Knoma launches lifelong learning platform with £21m investment

Knoma, a new upskilling courses provider, has launched its new platform after receiving £21m in funding. Global Founders Capital, Rocket Internet, Fasanara Capital, Seedrs and angel investors including Christian Faes founder and chairman of LendInvest helped raised the capital.

Knoma aims to tap into the developing reskilling market, with the World Economic Forum estimating 54 per cent of all employees will require significant reskilling by 2022.

£240m funding round continues to drive Cazoo growth

Cazoo, an online used car exchange, has raised a further £240m in funding. This latest round takes the company’s total funding to £450m and valuing the company’s at over $1bn (£771.3m).

The rounds backers include General Catalyst, D1 Capital Partners, funds managed by Fidelity Management & Research Company and Blackrock.

Citrus bounce back with £200,000 sweetener

Citrus Office Group, an office supply company based in the North of England, has secured a £200,000 CBLIS loan through Mercia Debt Finance part of the North Powerhouse Investment Fund.

The loan will help support the company’s continued reorganisation as demands change due to Covid.

Mercia is a specialist asset manager focused on supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations. Mercia has almost £800m of assets under management and has invested over £90m across its direct investment portfolio.

YourParkingSpace slots £5m investment

YourParkingSpace, a provider of intelligent parking solutions, has secured a £5m investment from Pelican Capital to support its next phase of growth with Cavendish Corporate Finance advising on the deal.

The funds are expected to help create 40 new jobs over the next 12 months across YourParkingSpace technology, marketing and sales teams.

Pelican Capital is a UK based private equity firm that invests up to £15m in profitable businesses.

Part of finnCap Group, Cavendish Corporate Finance provides M&A advice and financial services to technology businesses.

Seismic rumbles on with £71.m Series F round

Seismic, the sales enablement and marketing orchestration platform provider, has raised a $92m (£71.5m) Series F round led by Permira funds with new investors including Ameriprise Financial and EDBI. This round brings the total raised by Seismic to approximately $270m (£209.8m) and values the company at around $1.6bn (£1.24bn).

The funds will help accelerate Seismic’s rapid innovation, international growth, and M&A activity.

Permira is a global investment firm that advises funds with a total committed capital of approximately $50bn (£38.8bn). The Permira funds have made over 250 private equity investments with a focus in four sectors: technology, consumer, services, and healthcare.

Deal off the ground for spaceOS and Hitachi

spaceOS, the global operating system for safe, flexible and human-centric workspaces, has announced a pilot deal with Hitachi, Ltd. The agreement will see Hitachi integrate its platform into spaceOS’ workspace management app.

The deal follows a €2.5m (£1.9m) fundraise announced earlier this month by spaceOS.

Huboo takes step forward after £14m Series A investment

Huboo, an e-commerce fulfilment and storage company, has closed a £14m Series A funding supported by Stride and Hearst Ventures which join previous investors Maersk Growth, Episode 1, Ada Ventures and True Capital. The round takes Huboo’s total raised to £18m.

The funding will help Huboo meet the new demands of online shopping that has risen since the Covid pandemic.

7digital turn to Investec Bank for £1m RCF

7digital, a global B2B company providing end-to-end digital music solutions, has entered into a £1m revolving credit facility with Investec Bank plc.

The RCF will allow 7digital additional capability to progress the commercial opportunities it is pursuing as well as expand into diversified marketplaces such as home fitness, artist monetisation, and social media.

A revolving credit facility is a line of credit arranged between a bank and a business with an established maximum amount. The business can access funds at any time when needed as an RCF is usually used for unexpected operating costs.

Further reading

Deals of the Week, September 18 to 25 – Growth Business roundup