EQT grooms petcare provider IVC for float

IVC Evidensia, Europe’s largest veterinary care provider, has closed a €3.5bn (£3.1bn) funding round ahead of a potential initial public offering in London. Silver Lake, an American private equity investor, has taken a “substantial minority stake”, while Nestlé has increased its minority stake in IVC, which is owned by private equity firm EQT. Based in Bristol, IVC, which was founded in 2011, has a network of more than 1,500 clinics and hospitals and about 22,000 employees across Europe.

Force Over Mass VC raises £90m for fintech and AI

Force Over Mass, the London-based venture capital firm, has raised €103m (£90m) to invest in fintech and artificial intelligence start-ups.

Among the 100 start-ups backed by Force Over Mass are What3Words, which is developing a new system of coordinates for satellite navigation, financial technology app Bud and open-banking start-up Banked.

Martijn de Wever, Force Over Mass chief executive, said the UK remained an attractive place to invest despite the pandemic, with the Brexit deal removing a large degree of uncertainty for investors.

De Wever said: “We see plenty of strength in the UK with great universities and a large talent pool. I think opportunities arise everywhere these days. The UK has been tremendous at pushing innovation. Whether it is for tax efficient investing or through the [government-backed] Future Fund, it has done a good job at championing the industry.”

Isotropic Systems tracks £29m fundraise

UK space company, Isotropic Systems, is today announcing it has raised $40m (£29m) from Boeing and SES and other spacetech investors including the new €70m (£61m) Luxembourg-based Orbital Ventures.

Isotropic has invented a new satellite receiver that can simultaneously pick up signals from satellites in different orbits, doing away with individual dishes. The Reading-based company plans to double in physical size, recruiting around 150 British space scientists.

Nexthink thinks big with £130m Series D round

Permira has led $180m (£130m) Series D funding round for digital employee experience platform Nexthink, valuing the company at $1.8bn. Other investors in the round included Highland Europe and Index Ventures. This latest funding round will accelerate Nexthink’s expansion into the US market. Bruce Chizen, former CEO of Adobe and senior advisor at Permira, will join the Nexthink board.

Libeo settles £18m Series A funding for SME payments platform

Libeo, the French payments and invoicing platform for SMEs and their suppliers, has closed a €20m (£17.6m) Series A funding round. DST Global took the lead in the round, followed by LocalGlobe, Serena and Breega. This Series A funding comes less than a year after a €4m Seed round and is its third fundraise in less than two years. The company will use this new funding to further expand its B2B platform in Europe.

Over the past year, Libeo says it has processed €100m in B2B payments, a thirtyfold increase. The software’s new API allows partners such as QuickBooks to embed its payment services directly into their interface.

Solidatus crunches £14m for its data platform

London-based Solidatus has raised £14m in Series A funding for its B2B data management platform. AlbionVC led the round with HSBC Ventures, and Citi, two of Solidatus’ global enterprise clients, participating in the round. The funding will help the company boost expansion into new markets including the US and Asia.

HUBX closes £4.2m second funding round

HUBX, the private capital raising platform, has closed a $5.5m (£4.2m) second funding round. B2B technology venture fund Basinghall Partners, Barclays, ELITE and individual investors participated in the fintech start-up’s latest funding tranche.

Ubamarket rings up £2.9m funding round

Ubamarket, the supermarket shopping app, has closed a £2.9m funding raise. IW Capital led the round with an £800,000 investment. Supermarket chains SPAR and Central England Co-Op have partnered with Ubamarket to use the app. Ubamarket has developed a spin-off app called NOMM for the hospitality industry.

tickr keeps on ticking with £2.5m fundraise

tickr, an app which encourages investors to make socially conscious investments, has raised £2.5m from London-based VC fund Ada Ventures. The platform previously raised another £2.5m in investment. Named after Ada Lovelace, the 19th-century computer science pioneer, Ada Ventures is a $50m (£36m) seed fund focused on investing in founders building companies that focus on underserved customer groups.

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Deals of the Week, February 1 to February 5