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Conference in Sofia Will Set the Standard for SME Support in Europe

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A conference to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 30th October 2009 will focus on the creation of a new Business Advice and Support International Standard (BASIS) developed in the contest of the “Odessa” project funded by EU’s Grundtvig programme (Lifelong Learning Programme).

The aim of the Odessa project is to improve the performance of SMEs by encouraging greater participation in training by SME managers and therefore analyse the training, business advice and services provided to SMEs in six partner countries (Bulgaria, Spain, Slovak Republic, the UK, the UAE and Switzerland) and develop a quality framework and quality assurance process to cover them.

At the conference, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the development of BASIS and networking with other business support organisations.

The programme includes:
– Keynote speech regarding the critical role of SMEs within the European Union
– Keynote speech regarding SMEs in a rapidly growing economy
– The role of quality standards in developing and certifying SME support agencies
– Presentation of the BASIS quality standard
– National implementation of the BASIS quality standard
– Experiences of piloting the BASIS standard in local centres, and presentation of BASIS certificates

For full details, visit the conference’s website www.basisstandard.com/conference

FinSMEs

08/09/2009

London, Venture Capital Fund Launched

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Julie Meyer, founder of London-based investment firm Ariadne Capital, has launched a £20m fund focused on bridging the gap between seed and venture capital.
The Ariadne Capital Entrepreneurs Fund (ACE), which will be fully raised by the end of 2009, will invest £250,000-to- £1m in internet and mobile internet early-stage companies and businesses in media technology, voice applications, financial services and digital entertainment sectors. 
The Fund has already been backed by some important investors such as David Rowe, founder of EasyNet, Marc Worth, founder of WGSN, Michael Jackson, former Chairman of Partygaming, and Gerard Bonnevay, former Board Director of Crédit Agricole and founder of Celimage.
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

Scottish Lab901 Raised £2.4M in Equity Funding

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Lab901, an Edinburgh-based manufacturer of innovative automation systems for the life science industry, raised £2.4m in equity funding led by its existing UK investors, including Archangel Informal Investment Ltd, Alliance Trust Equity Partners (ATEP), Scottish Enterprise SVF, Foresight 3 VCT plc and TriCapital Ltd.
Lab901 will use the funds to develop the international sales of its ScreenTape laboratory analysis platform (now sold in more than 20 countries through a network of 16 distribution partners) and its product range as a whole. Lab901 recently launched two new versions of ScreenTape for Protein and RNA analysis, which are being sold direct throughout Europe, with global sales beginning in 2010.
Commenting on the latest round of funding, Joel Fearnley, CEO and co-founder of Lab901, was reported as saying: “Lab901 has an enviable track record with the successful development and commercialisation of the innovative ScreenTape platform and our existing investors have provided the finance we need to support planned global sales growth”.
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

EIB agreed € 15m lending facility to Greek Cooperative Bank for supporting SMEs

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed a lending facility worth € 15m to the Greek Pancretan Cooperative Bank for supporting smaller entrepreneurial activity in the island of Crete and in the country.
Since 2007, EIB and Pancretan Cooperative Bank have signed three agreementsc and through this cooperation € 60 million have been channeled to the Greek market, mainly in the sectors of SMEs and local authorities. 
The Pancretan Cooperative Bank is the largest cooperative organisation in Greece and provides retail and commercial banking with a strong orientation towards SMEs in the fields of industry, business services and tourism. Created in 1994, it is currently controlled by more than 77,000 individual shareholders and operates mainly on the island of Crete. 
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

UK, Imperial Innovations Group led a £2m funding round in Molecular Vision

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Imperial Innovations Group, a technology commercialisation and investment company, led a £2m funding round in London-based Molecular Vision, a developer of quantitative point-of-care (POC) diagnostic devices.
Imperial Innovations committed £1.5m with Acrongenomics, another already existing shareholder, also participating in the round. This funding took the total amount of money raised by Molecular Vision to £3.2m.
According to an official statement, Molecular Vision, an Imperial College spin-out company, is developing low-cost disposable devices for medical testing “that will greatly extend the diagnostic tools available to the general practitioner. By enabling on-the-spot diagnosis, Molecular Vision’s technology could reduce the need for patients to make repeat visits, accelerate treatment, free up clinician time and lower treatment costs”.
Molecular Vision’s technology is believed to have a great potential in other markets such as veterinary medicine, forensic science, environmental monitoring and military applications. 
The commitment follows 3 recent operations in other companies annunced in August: a £500,000 investment in Novacem, a £333,000 investment in Cortexica and a participation in a further funding round in Acrobot.

