New staycation holiday specialist Caledonian Leisure Ltd has secured a multi-million-pound investment from Mobeus Equity Partners, the investors behind the recent IPO of Virgin Wines and the proposed IPO of Parsley Box.

Seneca Partners EIS Portfolio Service, the generalist EIS specialising in the provision of growth capital and strategic support to ambitious SMEs, has successfully exited its investment in Mission Labs – the digital business communications specialist – via the sale to Gamma Communications Plc for more than £40million. The exit has provided Seneca EIS investors with a 4.2x return on their investment.

The new Conduit EIS Impact Fund has been launched by industry experts, Conduit Connect, Conduit Capital and Ascension Ventures, to support and scale impact driven companies and to enable investors to build diverse portfolios, with the added benefits of EIS tax reliefs. 

Luke Davis, CEO of IW Capital, discusses how scale up finance was key prior to pandemic, and why now it is of critical importance for recovering businesses.

Green Angel Syndicate (GAS), the UK’s angel investment syndicate specialising in the fight against Climate Change and Global Warming, has announced the close of its first EIS/SEIS Climate Change Fund (CCF). 

Acceleris has invested in Power Roll, a developer of a game-changing, ultra-low-cost and lightweight flexible film for energy generation and storage, as part of a further £3m round, taking total investment in the firm to £5.8m over two funding rounds completed in the last six months. ?

Quirk, a consumer fintech startup that uses unique personality testing to deliver tailored financial advice to young professionals, has raised £300,000 in pre-seed funding from SFC Capital and angel investors. Quirk will use the funding to grow its team, expand its product offering, and fuel its broader mission to build financial freedom for everyone. 

Subsea technology firm, Rovco, has completed a £3.9 million Series A investment from Foresight group via the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund and Foresight VCTs. The investment was part of a larger round totalling £5 million which included funds from existing shareholders including Green Angel Syndicate. 

The funds will be used to support its international expansion and Rovco’s continued development of its state-of-the-art 3D Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence subsea technology.

Parkwalk has launched one of the first HMRC Approved Knowledge Intensive EIS Funds to open to retail investors, offering an opportunity to invest in ground-breaking deeptech businesses spun out of UK universities, but with a facility to carry back income tax relief to the previous tax year and reduced admin for investors. Launching in early January 2021, the Fund will close at the end of the tax year in April 2021.

Par Equity, the Edinburgh-based investment manager that specialises in early-stage technology businesses with high growth potential, increased its new investment activity to a record £12.4m in 2020. Despite the challenges of a year dominated by Covid-19, the award-winning company also continued its run of successful exits, which means it has now returned cash to investors every year since 2013.

Vala Capital, the entrepreneur-led venture capital firm, has launched the Vala Sustainable Growth EIS targeting small companies focused on sustainable solutions.

Catherine Gannon of Gannons Solicitors looks at what SEIS/EIS can offer to investors.

The new world definitely brings new opportunities. Opportunities require funding. Rumour has it that taxes will rise but it would be a harsh (not to mention foolish) government that takes an axe to SEIS and EIS investment relief – one expects that Rishi will not go there.