Funding

13books Capital has successfully closed a £121 million fund aimed at propelling the next generation of fintech disruptors. This latest fund underscores 13books Capital’s dedication to supporting visionary founders who are redefining the future of financial services.

CultureAI, a Human Risk Management Platform, recently secured $10 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Mercia Ventures and Smedvig Ventures, with continued backing from existing investors Passion Capital and Senovo.

Science faces a reproducibility crisis, with more than 50% of preclinical research experiments failing to replicate, costing the industry over $50 billion annually. Addressing this issue, techbio startup Briefly Bio has launched software to enhance reproducibility by helping scientists document and share their work clearly and consistently.

Syntetica, a startup specialising in nylon recycling, has successfully raised €4.2 million in a seed round. Leading the investment was EQT Ventures, joined by the family offices of Peugeot and ETAM, Volta Circle (Indorama Ventures’ shareholders family office), Better Angle, Pareto Holdings, Athletico Ventures, Bear Flag Capital, and notable angel investors including two-time Formula-E champion Jean-Éric Vergne, IDEC Group CEO Patrice Lafargue, and former tennis player Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Activewear brand TALA, founded by entrepreneur Grace Beverley and led by CEO Morgan Fowles, has successfully secured £5 million in new investment.

OCN, previously known as “OneCarNow”, has secured an impressive $86 million in Series A funding. This funding round, which combines equity and debt, signifies strong confidence in the company’s business model and its successful track record.

Hey Savi, the UK-based fashion search and recommendation platform, has announced a £2.2 million investment. This significant pre-seed funding round marks one of the largest for an all-female founded tech startup in the UK.

LegalFly, a legal AI platform, announced it has secured over €15 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Notion Capital, with additional backing from Redalpine and Fortino Capital.

Defence AI innovator Helsing has secured €450 million in a Series C funding round, led by General Catalyst. The round also saw participation from prominent investors such as Elad Gil, Accel, Saab, Lightspeed, Plural, and Greenoaks.

Grand Games, a mobile gaming company transforming social game development, has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding and soft-launched its inaugural game just four months after its inception. The funding round was spearheaded by Earlybird Digital East Fund, an investor in Peak Games, with additional support from Laton Ventures.

NALA, a UK fintech company, announces that it has raised $40 million in Series A funding to support its global expansion and enhance the reliability of payments to Africa by developing its payment rails.

Index Ventures has announced a $2.3 billion fund, that will be used to invest in startups across Europe, the US, and Israel in order to take advantage of recent breakthroughs in AI.

Exein, a company in embedded IoT cybersecurity, has secured €15 million in a Series B funding round.

Switchee, a social housing technology provider, has announced a £5 million investment from new backer Octopus Ventures and existing supporter AXA IM Alts. This follows a previous £6.5 million funding round led by AXA IM Alts in May 2023.

The UK tech sector has secured nearly one-third of all European VC funding in the first half of 2024, marking a notable resurgence in investment.

Granta Autonomy, a startup in autonomous UAV technology for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, has announced the successful closure of its €1 million seed funding round.

Oshen, a British company pioneering the use of small, wind-powered, self-sailing boats to capture unique maritime, weather, and ecological data, has secured funding from Dhyan Ventures, Amar Shar’s technology investment vehicle.

Samsara Eco, an envirotech innovator, has announced it raised AUD$100 million in its latest funding round. The round was led by global investment firm Temasek and Australian deeptech investment fund Main Sequence, with participation from new and existing investors including Wollemi Capital, lululemon, Hitachi Ventures, Titanium Ventures (formerly Telstra Ventures), and DCVC. This funding brings Samsara Eco closer to its goal of eliminating plastic waste, ensuring it never ends up in landfill or incineration.

Akcela, Norwich’s sole startup incubator, received a £110,000 grant from the Ecosystem Partnership Programme, an initiative led by Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils, Connected Innovation, and Barclays Eagle Labs to bolster the region’s digital technology sector.

PreActiv, a prehabilitation platform, has raised over £500,000 to transform preoperative care. Aimed at reducing patient complications, shortening hospital stays, and saving healthcare providers millions, PreActiv is swiftly changing the landscape of surgical care.