UK

Smedvig Capital sold Exchange Group to Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG), an active player in skills and employability training. Exchange Group operate a national network of over 30 skills training centres in public libraries, secondary shopping malls and co-located on partner premises. The centres currently work with over 30,000 individuals a year, supporting them in […]

Korea

Ybrain, a South Korea-based healthcare wearables startup, raised $3.5m in Series A funding. The round was led by Stonebridge Capital. The company, which has now raised $4.2m, intends to use the funds to grow the team and build products. Founded in Feb 2013 by Caltech neuroscientist Kyongsik Yun, CEO, and Samsung engineers, Ybrain offers healthcare […]

USA

JustFab, a Manhattan Beach, CA-based online fashion retailer, raised $85m in Series D funding. The round, which valued the company at over $1 billion, was led by new investor Passport Capital with participation from existing investors Shining Capital, Matrix Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to expand its product […]

USA

IFTTT (If This Then That), a San Francisco, CA-based service that allows users to program connections among Internet services and devices, closed a $30m Series B funding. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from existing investor Andreessen Horowitz. In conjunction with the funding, Josh Goldman, general partner at Norwest, joined IFTTT’s […]

India

Attero, a Noida, India-based electronic asset management company, raised $15m Series C funding. The round was led by Forum Synergies (India), a PE Fund Manager. The company intends to use the funds to scale operation, expand geographically and grow its client base. Led by Mr. Nitin Gupta, CEO, Attero provides eco-friendly 360-degree integrated solutions for e-waste management, […]

UK

Abbey Pharma Ltd, a Maidenhead, UK-based pharmaceutical company which trades as Intrapharm, secured a £2m investment from Business Growth Fund. With the deal, BGF acquired a minority stake in the business. The investment, alongside senior debt funding from NatWest, enabled the business to acquire Peckforton Pharmaceuticals, a Crewe, Peckforton-based specialty pharmaceutical company that will add […]

ItalyUSA

AdEspresso, a San Francisco, California- and Milan, Italy-based SaaS platform for Facebook advertising, has officially become a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD). Venture and angel backed AdEspresso, which is led by Massimo Chieruzzi, CEO, and Armando Biondi, COO, provides an affordable and self-­service platform for Facebook advertising management and optimization focusing on user experience as […]

UK

Plastique, a Tunbridge Wells, UK packaging manufacturer, received a £5m minority investment from Business Growth Fund. The company intends to use the funds for growth plans in both its core market and the emerging thermoformed pulp sector. Established in 1979 and led by Managing Director, John Lowe and Sales Director, Perry Rigler, Plastique designs and […]

Germany

i3 Membrane GmbH, a Hamburg, Germany-based developer of filter membranes, raised a seed funding round of undisclosed amount. Backers included High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Innovationsstarter Fonds. The company intends to use the funds for development and marketing of its novel filter technology. Led by Stephan Brinke-Seiferth, CEO, i3 Membrane is developing novel filter membranes, made […]

UK

Furniture Village, a Slough, UK-based independent furniture retailer, secured a £6m investment from the Business Growth Fund. BGF acquired a minority stake in the business and Jon Simon joined the board. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate a roll-out expansion of new stores across the UK, invest in technology to enhance the […]

USA

SeatGeek, a New York City-based ticket search engine, raised a $35m Series B funding. The round was led by Accel Partners, with participation from Causeway Media Partners, a sports-focused investment fund led by Boston Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck, Super Bowl MVPs Peyton and Eli Manning, Nas, Melo7 Tech Partners, Stanford University Athletics, Seattle Mariners co-owner […]

USA

HubSpot, a Boston, MA-based marketing software company, filed for an IPO to raise $100m. Co-founded eight years ago by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, HubSpot provide a cloud-based marketing and sales software platform that enables businesses to deliver an inbound experience to attract, and engage customers to their websites, convert visitors into leads, close leads […]

India

hike, the Indian free messaging app, raised $65m in funding. Backers included New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Management and Bharti SoftBank. The company intends to use the funds to expand the user base of the app. Led by Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder and chief executive officer, Hike provides a free app to message friends […]