With June 2022 wrapped up in a blur of festivals and sunshine, it’s time to review the equity investment that has been announced so far. A total of 12 South West based companies have raised over £14m in equity funding in the 30 days of June. Within that group, there’s a great deal of diversity – companies from Bristol to Truro and far beyond, companies raising between £8m and £10k, and companies focused on football, cycling, robotics, SEO and much more between.
Of the £14m raised, five companies have announced their investment news via the media which totals a little over £12.5m. Read on to find out more about these five companies:
Just Move In
Home setup service startup Just Move In — which covers both sales and rentals — launched in the U.K. but has quickly made gains as it attacked the market in a thoroughly holistic manner. Using the platform, a mover can manage council, water, sewerage, energy and broadband in a single environment (not going out to third-party sites), and much more besides. The U.K.-based startup has now raised a new funding round totalling $5 million (£4 million) led by Longbrook Ventures and Love Ventures.
Kensa Group
UK manufacturer and installer of ground source heat pumps, The Kensa Group, announced Legal & General Capital (LGC) has made a further £8 million investment into the company, bringing LGC’s total investment to £15.7 million over two years.
Lillicoco
An e-tailer of women’s antique jewellery has secured a £600,000 growth capital investment from Foresight Group. Lillicoco, which was founded in 2016 by Simon Green and Stacey Lillico, sells items such as rings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants. Most of its clients are based in the US with the remainder equally split between the UK and Europe. Currently based in Bristol, the company plans to use the funding to support the opening of a workshop in Birmingham, as well as hire a local team. It is estimated that 15 to 20 jobs will be created in the region through to 2025.
SEOTesting.com
A Cornwall-based tech start-up has raised £120,000 in early-stage investment from TinySeed – a one-year remote accelerator programme designed to increase the world’s population of independent Software as a Service (SaaS) companies. SEOTesting.com is designed to help people who work on website search engine optimisation (SEO) to grow search traffic from Google.
YesRef
Boost Fund 1 — the UK’s first automated high-volume equity fund aimed at high-growth potential startup businesses — announces its first five investments. The £5m Boost Fund will be the leading UK startup investment fund by volume with plans to complete 100 investments in less than six months. The fund’s investments are selected using Capital Pilot’s Investability Rating System, reflecting the firm’s vision to drive greater diversity in fundraising, through equal access to capital for everyone. Everywhere.
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, West of England Combined Authority, UWE, Sanderson, Engine Shed and Rocketmakers. Find out more about the IAP here.
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