UK Tech Funding Roundup: This Week’s Deals From Oxa to Mutable Tactics
UK tech investment this week totalled £99.37 million, a 91% drop from the prior week, across five rounds. Autonomous‑vehicle specialist Oxa led the pack with a £77 million Series D, followed by biomaterials firm Shellworks raising £11 million Series A. Health‑tech Antiverse secured £7 million for AI‑driven drug discovery, while Cambridge‑based Bindbridge and London‑based Mutable Tactics closed seed and pre‑seed rounds of £2.8 million and £1.57 million respectively. The deals span AI mobility, sustainable materials, health, agtech and defence tech.
Revolut Names US CEO as It Seeks New Banking Licence
Revolut has appointed former Raisin chief executive Cetin Duransoy as its U.S. CEO, coinciding with the fintech’s application for a national bank charter from the OCC and FDIC. The company aims to operate as Revolut Bank US, giving it direct...
Government Throws Weight Behind Space-Manufactured Drugs
The UK government announced a new package of measures to accelerate space‑based pharmaceutical manufacturing, offering regulatory clarity and a sandbox for companies developing drugs in microgravity. The initiative, led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, brings together the...
Will Britain’s First Trillion-Dollar Spinout Be Led by a Woman?
UCL Business chief argues Britain should become the world’s top hub for female‑led university spinouts, targeting the nation’s first trillion‑dollar company. She highlights a surge in women founders across AI, gene therapy and social ventures, noting their collaborative and communicative...
BBB Commits £20m to Northern Irish PE Firm
British Business Bank has pledged £20 million to the latest fund launched by Northern Irish private‑equity firm Cordovan Capital Management. The commitment is the first under the bank’s newly adopted growth‑equity strategy, which aims to channel public capital into private‑equity funds...
Drone Defence Startup Secures Pre-Seed Investment
Mutable Tactics, a London‑based robotics firm, raised $2.1 million in a pre‑seed round led by Seraphim Space and backed by the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund. The startup’s AI‑driven decision layer enables mixed fleets of low‑cost drones to operate autonomously...
UK Space Agency Unveils £30m Satellite Funding Pot
British firms developing satellite communications will share £30 million from the UK Space Agency’s Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C‑LEO) programme. The second funding round is designed to move technologies from testing to deployment, emphasizing smarter hardware, AI‑enhanced data delivery, and...
UK Quantum Group Tapped to Join DARPA Project
British quantum algorithms firm Phasecraft has secured a contract with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to contribute to its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI). Working alongside the University of Maryland’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS),...
UK Private Capital Calls for Scaleup Reinvestment Relief
UK Private Capital, representing private‑equity and venture‑capital firms, is urging the British government to introduce a Scaleup Reinvestment Relief (SRR). The proposal would create a capital‑gains‑tax reinvestment relief for gains that are ploughed back into qualifying UK‑headquartered scaleups, growth‑equity funds...
IProov Founder: Own Your Mistakes
Andrew Bud, founder and CEO of iProov, stresses that founders must own their mistakes and keep leadership clear, rather than blaming teams. He advises new entrepreneurs to prioritize solving a real market problem over the allure of technology. Bud also...
Skyscanner Turns to ChatGPT with AI Flight App
Skyscanner has launched a new AI-powered flight planning app within ChatGPT, leveraging OpenAI's GPT‑4 model. The app lets users ask natural‑language queries and receive personalized flight options and pricing. Skyscanner serves about 160 million monthly users, positioning itself among the first...
Space Tech Investor Exceeds $100m for Close of Its Latest Fund
Seraphim Space, a UK‑based venture capital firm dedicated to space technology, closed its latest early‑stage fund at over $100 million, backing 17 companies that blend advanced space tech with artificial intelligence. The portfolio targets sectors such as defence, climate mitigation, life‑science...
The Hidden Risks in AI Legal Advice: Why SMEs Must Not Confuse Speed with Strategy
UK SMEs increasingly rely on AI-generated legal advice to cut costs and accelerate operations. While AI can produce quick drafts, the article warns that such advice is often only “almost right,” leading to misallocated risk, jurisdictional errors, and costly disputes....
Multiverse Poaches Amazon VP to Run Product Team
Multiverse, the up‑skilling edtech unicorn, has hired Amazon’s VP of product and technology, Jay Richman, as its new chief product officer. Richman, who led Amazon’s agentic AI initiatives and spent a decade at Spotify and Hulu, will relocate to London...
