February is Scale up month
Can you believe that one twelfth of 2021 is already complete? January seems to have both simultaneously vanished in a flash and taken an age to pass. It is an odd, odd time and it’s clear that many of us are suffering not only with pandemic fatigue but now also with lockdown lassitude too. Thankfully though, for some hardworking souls, January has brought some positive investment news so grab yourself a cuppa and take a moment to hear the latest local news from equity investment land.
Can you believe that one twelfth of 2021 is already complete? January seems to have both simultaneously vanished in a flash and taken an age to pass. It is an odd, odd time and it’s clear that many of us are suffering not only with pandemic fatigue but now also with lockdown lassitude too. Thankfully though, for some hardworking souls, January has brought some positive investment news so grab yourself a cuppa and take a moment to hear the latest local news from equity investment land.
In the West of England (Bristol, Bath, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) we saw 4 companies raise £1.25m of funding between them to start the year. Of these four companies, only one has disclosed their round and received press coverage – you can find the full story about the £900k raised by The Bunch courtesy of Insider here. The funding includes a significant investment from BPEC (Bristol Private Equity Club) and will help The Bunch, who develop software designed to help people in shared living arrangements, expand their range of services.
Movin’ on up…
UpUgo was also successful in closing a significant investment as part of a minority sale in January. You might remember their name because the deal was hot on the heels of the investment they secured and announced in April 2020. The transaction was handled by Cook Corporate Solicitors and covered by Business Leader – read more here.
In the wider South West a further 5 companies raised £50.1m between them with Wildanet (Cornish broadband provider bringing superfast and super-reliable service to homes and businesses throughout the region) securing the vast majority of that figure (read more about their plans for the £50m investment).
Silicon Gorge Pitching
One last thing… Sneaking in as headline news for January – we have announced the latest Silicon Gorge pitch competition. This is a bi-annual opportunity for companies raising early-stage funding to apply to pitch in front of a room full of investors. Find out more and encourage the startups you know to apply.
This article is written as part of the Investment Activator Programme (IAP) in the West of England. This programme is run by TechSPARK and is kindly sponsored by TLT LLP, delaware, Smith & Williamson, West of England Combined Authority, UWE, Sanderson, Engine Shed and Rocketmakers. Find out more about the IAP here.
If you are an investor and you would like to receive the regular newsletter and event invitations for the QIB, please find more information and sign up here.
And finally, if you are raising investment for your business and you would like to submit your one page proposition for the next QIB event, please find more information at the bottom of this page.
Briony Phillips
Briony is Scaleup Lead at Rocketmakers, a software development agency that designs, develops and deploys technology for startups, scaleups and corporations.
Briony champions the scale-up business ecosystem and works with partners across the public and private sector to deliver content, events and resources that help to overcome challenges faced by fast-growth companies such as access to investment and office space availability.
