£500,000 seed pod planted for new audio network

Crowd Network, a new podcast network, has raised £500,000 in seed funding in a round led by Enigma and Comedian John Bishop.

The investment will help launch the network which looks to capture the European market and eventually expanding to the US.

Enigma is an investment company focused on Health, Wellbeing, Sport, Learning, Community Programs and Social Housing.

Virgin commits funding to StartUp subsidiary

Virgin StartUp, a not-for-profit loan distributor, has gained a £1.7m funding commitment. The investment will be spread over three years, half of which will be covered by the Virgin Group with Greater London Authority funds matching the contribution.

The capital will be used to run Virgin StartUp’s  Ready Steady Grow programme which is aimed at supporting London-based founders.

Virgin StartUp distributes government-backed Start Up Loans ranging from £500 – £25,000 and provides recipients with a mentor and post-funding support to entrepreneurs launching or growing businesses under two years old in England or Scotland.

Regional support for Paradigm Global in pandemic uncertainty

Paradigm Global, a Hampshire-based print service provider, has received a six-figure investment from Enterprise Loans East Midlands through the Community Investment Enterprise Facility utilising the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The funding will allow the company to hire an extra full-time employee to help meet the expected increase in client demand as the economy begins to open up.

CBILS is designed to support SMEs during the Covid-19 outbreak by enabling lenders to provide up to £5m to smaller businesses across the UK.

Enterprise Loans East Midlands operates as a Responsible Finance Provider which receives funding through the European Regional Development Fund and Regional Growth Fund.

The European Regional Development Fund helps local areas by investing in projects which will support innovation, business, job creation and local community regenerations.

uMotif captures £5m Series investment

uMotif, a London-based patient data capture software company, has raised £5m in a Series A investment round led by existing investor AlbionVC, which also saw participation from Oslo-based DNV-GL and existing angel investors.

The new funding will further enhance uMotif’s software platform, support its commercial growth and enable geographical expansion.

AlbionVC’s technology team invests from seed through to Series B in high growth companies, predominantly in the UK, with a particular focus on B2B software and digital health.

Urban Jungle entangle £1.6m in new funding round

Urban Jungle, a contents insurance provider for renters, has raised a further £1.6m bringing its total funding in 2020 to £4.1m. The investment comes from new and existing investors including former Prudential CEO Rob Devey, Octopus Group CEO Simon Rogerson and Funding Circle co-founder James Meekings. Devey joined the company’s board as a non-executive director in December.

Moteefe fulfills expansion aims with continuous funding

Moteefe, an e-commerce platform providing infrastructure for retailers of all sizes, has completed an $11m (£8.3m) funding round. New investor BGF led the round with participation from existing investors including Gresham House Ventures and Force Over Mass Capital. This round follows a $5m (£3.8m) Series A fundraise and brings Moteefe to $23m (£17.4m) in total funding.

The investment has allowed Moteefe to build a network of 20 production and fulfilment partners across Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Brazil, with plans to continue expansion.

BGF is a sector-agnostic investment firm that has invested more than £2.2bn in over 330 UK companies in minority, non-controlling equity partnerships.

spaceOS given room to work with after £2.2m funding round

spaceOS, a flexspace technology provider, has announced the close of a €2.5m (£2.2m) funding round. This latest round comes after Austrian commercial real estate group IMMOFINANZ invested €2m (£1.8m) in the workspace operator, following a deal in December to roll-out its platform across the group’s entire portfolio. Existing investors BeyondBuild also contributed an additional €500,000 (£450,000) to the round.

British Business Bank promises £66.8m to European venture capital firms

British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has made its fourth commitment through its £500m Managed Funds Programme. It has committed up to €75m (£66.8m) to support Isomer Capital’s fund, Isomer Capital II, which will be targeted at early-stage venture capital managers across Europe that invest primarily in early-stage tech companies.

Isomer II will pursue a co-investment strategy, investing alongside its fund managers, with additional capital made available for the most promising, high-growth companies.

Fashion label punch into new markets with £7m in extra funding

Buster + Punch, UK luxury interior fashion label, has gained a £7m commitment from UK investors Mobeus Equity Partners. This is Mobeus’ second investment in the fashion brand, with its total commitment approaching £10m.

To support the growth of Buster + Punch, the new funding will be used to drive the company’s global business plan with expansion into North America and Asia Pacific markets.

Mobeus is a UK investor providing £2m – £15m in investment to UK SMEs across all sectors.

£2m investment helps power healthtech app

Advanced Digital Innovation (ADI), a healthtech business responsible for the MyPathway app which helps patients communicate with clinicians remotely, has raised £2m in funding from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.

The investment will allow ADI to make it easier for patients to sign up remotely, achieve further accreditations to extend its use in other areas of the NHS and create 20 new jobs at its headquarters in Saltaire.

The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund invests in microfinance, business loans and equity finance sub-funds which offer financing ranging from £25,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium-sized businesses in the North of England.

7digital beats target with £6m investment

7digital Group plc, a B2B digital music solutions company, has raised £6m through floating new shares beating its original target of £5m.

The funds will go towards 7digital’s commercial expansion into home fitness, artist monetisation, and social media industries.

Deals of the Week, August 21 to 28 – Growth Business roundup