In Conversation With: Cirata’s Stephen Kelly
Stephen Kelly, chief executive of data‑management firm Cirata, warned that UK businesses face a perfect storm of AI‑driven disruption, geopolitical tension and reliance on overseas data infrastructure. He argued that data sovereignty and robust disaster‑recovery planning are now essential to...
Brainomix Extends Series C with New £5m Investment
Oxford spin‑out Brainomix has raised an additional £4.8 million, extending its Series C round to £18.8 million. The capital will fund the scaling of its FDA‑cleared AI imaging platforms, Brainomix 360 Stroke and e‑Lung, across U.S. hospitals and further European markets. Existing investors Parkwalk Advisors...
Canva Acquires Manchester Animation Software Group Cavalry
Australian design platform Canva announced the acquisition of Manchester‑based 2D animation software company Cavalry. Cavalry, founded in 2019, powers motion designers at firms such as Amazon, Meta, Google and Netflix with data‑integrated animation tools. The deal adds motion‑design capabilities to...
Cheshire-Based Biotech Scores £30m Series A Round
Centauri Therapeutics, based in Alderley Park, Cheshire, announced a £30 million Series A financing round to accelerate its antimicrobial immunotherapy program. The round includes a £6 million investment from the AMR Action Fund and builds on a prior £3.8 million CARB‑X grant. The capital...
Tech Alone Won’t Save UK Healthcare – Finn Stevenson, Flok Health
Finn Stevenson, CEO of AI‑driven physiotherapy startup Flok Health, discussed on the UKTN Podcast how slow reform in the NHS hampers patient care, especially for back‑pain sufferers. He highlighted Flok's hybrid model that combines algorithmic triage with live physiotherapist sessions...
Guinness Ventures Targets £3m for New Founders SEIS
Guinness Ventures has launched Guinness Founders SEIS, a Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme vehicle aimed at investing in early‑stage UK companies. The fund targets a £3 million raise to back up to 20 businesses with investments ranging from £100,000 to £250,000, focusing...
Starling Bank’s SaaS Business Expands to Fourth Country
Starling Bank’s Engine, its banking software‑as‑a‑service platform, has entered a fourth international market by signing a deal with New Zealand‑based SBS Bank. The Engine business posted FY25 revenue of £8.7 million, reflecting an almost 300% year‑on‑year increase. Existing deployments span Romania’s Salt...
UK Tech Funding Roundup: This Week’s Deals From Fyld to Nul
UK tech investment surged 21% week‑on‑week, reaching £99.86 million across seven rounds from 16‑20 February. AI‑focused startups attracted the bulk of capital, with Fyld raising £32 million and SurrealDB £17 million, while defence‑tech SatVu secured £30 million from NATO‑backed investors. Fintech, ecommerce and health‑tech also...
Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub Named Top UK Accelerator
The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub has been crowned the UK’s top accelerator for spin‑outs and startups in a joint Statista, Financial Times and Sifted analysis. The ranking considered alumni feedback, investor and academic recommendations, and the post‑program success of...
Rotageek Founder: Your First Idea Is Probably Wrong
Rotageek co‑founder Chris McCullough warns first‑time founders that their initial idea is often wrong, but solving a real, paying problem is essential. He discovered that while hospital rostering was broken, the first market with budget and urgency was retail, prompting...
British Business Bank Explores Private Equity with £60m Deal
The British Business Bank announced a £60 million commitment to NorthEdge IV, marking its first foray into private‑equity investments under a new growth‑equity strategy. The government‑owned development bank will back the Manchester‑based firm’s fourth fund, which targets founder‑led SMEs across technology, healthcare...
Agentic Finance Platform Stacks Raises £17m
Fintech startup Stacks announced a £17 million ($23 million) Series A round, led by Lightspeed Ventures and joined by EQT Ventures, General Catalyst and S16VC. The company, which emerged from stealth after an £8.9 million seed, offers an AI‑ready data layer that consolidates fragmented...
ClearBank Appoints Ex-Uber Exec to Oversee European Expansion
ClearBank has appointed former Uber payments chief Tristan Kirchner as its European CEO to accelerate the bank’s cross‑border growth. The fintech already holds an EU banking licence and serves more than 30 clients across multiple markets. Kirchner will oversee the...
Tech-Powered Credit Reform Could Add £7bn to the UK’s GDP, Report Claims
ClearScore’s new white paper argues that modernising credit‑worthiness assessments with open‑banking data and AI could add up to £7 bn to the UK’s annual GDP. It highlights that 17 million adults face a £2 bn credit supply gap, with up to 60% of...
