Finnish startup Innomost has raised €5M to bring their birch bark innovation into new markets as a sustainable alternative for environmentally harmful ingredients in consumer products. The funding round was led by Metsä Spring Ltd. with Innovestor and angel investors joining the round. The round was completed with grants and loans from Business Finland as well as other public financing sources.

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) West Midlands Debt Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners, and backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Scheme Loan (CBILS), has provided ACL Limited with £500,000 worth of funding. This recent capital boost will enable the business to push forward plans with product development.

Cardboard Bedding Ltd, trading as Green Mile, is relocating to Prees in Shropshire after securing £180,000 from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

Graphite Capital, a leading UK mid-market private equity specialist, has agreed to sell U-POL, a leading manufacturer and distributor of automotive repair and refinishing products, to Axalta Coating Systems. Headquartered in Philadelphia, United States, Axalta is a global manufacturer and distributor of coatings and the leader in the premium automotive refinish segment.

F C Laser Limited has received a £1.5 million loan from Maven Capital Partners through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund and backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The business, which specialises in engineering and metal fabrication, is set to use the finance to purchase new technology and enable the automation and expansion of its two sites near Ilkeston in Derbyshire.

The North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund (“ERDF”) has invested £750,000 in Newcastle-based CRL Foods Ltd, a specialist food & beverage canning, sterilisation and pasteurisation business. The funding will allow the business to scale, increasing its production capacity and streamline efficiencies in order to service its growing list of international customers. The investment will also enable CRL Foods to expand its team, creating 7 new jobs in Newcastle.

Qualus, the leading provider of sustainable solutions to the leather industry, has secured £1 million of financing in a round led by Irrus Investments, an Ireland based angel syndicate. Co-investors in the round include CPI Enterprises and angels from Cambridge Capital Group and Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of London.  After years of optimising its solution through in-field trials at tanneries, Qualus now has multiple customers transitioning all production to its innovative system and a strong pipeline of potential customers in Asia, Europe, and Latin America that have successfully applied its system at a pilot scale.

Revolutionary synthetic diamond production business, Dyman Advanced Materials, based at the North East Technology Park (NETPark) in County Durham, is set to disrupt the $12bn market in 2021 after raising £571,466 in equity investment. 

Sylvan Enterprises has received a £500,000 loan through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) ESEM Debt Finance fund and backed by the  Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), managed by Maven Capital Partners.

Innovative Scottish start-up, QuickBlock, has received more than £250,000 in seed funding that will create four skilled jobs and accelerate growth of the company’s unique rapid-assembly building blocks made from 100% recycled plastic into new markets.

The investment from Equity Gap and Scottish Enterprise comes as the company sets its sights on global market opportunities within agriculture, humanitarian aid and disaster relief. It will help create a variety of permanent new roles, including securing the long-term appointment of it's interim CEO, Andrew Vincent (pictured). Other new positions include head of sales, sales executive and graduate-level marketing and product designer.

Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital and mobility arm, InMotion Ventures, has invested in Battery Resourcers, a lithium ion battery recycling and materials company.

Circularity Capital LLP has continued to build its portfolio of European growth stage businesses enabling the circular economy by leading a growth capital investment in PackBenefit, a European innovator in high-performance fibre-based food packaging. The investment sees AXA IM Alts co-invest alongside Circularity Capital through the AXA Impact Fund Climate and Biodiversity. Through this investment, Circularity Capital and AXA IM team up with JZ International, who invested in the company at inception in 2013.