Funding

Emm, the UK-based pioneer in biowearable technology, has raised £6.8 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round, to bring the world’s first smart menstrual cup and connected app to market. Creating a new category of “smart menstrual care”, Emm will equip users to understand their individual menstrual baseline and track key metrics for personalised, actionable insights into their menstrual health.

TMT ID, the mobile data and identity intelligence company, has secured a £30 million investment from BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor, to support its expansion and help global firms combat cybercrime, prevent fraud and build digital trust.

Condukt, the next-generation compliance platform for financial services, has announced $10 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and MMC Ventures, with participation from Cocoa Ventures.

Despite being home to some of the world’s most innovative startups, empowered by early-stage R&D, Europe’s startup ecosystem still trails behind its US counterpart in valuation and scale. Valued between 29% and 52% isn’t solely down to capital availability or investor appetite. European founders face critical barriers in the support they receive.

Planet Smart, a London-based biomaterials startup, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to launch its first product. The company is developing PlanetSorb, a naturally biodegradable superabsorbent polymer (SAP) designed to replace the fossil-based plastics used inside nappies and sanitary products.

Voltrac has announced it has secured a €7 million seed round. The round was led by Extantia, with participation from FoodLabs, Antler, PUSH, and Prototype Capital. This new round quickly follows its €2 million pre-seed, and enables Voltrac to scale production to 100 units per year in 2026.

Cellbyte, the AI-native platform that helps pharmaceutical companies accelerate drug launches, has announced that it has raised $2.75 million in seed funding. The round was led by Frontline Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Pace Ventures, Saras Capital, and Springboard Health Angels.

Danish fintech Flatplay has become the latest company to reach unicorn status, after it secured $170 million in fresh capital. Co-founder Rasmus Busk said Flatpay became the fastest firm in Denmark to reach the milestone, achieving it within three years.

Exwayz, pioneer in 3D positioning and navigation software, has announced a €1 million fundraising round led by CentraleSupélec Venture. This includes a grant awarded by the prestigious i-Lab Innovation Competition under the France 2030 plan.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) startup portfolio has successfully raised over $1 billion in investments, co-investing with a diverse network of local and global venture capital firms. This significant milestone underscores KAUST’s growing impact on the global deeptech landscape.

AKA Foods has announced the completion of a $17.2 million seed funding round led by renowned AI experts and entrepreneurs Alex and Michael Bronstein. The funding marks the official launch of AKA Studio, a secure AI system and proprietary platform that enables food companies to create, optimise, and launch products much faster, smarter, and more affordably than ever before.

1nhaler, a Scotland-based drug delivery device developer, has secured £1.5 million in seed funding to drive development of its novel pop-up cardboard dry powder inhaler (DPI).

Zilch announces it has raised over $175 million ($176.7 million) in debt and equity. Led by KKCG, the round includes participation from BNF Capital, and several other strategic investors. The raise also includes the expansion of its securitisation led by Deutsche Bank.

The UK can build great startups. But unless our venture ecosystem learns to move faster and back conviction earlier, we’ll keep losing the companies that could define Britain’s next industrial era.

Skycore Semiconductors announces it has raised €5 million in seed funding. The round was led by the Amadeus APEX Technology Fund, with participation from First Momentum, Mätch VC, and Balnord.

Silicon Valley–based additive manufacturing company, Carbon, announces it has raised $60 million in new funding. The round was headlined by current investors Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake, adidas, Baillie Gifford, Madrone, and Northgate.

European venture firm Backed VC has closed its third fund, Backed 3, at its $100 million cap, alongside making its 100th investment. Backed partners with outlier founders building generational frontier technology companies, who have made a fundamental technological or conceptual breakthrough.

Ahead of the Autumn Budget, with small business owners already worried about the prospect of tax hikes, 53% of UK small business owners say they need to secure funding or finance in order to invest in growth plans for 2026.

A new report released at Web Summit, Lisbon, by one of the UK’s fastest growing fintech lenders, Juice, uncovers the hidden behavioural forces driving the UK’s £65 billion SME funding gap, and how lenders, fintech’s, and policymakers must act to close it.

PitchBook has released findings from its latest investor survey, conducted in partnership with Web Summit. The 10th annual survey captures investor sentiment and trends shaping technology investment and AI adoption.