, part of Accel’s first cohort of Scouts and chief product officer at micro mobility startup Tier.

Seedrs,  the leading private investment platform with over £2BN in investments recorded to date, has today launched the inaugural Seedrs Venture Partner programme, a new curated community for VCs, accelerators, ecosystem builders and serial entrepreneurs.  Seedrs’ Venture Partner community will bring together established and emerging investors and influencers in private investing to support one another through global deal flow, mentorship, and collaboration to help founders get further ahead. 

GAS welcomed QLM to its portfolio in Spring 2021 and has now invested in a £12 million Series A funding round led by Schlumberger.

The round was led by Schlumberger with support from Green Angel Syndicate, Enterprise100 Syndicate, Development Bank of Wales, Newable, Quantum Exponential and several private investors. As a company with headquarters in Cardiff and operations in Bristol, this funding round also included British Business Investments funds committed to Green Angel Syndicate through its Regional Angels Programme.

Zero Carbon Capital has made a seed investment in ClimateCrop Ltd, an Israeli company using state-of-the-art gene editing techniques to improve the efficiency with which plants use sunlight to grow.

The British Design Fund is delighted to welcome two experienced investors to its Investment Committee. Meeting regularly to select the very best British purpose-led product design and manufacturing start-ups the Committee welcomes the breadth of experience and knowledge that our two new members bring.

Cambridge University spin out, GamGraPhic has raised £813,475 from Wealth Club clients through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). This takes its total amount raised to £1.26 million, which has been raised through an equity funding round from existing and new investors led by Frontier IP and Wealth Club. 

A proptech company which aims to be the ‘Airbnb for shared living’ has raised over £500,000 in additional funding from existing investors.  Worcester-based COHO has secured investment from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, and private investors. The funding will enable it to scale the platform, strengthen its management team and continue its rapid growth.

Old Street Digital has closed a $2.8m Seed funding round led by Draper Associates. OSD is building an institutional asset manager bringing the best of active, fundamental research-driven portfolio management to crypto. The round announced includes participation from Plassa Capital and prominent venture capital and angel investors across Europe, Asia and the U.S. as well as senior executives from the U.K. Asset Management industry.