Qardy, the first digital lending marketplace in Egypt and the MENA region for financial institutions to fund MSMEs, has successfully secured a $ 7-figure pre-seed round of investment, with participation from White Field Ventures and Vastly Valuable Ventures among other Angel Investors.

The British Business Bank has announced that the third iteration of its Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS) has supported £1bn of finance offers to smaller businesses since its launch in August 2022.

France: Guy Gourevitch (pictured, right), President of Defense Angels has signed a partnership agreement with Airbus Development represented by Bertrand Gautier (pictured, left).

Arctic Shores, the psychometric assessment pioneers, have received £1.5m in venture debt funding from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The funding follows another exciting year for the company, where revenues grew by more than 50%.

Stoke-On-Trent business Wade Ceramics, has secured a £400,000 investment to help safeguard its current employees and allow the company to enter new partnerships and grow its product range.

Beechbrook Capital has achieved a first close on its third UK SME focused fund, raising £120m, including the fund and separately managed account commitments.

This fund has attracted repeat and new institutional investors, including British Business Investments, the Greater London Authority Strategic Reserve and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.

AP Taylor Ltd has secured a £750,000 funding package from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), for the East & South East Midlands Debt Finance fund managed by Maven Capital Partners and backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme.

A London based contemporary hair care brand has secured £550,000 from the Greater London Investment Fund to support its range expansion. The funding will enable the brand to recruit a number of new employees over the next three years.

A food & drink producer based across Lincolnshire has secured £250,000 to upgrade its production facilities, create eight jobs and service its growing customer base.  Wild Jacks Ltd secured the finance from Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group Debt Finance Fund and backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS). The MEIF funding will help to upgrade the company’s production facilities and create eight new jobs in the next year.

British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary within the British Business Bank group, has made a £7m commitment to FOLK2FOLK, a specialist marketplace lender for rural and regional smaller businesses.

R&S Tonks, a Stoke-on-Trent-based joinery company has secured a £200,000 funding package to create new jobs and expand its operations.

SME funding specialist One Stop Business Finance (OSBF) has further strengthened its finance brokering and operations management expertise with the appointment of Emma Harris.