Skrap collect £1.2m in seed round

Skrap, a London-based proptech startup offering on-demand services for skip and construction hire resources, has raised £1.2m seed funding in a round led by Vanneck Investments.

The funds will be used to enable Skrap to bring its app-based services to other areas of construction hire including concrete, portaloos and machinery.

Vanneck Investments is a London based investment firm that runs three funds,  defensive, equity and EIS each with different investment aims.

SKS charter course for expansion with £10m backing

SKS Business Services Limited (SKS), the firm of chartered accountants, has gained additional backing from Shard Credit Partners with a £10m commitment to fund strategic acquisitions in the North of England.

In total, Shard Credit Partners has committed £20m to support SKS’s acquisition-led growth. Since 2018 SKS has used the finance to complete ten acquisitions including a recent acquisition of Thompson Jones in Bury.

SKS provides accounting, bookkeeping, tax, payroll and outsourced finance function services to SMEs across the UK.

Shard Credit Partners invests in small to medium-sized UK businesses (companies having an enterprise value of below £50 million) across all sectors.

Bagboard bags £600,000 investment

Bagboard, an advertising platform that rewards people for promoting planet-friendly brands and re-use of its products, has closed a fundraising round on Seedrs beating its target of £600,000 with investors including Simon Balderson, owner of packaging company Sirane.

Bagboard was also selected as part of the UK government’s Future Fund initiative which makes up a portion of investment raised. The eco-friendly bag company has now raised £2.4m in total investment.

The capital will help Bagboard expand the number of retail outlets using its products and increase its advertising partnerships.

The Future Fund matches private investments by providing successful applicants with loans ranging from £125,000 to £5m depending on the size of the investment.

New services on the horizon for Healthlane with £1.8m investment

Healthlane, a startup focusing on online consultations for local and remote patients across Africa has raised a total of $2.4m (£1.8m) in a new funding round.

Digital Horizon ventures led the round with Sequoia Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, TSVC, Supernode Ventures, CRE Africa and Capitoria, also participating.

The funding will help towards Healthlane providing future additional services, such as allowing users access to test results and prescriptions, telemedicine, and medicine delivery.

Digital Horizon is an international investment company invests in early-stage start-ups in the financial industry, e-commerce, education and enterprise software.

Babble on cloud 9 with recent acquisition

Babble, cloud communications and cyber solutions firm, has acquired Corporate Management Telecom ltd. The deal, which was funded by mid-market private equity investor LDC, is the third acquisition completed by the business this year as the management team continues to deliver its buy and build strategy.

Deals of the Week, August 14 to 21 – Growth Business roundup