FinSMEs

07/09/2009

UK, Free Workshop To Help Companies Win Business Contracts

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Business Link, the UK free business advice and support service, is organising a series of free “Fit2Supply” workshops across the South East in order to support businesses win new contracts of under £100,000 including those advertised on CompeteFor, Supply2Gov and the South East Business Portal .
The workshops will explain how to access all the available opportunities, how to meet contract and buyer mandatory requirements and how to increase chances of winning a London 2012 or public sector contract.
Local events are taking place at:
– 16 Sept 2009 – The Centre Conference Venue, Slough
– 21 Sept 2009 – Reigate Hill Golf Club, Reigate
– 24 Sept 2009 – The Hilton Hotel, Milton Keynes
– 05 Oct 2009 – Shoreham Airport, Worthing
– 07 Oct 2009 – Brookfield Hotel, Emsworth
– 08 Oct 2009 – EuroKent Business Park, Ramsgate
To book, visit the website http://www.southeast2012events.co.uk

FinSMEs

07/09/2009

UK, BIW Technologies Recapitalised by NovaVest Fund 1 LP

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BIW Technologies, a Surrey-based provider of online construction and engineering project control software, announced a recapitalisation backed by the company’s largest shareholder, the vehicle NovaVest Fund 1 LP advised by Tempo Capital Partners LLP. 
In addition to the settlement of all outstanding debt (amounting to £3.5m in aggregate), the deal secures around £300,000 of new working capital to further develop the business.

Commenting on the deal, Colin Smith, CEO of BIW Technologies,was quoted as saying: “This is very good news for all the company’s customers and creditors. BIW is now financially and operationally far stronger, there is no debt and we have strong cash reserves”. 
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

Business Creation Platform to Support Chinese entrepreneurs Starts Today

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Innovation Works, a new business creation platform focused on providing capital, legal, financial and IT support to the next-generation of Chinese entrepreneurs, starts today.

The platform will be funded with $115m from a group of venture capital firms and investors such as Steve Chen (Co-Founder of YouTube), Foxconn Technology Group, Legend Group and New Oriental Education & Technology Group. The investment will be led by WI Harper Group.

Innovation Works will concentrate on Internet, mobile Internet and cloud computing technology advancements in order to collect, analyze, prioritize and execute on the most promising business ideas in the Greater China market. It will accelerate an entrepreneur’s ability to prove ideas, obtain additional external funding, and then spin-off into an independent company.

The announcement of the launch comes after that Dr. Kai-Fu Lee, Innovation Works founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, resigned as Google Vice President and President of Google Greater China.

Explaining the reasons that have brought to establish the platform, he said: “The Chinese entrepreneurial environment is still in its formative stage, with significant barriers for the early-stage entrepreneur: the lack of management experience and coaching, the reluctance of venture capitalists to invest in companies in the formation stage, and the lack of networking and experience to pull a company together.
“These barriers all contribute to a dearth of high-tech start-ups in China. Innovation Works is matching entrepreneurs, engineers, ideas, and capital with a unique business model that improves success rates and speeds time-to-market”.
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

USA, El Dorado Ventures Leads $7.5M Funding Round for Coupa Software

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Coupa Software, a developer of on-demand e-procurement software that supports companies control spending and generate savings, completed a $7.5m Series C financing round led by El Dorado Ventures.
Previous investors Blue Run Ventures and Battery Ventures of Menlo Park also participated in the round.
Commenting on the funding, Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of San Mateo Ca.-based Coupa, was quoted as saying: “The addition of El Dorado Ventures as investors further validates Coupa’s mission of helping companies spend smarter in these tough economic times.
“Today, Coupa delivers the easiest to use, quickest to implement, and most cost-effective spend management solution on the market. With this funding round, we will continue to execute on our business plan here in the U.S. and worldwide”. 
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

Canadian Solidarity Fund QFL Supports Québec’s company

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The Solidarity Fund QFL committed some C$72m to back Québec’s company Bombardier.
The Fund joins other financial institutions to provide the company with capital to continue developing job-creating projects.

The Solidarity Fund QFL is a development capital company that through its Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) channels the savings of Quebecers into investments in all sectors of the economy to help create and maintain jobs and to further Québec’s economic growth. 

