Private equity firm Mercia says it invested £13.3m in Midlands businesses in 2018, up from £11.3m the previous year. Mercia made investments in 22 companies in the region during the year, including Sigmavision of Bicester which has created a novel tyre scanner; Coventry-based Arc Vehicle, which has developed a new electric motorbike; Birmingham-based battery technology […]

Birmingham investmeent company Beech Tree Private Equity plans to execute a buy-and-build strategy after completing a significant investment in BCN Group, a fast-growing IT managed services company. Beech Tree has been looking to invest in the sector due to the rapid growth in demand for the provision of cloud managed services and will support BCN with […]

The University of Warwick is part of a new connected system of technology transfer offices that has been launched to drive jobs and economic growth across the Midlands region, following a £5million award from Research England. Led by the University of Birmingham, the award will establish MICRA as a single gateway to the collective intellectual […]

Synapse, the fast-growing Birmingham technology start-up that re-engineers spreadsheets to meet the stringent demands placed on financial reporting, has announced that it is in the process of completing a highly successful fundraising round in excess of £1.2 million.  Working with two organisations to secure the funding – the UK’s premier investment platform, Shadow Foundr and Central Business Finance, the business advisory firm based in […]

A new tech incubator for digital firms working in the sports industry is set to open in Birmingham next month. Solihull-based fitness clothing brand Gymshark has teamed up with Innovation Birmingham Campus to launch a new business support base for the city’s tech and digital start-ups, in its iCentrum building. Gymshark will join as a […]

Warwickshire-based Codemasters recently floated on London Stock Exchange’s junior market with a valuation of £280m. Its placing on the Alternative Investment Market netted £170m for selling shareholders while the placing of new shares will raise £15m for the company. The placing was expected to raise around £159.9m for Reliance Big Entertainment, the company’s Indian owner […]

Southam-based Reality In Virtual Reality (RIVR), which launched in March 2017, has received financial assistance from Coventry University Enterprises (CUE). The funding will allow the company to take virtual reality training to the next level by scanning any real-life environments and importing them into a virtual reality world. The project won support from CUE’s Technology Start-up […]

Birmingham technology start-up Synapse that re-engineers spreadsheets to meet the demands placed on financial reporting is in the process of completing a fundraising round in excess of £1.2m. Working with two organisations to secure the funding – Shadow Foundr and Central Business Finance – Synapse was initially looking to raise £300,000 of working capital. With the additional funding, Synapse intends to […]

A total of £27m has been awarded to Mercia Fund Managers to support businesses across the North East.  A subsidiary of Mercia Fund Management based in Henley in Arden, the Venture Fund will be investing in rounds up to £1m, with additional money potentially coming from Mercia’s other funds, and will be targeted at businesses […]

Innovation Birmingham Campus companies raised over £10m, driving growth and innovative product development in 2017. Amongst the tech talent based on the Innovation Birmingham Campus, three companies closed successful investment rounds towards the end of 2017, including optometry business Aston EyeTech securing £5m in November to launch its latest product range. The company builds hardware […]

Birmingham-headquartered Beech Tree Private Equity has acquired a fast-growing provider of cloud data management software and services – Redstor. The private equity firm had been looking to invest in a company with exposure to the rapid growth in data generated by businesses and selected Reading-based Redstor, which also has operations in South Africa, thanks to the company […]

  3i Infrastructure has increased its equity ownership of Wireless Infrastructure Group (WIG), which is Scotland headquartered with offices in Solihull, in a deal announced on 27 December. The deal to invest a further £186m in WIG has now completed and 3i Infrastructure chairman, Richard Laing, said: “We are delighted to be taking majority ownership of WIG. […]

Mercia Technologies, a Warwickshire-based investment group, invested almost £50m in growing businesses UK-wide last year. During 2017, Mercia Technologies also opened new offices in Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds as it continued to expand its growing team. Chief executive Mark Payton comments: “During 2017 Mercia has continued to strengthen its regional presence, build its investment portfolio, its team […]

A Leicester-based company that specialises in developing technology for the logistics sector has reported an increase in turnover of about 50 per cent over the past four years. 3T Logistics is Europe’s largest independent 4PL, managing over £200 million in transport spend across Europe and the US. Based at Grove Park in Enderby, Leicestershire, the […]

West Midlands’ Mayor Andy Street has backed a series of proposals that the Government that will boost innovation and technology industries across the region, including creating a new tech hub in Birmingham and digital technology investment. The proposal will see the number of tech visas being offered to UK businesses double, while a £2m pilot scheme will be […]