Borro, the UK’s leading personal asset lender, have announced the launch of ‘Money Making Ideas’, a social media competition open to the nation’s small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to access finance to further develop their business. This is a response to a recent study that shows almost a quarter of SME owners (24%) say they have missed out on a growth opportunity due to a lack of accessible finance.

Venture capital investing is in the midst of a revival and experiencing major changes.  It is certainly creating a different story from its past, based on Wall Street’s new found appetite for venture backed technology companies

Boosting venture capital is tough – difficult for a seasoned entrepreneur, a minefield for the novice.  The time and effort required to raise venture capital is often underestimated, and can seriously disrupt a company with dozens of other business priorities.

I hate shopping at the best of times. Speciality retail did not do us too badly at Quester - we backed Waterstone's when it had three shops and it turned into the firm's first big success, although the first deal for which I was personally responsible that went bust was a fashion jewellery chain called Bow Bangles. After receivership it became the very successful Claire's Accessories.

API Technologies Corp, a provider of secure communications, electronic components and subsystems to the global defense and aerospace industries, has signed a definitive merger agreement with Vintage Capital Management LLC ("Vintage") to acquire SenDEC Corporation ("SenDEC"), a leading defense electronics manufacturing services company headquartered in Fairport, NY. Under the terms of the merger transaction, API will acquire 100% of the equity of SenDEC, which will include SenDEC's electronics manufacturing operations and approximately $30 million of cash, in exchange for the issuance of 22 million API common shares to an affiliate of Vintage.

TargetSpot, the largest digital audio advertising network, announced today it has closed $8 million in equity financing from: Union Square Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, CBS Radio and Milestone Venture Partners. The funds raised will be used to fuel growth investments in TargetSpot's advertising technology, expand its network, and to rapidly grow its national sales force.

Groupon announced that it has completed a $950 million round of financing. Groupon will use the funds to fuel global expansion, invest in technology, and provide liquidity for employees and early investors.

M8 Capital, the venture capital fund investing exclusively in mobile technology, announced today a US$ 4.2 million investment in German mobile technology company SCHAD.

Growth equity investor Summit Partners today announced an investment for a minority stake in M/A-COM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc., a leading supplier of semiconductors, active and passive components, and sub-assemblies for use in radio frequency, microwave and millimeter wave applications. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

CipherOptics, the leader in scalable network encryption, announced today that it has completed a $21 million financing in an over-subscribed round. Led by existing investor Adams Capital Management, the round included new investors Blue Heron Capital, Intuitive Venture Partners, Next Stage Capital, Kestrel Asset Management and other individuals joining Origin Partners and Axiom Venture Partners as investors. CipherOptics also announced the addition of Mike Kane from Kestrel Asset Management and network industry veteran John Gerdelman to the CipherOptics' Board of Directors.