Commenting on the operation, the Fund’s chief executive officer Yvon Bolduc was reporting as saying: “With this financing offer, we’re backing Bombardier’s management as well as its thousands of employees and many suppliers who not only make up one of Québec’s most dynamic industrial clusters but also provide an excellent example of value-added manufacturing, an industry that the Fund has been supporting for years”.
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

US Recovery Act Agrees a $535M Loan Guarantee for Solar Panel Manafacturer

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U.S. Department of Energy agreed a $535m loan guarantee for Fremont, CA.-based Solyndra, which manufactures innovative cylindrical solar photovoltaic panels that provide clean and renewable energy.

Funded under the Recovery Act, the loan will finance construction of the first phase of the company’s second manufacturing facility located near its current manufacturing facility in Fremont.
The plant is designed to produce 500 megawatts per year and will enable Solyndra to fulfill its contractual backlog of over $2bn and create additional jobs. The company estimates the new plant will initially create 3,000 construction jobs, and lead to as many as 1,000 jobs once the facility opens while hundreds more will install company’s solar panels on rooftops around the country.
Solyndra’s two facilities will produce enough solar panels over their lifetime to cut over 350 million metric tons of CO2 emissions or 850 million barrels of oil.
Commenting on the funding, Solyndra CEO and founder, Dr. Chris Gronet was reported as saying: “The economy needs clean tech alternatives to help it recover, but our planet requires clean tech solutions in order to survive.
“The new plant will allow us to meet customer demand while making a positive impact on the world’s energy and environmental needs. We are grateful for the vision and support of President Barack Obama, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Congress, and our investors”.
FinSMEs
07/09/2009

Portuguese Government co-invests in a new Business Angels Fund

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The Portuguese Government is co-investing in a new € 25m Business Angels Fund aimed at funding innovative 60 early stage companies.
The Fund represents the result of more than 2 years of cooperative work of FNABA (Federação Nacional das Associações de Business Angels) with the Portuguese Ministério da Economia, and other official institutions.
Under the proposed scheme at least 3 business angels must create a new company with the purpose for risk investment. The business angels must bring to the new company 35% of the necessary funds, while COMPETE (managed by Portuguese authorities) will make an up to 10 year loan of 65% of the necessary funds.
The overall budget is exepected to reach € 25m coming from the Portuguese Government (€10m), Business Angels, entrepreneurs and some expected bank financing from the start ups.
FinSMEs
06/09/2009

SBA Disaster Loans Available in New York

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Following Secretary of Agriculture Disaster Declaration in New York, The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that federal economic injury disaster loans are available to businesses and private non-profit organizations located in the State of New York as a result of hail that began on June 12, 2009.
Eligible counties are Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Franklin, Greene, Montgomery, Orange, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster in New York.
The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to farm-related and nonfarm-related small business concerns, small agricultural cooperatives and most private non-profit organizations of all sizes that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. Agricultural producers, farmers and ranchers are not eligible to apply to SBA.
Eligible organizations may submit for loans up to $2m available at a 4% interest rate with a duration up to 30 years.
Deadline to return Loan submissions to SBA is April 26, 2010.
FinSMEs
05/09/2009

France, 123 Venture Invests in Renewable Energies

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123Venture, a Paris-based venture capital firm announced 3 new investments. 
The first one is a €1,5m commitment in Tecnisun, a thermal solar panel producer. The funds will allow Tecnisun to strenghten its business and further develop its higher-performance solar panels.
As advisor to the Holding 123Holding ISF 2009, 123Venture partnered with Frey Nouvelles Energies, one of the leading actors in France in renewable energies, to invest €2.5m in Solar Mimizan, an operator of building integrated solar power plants and €1.5m in Margeriaz Energie, operators of Solar and Biogas power plants.
In the meanwhile, in order to strenghter its presence in the green economy, 123Venture has proposed FIP 123Multi-Énergies, a new fund focused on investing in small and medium enterprises producing renewable energies such as solar and eolic energies and biomass.
FinSMEs
05/09/2009

HSBC Bank Polska sells Consumer Finance Portfolio to strenghten Commercial Banking Business

FinSMEs
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HSBC Bank Polska SA has agreed to sell its credit branded consumer finance portfolio and its credit card portfolio to Alior Bank SA.
The total consideration will be at a premium to the net book value of the receivables at the date of completion of the deal. The gross asset value of the two portfolios was US $350m at the end of July 2009.
Following the sale of its consumer finance portfolio, expected to be concluded in the fourth quarter of this year, HSBC Bank Polska will focus on growing its personal banking services and strengthening its commercial banking businesses, where its global reach offers significant advantages to companies involved in international trade.
FinSMEs
04/09/2009
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