Thermal Intelligence Company Raises £30m in NATO-Backed Round
SatVu, a London‑based defence‑tech firm, raised £30 million in a round backed by the NATO Innovation Fund, the British Business Bank and other investors. The funding brings total capital to £60 million and will enable the company to expand from a single‑satellite...
Liverpool Startup Taking ‘Moneyball Approach’ to Ecommerce Raises £2.4m
Liverpool‑based Made With Intent, founded in 2023, has secured £2.4 million in a funding round led by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. The startup offers an AI‑powered model that analyses hundreds of on‑site signals to deliver real‑time shopper‑intent insights for ecommerce...
Octopus Energy Pours $1bn to US Clean Tech Market
Octopus Energy is committing just under $1 billion to California’s clean‑tech sector through its Octopus Energy Generation arm. The capital will fund two carbon‑removal firms focused on grassland restoration and reforestation, and acquire a solar‑plus‑battery project slated to operate by July...
Investment Fund for Wales Sees Largest-Ever Deal
British Business Bank’s £130 m Investment Fund for Wales has completed its largest single investment, a £3.5 m injection into engineering services firm Advantiv. The deal, executed by fund manager Foresight Group, marks the 102nd investment since the fund’s 2023 launch. Advantiv...
Scaling Our Spinout Ecosystem
The UK spinout ecosystem has attracted over $19.2 billion in venture capital since 2020, making it Europe’s largest hub for science‑based startups. However, a shortage of domestic scale‑up capital, founder‑focused tax and visa constraints, and a procurement system that favors large...
Manchester Innovation District Signs International Partnership Deal
Manchester’s £1.7bn Sister innovation district has entered a 12‑month partnership with Ireland’s Platform94, a tech hub in Galway. The agreement provides reciprocal access to workspaces and corporate networks, enabling startups in both regions to collaborate on AI, medical technologies and...
UK Tech Funding Roundup: This Week’s Deals From Tem to Occam Industries
UK tech investment this week totaled £82.5 million across six rounds, an 81% drop from the prior week, partly due to last week’s £368 million ElevenLabs megadeal. The headline transaction was tem’s £55 million Series B, an energy‑brokerage platform matching buyers with suppliers. Seed‑stage...
Google’s Gemini to Be Integrated Into Major UK Property Platform
Rightmove, the UK’s leading digital property portal, will embed Google’s Gemini large‑language‑model into its search service. The integration enables conversational, natural‑language queries and personalised property discovery, letting users describe homes in plain English instead of ticking boxes. Gemini’s AI will...
Wexler Founder: Don’t Worry About the Competition
Gregory Mostyn, co‑founder and CEO of Wexler, says founders should ignore competitors and concentrate on building truly unique solutions. Wexler is creating a new “fact intelligence” category for legal, compliance, HR, tax and forensics teams, leveraging AI for extraction, verification...
In Conversation With: Bloomberg’s Amanda Stent
Amanda Stent, Bloomberg's head of AI strategy, says artificial intelligence is now a core reality for financial services, yet regulatory frameworks lag behind. She emphasizes that responsible AI—transparent attribution, explainability, and robust guardrails—is essential for trust and competitive advantage. Bloomberg...
UK Space Agency Launches Programme to Boost Industry Skills
The UK Space Agency has unveiled the Skills for Space internship programme, offering 50 paid eight‑week placements for undergraduates and further‑education students across the country. The scheme aims to address a widening talent gap, as a recent Space Skills Survey...
Energy Scaleup Group Secures £55m Series B Round
London‑based tem has closed a $75 million (£55 million) Series B round, led by Lightspeed Ventures and backed by Hitachi Ventures, Atomico and others. The startup, founded in 2021, offers what it calls the first AI‑native energy transaction infrastructure, combining an AI‑powered engine,...
The UK Must Not Lose Its Fintech Crown – Emma Hagan, ClearBank
Emma Hagan, CEO of ClearBank, highlighted the United Kingdom’s historic leadership in fintech and warned that the nation must act to preserve its crown. She noted ClearBank’s milestone as the first new clearing bank in over two centuries, providing payments,...
Veteran Investor Appointed as BBB’s Managing Director of Direct Equity
The British Business Bank has named Charlotte Lawrence as managing director of direct equity, tasking her with overseeing the bank’s direct and co‑investment activities. Her appointment follows 2025 reforms that require the bank to increase both the number and size...
Former City Minister Appointed to Open Banking Board
John Glen, former city minister and ex‑Treasury official, has been appointed as a non‑executive director to the board of Open Banking Limited (OBL). His appointment comes just before OBL publishes its Long‑Term Regulatory Framework and Payments Forward Plan, which will...
