Omnipresent enrols £11m in Seed to Series A funding

An undisclosed investor has led a £11m Seed to Series A funding round for remote working employment software start-up Omnipresent. Existing investors Playfair Capital, Episode 1 and Truesight Ventures. Omnipresent, which gives companies a way to handle HR for remote workers globally, plans to roll out its platform to 150 countries worldwide.

You’re hired! Apprentice platform Multiverse closes £32m funding found

General Catalyst, the American venture capital firm whose previous investments include Airbnb and Deliveroo, led a $44m (£32m) funding round for education start-up Multiverse. Other backers already include Google Ventures and Microsoft chairman John W Thompson. Multiverse, whose which matches young people with apprenticeships at top firms, is co-founded by Euan Blair, son of former British prime minister Tony Blair. Employers offering apprenticeships through Multiverse include Google, Facebook, BP, Microsoft and Morgan Stanley.

Episode 1 begins £2m funding round for Perchpeek

Perchpeek, an AI-powered relocation agent for businesses, raised £2m in an investment round led by Episode 1 alongside angel investors based in the US, Europe and the UAE. Last year, Perchpeek’s technology helped 1,000 employees move to 47 countries. The investment will be used to fund international expansion to 160 countries in 2021, as well as focus on increasing sales across the US.

CleanCo cleans up with £7m worth of backing

CleanCo, the low-alcohol spirits start-up, raised £7m in funding through individual investors including Ursula Burns, board member of Uber and Stonebridge, the investment firm of entrepreneur James Cox. The drinks brand was founded by one-time Made in Chelsea TV star Spencer Matthews and Justin Hicklin, ex-director of the Gin Guild.

ThinCats provides £1.5m for ecological contractor Three Shires

ThinCats, the mid-sized SMS finance provider, arranged £1.5m in refinance and working capital for specialist ecological contractor Three Shires. Founded over 25 years ago, Three Shires provides specialist services to the rail, utilities, highways, construction and civil infrastructure. The deal was brokered by business finance specialist Rangewell.

Nucleus raises £200m for more CBILS lending

Nucleus Commercial Finance raised £200m from two investment management firms to back its lending through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which ends in March. Nucleus plans to lend £200m through the scheme before its cut-off date, having processed over 8,000 applications so far. To date, Nucleus ahs lent over £1.7bn to businesses since launch in 2011.

Index Ventures gets personnel with £92m Series D funding round

Index Ventures led a $125m (£91.5m) Series D funding round for all-in-one HR platform Personio, which values the business at $1.7bn giving it unicorn status. Nearly 3,000 customers in 80 countries already use the HR software solution for small- and medium-sized companies. Personio can be used with as few as 10 staff members and up to 2,000 employees. All of Personio’s other existing investors – Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northzone, Global Founders Capital and Picus – participated in this latest funding round.

Further Deals of the Week

Deals of the Week, January 8 to 15 – Growth Business roundup