Funding

Employment Hero, one of the world’s largest employment management platforms, has announced a Series F growth round of £131 million to fuel its rapid global expansion, following in the footsteps of Atlassian, Xero and Canva.

There is a staggering $2.5 trillion global trade finance gap that mainly affects SMEs in emerging countries, limiting their ability to access new business opportunities. Helping businesses to bridge this finance gap, supply chain fintech Twinco Capital announced on Tuesday, in the sixth edition of the Valencia Digital Summit (VDS), it has secured an additional €50 million facility with BBVA Spark to accelerate growth.

multifi, a UK startup specialising in finance for small and medium-sized businesses, has secured a substantial capital injection of £10 million from Fasanara Capital, a $4 billion London-based asset manager and technology platform. This initial injection will support the growth of UK businesses that can access a credit facility of up to £200,000 with a fixed monthly access fee of 0.3% and an interest rate of 1.99% per month on used credit.

InterLnkd, the travel industry’s intelligent shopping mall partner, has announced it has raised £1 million in seed funding to accelerate its growth and international expansion.

With a sharp decline in both fundraising amounts and valuations, the current investment landscape is presenting a variety of hurdles for entrepreneurs.

Gero, a biotechnology company focused on ageing and chronic disease, has closed $6M in a Series A extension round, bringing the total funding raised to date to $20M.

Ai Build, the Additive Manufacturing software company, has raised a Series A round of $8.5 million led by IQ Capital, with participation from Nikon as a strategic investor alongside its existing investors including Superseed, ACT Venture Partners, Atlas Ventures (UK) and Seedcamp.

Securing investment is crucial for any SME that has one eye on the future. International growth, team expansion and product launches are all possible when a business has spare capital. Unfortunately, the current economic climate has made it even more of a challenge for smaller businesses to secure funding.

The world of securing investment for startups is a journey filled with ups and downs. For some entrepreneurs, it’s a road which leads to success, where their innovative ideas and unwavering determination help them secure investments.

Audoo, the music technology company revolutionising public performance royalties, has secured $5 million investment in its latest funding round, with investors including global music and business icons Elton John and David Furnish, taking its total raised to $22 million.

An automation company powering life sciences labs, has raised $40 million to accelerate its rapid growth and industry presence across the US, UK and EMEA.

Laverock Therapeutics, established in 2021 to commercialise the gene editing-induced gene silencing (GEiGS) platform for all human therapeutic applications, is pleased to announce that it has expanded its seed funding round to £13.5 million.

HyperSpace, the multi-brand entertainment attractions developer that is building entertainment parks and proprietary technology to create the future of physical-to-digital experiences, has announced the closing of a $55 million Series A financing round led by Galaxy Interactive.

Over 10,000 SME owners, self-employed and budding entrepreneurs have applied for a single £25,000 Business Boost grant from insurer Simply Business, as the current economic climate takes a toll on small businesses.

New research from Shojin has found that over half (57%) of UK investors are confident that the worst of the economic turbulence from the past 18 months has now passed.

The visibility and number of successful female founders has come a long way over the past two decades, but the funding gap remains the biggest challenge for women in business and is key to unlocking the UK’s economic potential.

Securing investment for your scaleup is a major step, signalling new growth and potential for your business. While the prospect of taking the exhilarating step of financing your scaleup is exciting, the challenge of winning over investors remains critical. In the current climate, it can be difficult to compete with other startups and businesses for investor trust.

Resourcify, the waste-management and recycling platform, has raised €14 million Series A funding, signalling confidence in its business model of reducing companies’ waste and promoting a circular economy.

It’s become almost de rigueur to see entrepreneurs talk about landing an angel investor, their latest funding round or a crowdfunding campaign. Modern businesses have more financing opportunities open to them than ever before, but this can leave a lot of would-be entrepreneurs thinking the only way to success is through outside investment.

Startup founders come from a variety of diverse backgrounds and experiences, yet the majority of VC funding is consistently being awarded to white male founders. This is Venture Capital funding’s biggest issue, and it’s harming and discouraging founders from diverse backgrounds.