Newly formed Manchester based property developer Northern Property Consortium (NPC) has embarked on its maiden project after agreeing a key short term finance deal worth £550,000 with leading independent SME funding specialist, One Stop Business Finance.

Leading marine and automotive insurtech Concirrus has announced that it has closed a $20 million Series B funding round led by AlbionVC.  The funding also includes participation from current investors IQ Capital, EOS Venture Partners and several angel investors.  The company has developed a behavioural-based underwriting platform called Quest which delivers portfolio management and predictive analytics using the latest advancements in big data aggregation, AI and machine learning. Adoption of the platform is changing the future of risk selection, pricing and claims throughout the value chain.

The Development Bank of Wales has invested £200,000 to support the leasehold purchase and refurbishment of the Costcutter store in Knighton, Powys.  

Online sales are driving rapid growth at a Bristol-based father and son beachwear business.  Tom & Teddy, a beachwear range offering matching attire for fathers and sons, was the brainchild of husband and wife team Jelle de Jong and Michelle L’Huillier. 

Inc & Co Group has acquired the operations of Laundrapp, the U.K.’s largest on-demand laundry service. Laundrapp provides a fast, efficient and premium laundry & dry cleaning service via their award-winning app - they collect, clean and deliver your items back to your door at a time that suits.

New research by SmallBusinessPrices.co.uk analyses how neobanks are on the rise and why they’re so popular amongst consumers compared to traditional banks.

Electric vehicle charge-point maker, Pod Point, which raised funds three times on Crowdcube, has announced it has been acquired by energy company, EDF. Pod Point successfully raised £3.71m with Crowdcube in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with its vision of a world where travel doesn’t damage the earth 1,428 people were inspired to invest. 

The sale to EDF tops AB InBev’s £85m acquisition of Camden Town Brewery, which had raised on Crowdcube in 2015.

Livingbridge investee company Brainlabs has made two investments in online marketing agency Distilled and US digital marketing specialist Hanapin, underlining its ambitious growth strategy. 

Tech Nation, the UK network for ambitious tech entrepreneurs, has revealed the 10 early-stage scaleup winners of its nationwide competition, Rising Stars. 

The Rising Stars competition is the only national early-stage tech scaleup competition in the UK, and is designed to showcase the most exciting companies at Seed to pre-Series A funding from all areas of the country. Tech Nation’s Rising Stars are on track to become the world leading tech companies of tomorrow - the UK is a world leader in producing successful tech companies, and is now home to 77 billion-dollar businesses, double that of Germany and almost four times as many as Israel.

Silverfleet Capital, the European private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Collectia A/S, a credit management services provider based in Denmark. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

John Auckland, founder of TribeFirst, shares his predictions for alternative finance in the 2020s.

Crowdcube, Europe’s leading crowdfunding platform, has achieved its eighth record-breaking quarter in a row, as revenue for 2019 surpasses the £8m watershed for the first time. Revenue is up 36% year-on-year, climbing to £8.22m, with a record 220 campaigns funded, up from 198 in 2018.

Crowdcube saw 41 campaigns raising over £1m in 2019, with JustPark, Freetrade, Curve and carwow each raising £5m or more. Curve, carwow, Chip and Freetrade jointly welcomed over 30,000 new shareholders. A trend towards larger funding rounds has been spurred by entrepreneurs understanding the benefits of engaging their customers and communities by inviting them to become shareholders through Crowdcube.