Small business specialist investor IW Capital has completed a £3.7million investment into Rockwater Hove, a community driven hospitality venue on Hove’s seafront. Testament to its community ethos, over £1million of the funding was raised by local residents, many of whom have already been customers over the summer. 

Diageo has announced it has reached agreement to acquire BGF portfolio company Chase Distillery, the owner of Chase GB Gin and the award-winning Chase Original Potato Vodka. 

A £10 million funding package from the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) will help to scale the insect bioconversion sector, accelerating the transition to sustainable methods of farming.

As part of the project consortium, Better Origin will use the funding to focus on scaling their insect processing and value extraction technology to convert insects into products such as animal feed and human food. A result of years of research and development, their patented ‘Metamorphosis Technology’, which processes insects into different products, represents the most cost-effective,tailored processing line developed to date.

The world’s most awarded non-alcoholic spirits company, Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirit Co. has successfully closed a £9m seed round

Private equity-backed soft drinks manufacturer Clearly Drinks is to invest in a new canning facility at its Sunderland headquarters following support from NorthEdge.  The multi-million-pound investment is set to provide state-of-the-art canning capabilities, designed by BW Integrated Systems, allowing Clearly Drinks to manufacture 160 million cans each year. This will enhance Clearly Drinks’ product offering and packaging flexibility, allowing it to widen its customer base which currently includes Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Booker and One Stop. 

In November last year, Porky Whites, a premium British sausage brand that had been running since 1935, was at the brink of collapse. Independent Growth Finance (IGF) provided £750,000 of funding to the company after Porky Whites had been let down by its bank. This ensured that the family-owned business was in a position not only to survive, but to thrive.  IGF provides asset-based lending, which allows businesses to draw on the value of their own machinery, property and stock. 

Green Angel Syndicate has completed an investment in online, sustainable grocer, Good Club, as part of a £900k raise. Good Club is an online grocer, selling over 2,000 sustainable staples (70% ambient food, 30% non-food), delivered to consumers nationwide direct from wholesalers. The next step in its mission to help people live more sustainable lifestyles is to aim to become the world's first zero-waste online supermarket by developing reusable product packaging along with logistics technology to tackle the single-use plastic crisishead-on.

Mia & Ben, the innovative kids' food brand sold nationwide in Sainsbury's, Ocado and Abel & Cole in the UK, as well as Dunnes Stores in the Republic of Ireland, has secured £2.5 million funding from impact food investor Blue Horizon Ventures to help grow its UK business.

Mia & Ben aim to revolutionise the kids' food category by using scientific research and the latest technology to offer fresher and more nutritious products. Their first range of pouches can be found chilled in the fridge, not in the ambient aisle, and are preserved with high-pressure processing (HPP) instead of heat to retain natural vitamins, colour and taste.

A venture backed Cambridge startup, Better Origin, has launched the X1, the world’s first ever insect mini-farm to convert local waste into high-quality animal feed in the form of insect larvae, which can then be fed to livestock, improving welfare, productivity and yield. They are solving both the global food waste crisis and producing better quality food for consumers.

Kaelo Limited has secured a £350,000 growth loan from the Greater London Investment Fund (GLIF) which is managed by The FSE Group.  Kaelo Ltd are the pioneers behind the Kaelo, a unique new way to serve and enjoy perfectly chilled wine in the home, and the hospitality and marine markets.

Prism Corporate Broking has advised the shareholders of Orion Future Technology Ltd (Orion FT) on its sale to the Milbank Group Ltd.

Blackfinch has invested c.£550k in Poole-based company Spotless Water, founded in 2016. The company offers the UK's first and only network of self-service, pure-water filling stations, available 24/7. It has nearly 40 stations situated across the UK. A key target is to increase this to 450 stations over the next three years as well as expanding into the US.