Alongside DuMont Venture in the round were venture capital firms Target Partners and E42 Ventures and angel investors.

Alongside Vorwerk in the round was Omnes Capital, the venture capital firm spun out of French bank Credit Agricole.

European investors in private equity look to both corporates and government for more support of the venture industry, after more than one third of investors in the continent have lost money in venture.

Training provider PraxisUnico* says there were less than 40 spin-outs last year, compared to nearly 50 for the two prior years.

RWE Innogy's corporate venturing unit combining with Vattenfall-backed Yellow & Blue Investment Management have teamed up to back biomass company Topell.

Between now and September, five UK-registered companies will be selected to take part in the scheme, based in the BBC Media Centre in White City, London.

Siemens and British Gas are joined by Climate Change Capital Private Equity, backing the Germany-based smart grid company.

The UK-based maker of therapies for the central nervous system which spun off from UK university King's College London could deliver as much as a 57 times return for IP Group if performance targets are met. The deal also secures an exit for Denmark-listed drugs developer H Lundbeck.

Innogy Venture Capital is joined backing the biomass company by Yellow&Blue Clean Energy Investment Management.