Funding

The venture capital landscape is undergoing a profound structural shift, one that necessitates a strategic re-evaluation of capital deployment strategies. For the last decade, the industry trended toward the generalist mega-fund, vehicles designed to capture every stage and sector. Today, however, that model is facing structural pressures.

Chatfuel has announced an evolution in workflow intelligence with a comprehensive AI-native operating system for SMBs. Trained on over 150 billion customer conversations, the solution empowers over 100 million SMB owners to shift from manual engagement to revenue growth by reimagining the sales cycle – from first lead to loyal customer – in a 30-second setup.

365 Finance has reported that during the last 12 months, 32% of applicants for its revenue-based funding have been women – which is a significant increase on previous years.

Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, has announced that the programme has delivered more than 9,500 loans worth more than £100 million to founders from across the East of England.

Innovate UK has launched the Agentic AI Pioneers Prize. This national competition aims to unlock the transformative potential of agentic AI across the UK’s most dynamic sectors, including advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences, and the creative industries.

Jukebox is expanding its global creative footprint with the launch of Jukebox Ventures, announcing the launch of their Fund I which is raising up to $15 million dedicated to backing the next generation of startups at the convergence of music, technology, and culture.

Deel has announced a $300 million strategic investment, bringing its valuation up to $17.3 billion.

Wild Bioscience (Wild Bio), the Oxford University spinout that develops improved crop varieties using AI and precision breeding, has raised a $60 million Series A investment. This significant funding round was led by the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), with participation from existing investors Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), Braavos Capital, and the University of Oxford.

Jack & Jill, the AI recruitment company, has raised $20 million in seed investment to build and expand in Europe and the United States. The round was backed by leading European early-stage firm, Creandum, as well as prominent VCs including Dig Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Ada Ventures, Firedrop, Repeat.vc, Episode1, Playfair, and over 75 high-profile angel investors, including Nico Rosberg, and from companies such as Lovable, Anthropic, and ElevenLabs.

Nila, the healthcare management startup helping expatriates care for elderly relatives back home, has closed an oversubscribed $2.4 million (£1.8 million) pre-seed round led by LocalGlobe. The investment enables Nila to scale its revolutionary care management platform which addresses the stress and challenges that accompany overseeing the health and wellbeing of older family members across borders.

UK cybersecurity startup Ploy has raised £2.5 million to address a growing security threat, with 93% of organisations suffering two or more identity-related breaches per year.

Caracol, one of Europe’s fastest growing deeptech companies and a pioneer in large-format robotic manufacturing, has announced the closing of its $40 million Series B round, co-led by Omnes Capital, Move Capital Fund I, alongside CDP Venture Capital – Large Ventures Fund, which played a key role as a catalyst for international investors.

Spex Capital, an early-stage investor tackling global healthcare challenges through innovative healthtech solutions, has announced the first €30 million commitment to its flagship €100 million Venture HealthTech Fund. The fund will invest globally in early-stage healthtech startups, from Seed to Series A/B, with investments of up to €5 million.

Maia Ventures, an early-stage AgriFoodTech fund, has launched its first fund of €55 million. It will back 20 to 25 companies, with initial ticket sizes ranging from €0.5 to 1.5 million. The fund is fully operational with six investments to date and is targeting a final closing in the coming months.

Strawberry, the agentic browser with built-in, personalised AI companions, has announced that it has raised $6 million in funding, led by General Catalyst and EQT Ventures, with participation from founders of Lovable, Supabase, and Hugging Face.

Each month, Zubr Capital shifts its focus from daily market activities to gain a macro view of Europe’s tech investment ecosystem. It’s not just about who raised new funding or exited, but about the underlying patterns that could indicate future trends. We found volumes remained steady while the market tone turned deliberate. Familiar themes remained strong, with a few gaining momentum and several new aspects coming into sharper focus.

Sitehop, the startup building UK sovereign encryption to future-proof networks against quantum-powered cyber attacks, has raised an additional £7.5 million led by Northern Gritstone, bringing the total raised to £13.5 million.

Attention.inc, the startup developing a desktop-native AI assistant that continuously learns from real workflows, has announced an uncapped $1.25 million pre-seed raise.

Dragonfly has announced the close of a £2.6 million pre-seed round alongside the public launch of its conversational AI tool. Founded in December 2024 by Zego alumni Sean King and Sven Sabas, the round was led by Episode 1, joined by Dreamcraft and Portfolio Ventures, with angel investors including QuantumBlack founder and CTO Sam Bourton, and Bolt founder and CEO Markus Villig.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has revealed plans to launch the first IP-backed loans for high growth businesses in Scotland – allowing them to access vital funding using the value of their Intellectual Property as collateral, instead of traditional physical assets.