Gresham House Ventures has led a £3.9 million investment round in workplace pension provider, Penfold, alongside existing investors.

Despite a complex global landscape, angel investors are planning to invest more in startups in 2025 than last year, with cautious optimism the prevailing mood. This is the key finding from the latest global survey of investors from Angel Investment Network (AIN), the global online angel investment network.

trawa, a Berlin-based electricity provider and AI-powered software company, has secured €24 million in Series A funding. The round was led by venture capital firm Headline, with participation from Norrsken VC, the impact fund of Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth, and existing investors Balderton Capital, Speedinvest, and AENU. Berlin-based VC Magnetic and Tiny VC from London are also among trawa’s shareholders.

International SME financier, Bibby Financial Services (BFS), has renewed its securitisation arrangement for three years, boosting its funding capacity to improve access to finance for UK businesses. 

GoChallenge is proud to announce the successful close of its oversubscribed €500,000 pre-seed funding round. This investment marks a major milestone in the company’s mission to transform workplace culture through movement-based challenges that energise teams, boost engagement, and foster stronger connections – wherever work happens.

When Andy Flynn, Founder of sustainable design brand POTR, set up his stand at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show, he thought he was there to sell a few plant pots. What he didn’t realise was that he was pitching his entire company – and in doing so changing the trajectory of his business.

Europe’s software scale-up for the frontline, Flip, has announced a $28 million Series A extension. Led by existing investors including LEA Partners, HV Capital, Notion Capital, as well as Roland Berger. The funding will be used to drive targeted advancements in artificial intelligence and accelerate the company’s growth.

Legora has announced an $80 million funding round led by ICONIQ and General Catalyst, with continued support from existing investors Redpoint Ventures, Benchmark, and Y Combinator. This latest round is a strong endorsement of Legora’s product quality, velocity, and the remarkable traction it has achieved globally – underscored by its rapid progression from inception to Series B in under two years.

Sention Technologies has secured a £3.7 million seed round to commercialise its battery diagnostics technologies. The round was led by Twin Path Ventures and joined by Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, Endgame Capital, Energy Revolution Ventures, G.K. Goh Ventures, Green Angel Ventures, Third Sphere and UK Innovation, and Science Seed Fund.

Building on its track record of spotting emerging themes like LLMs, Homomorphic Encryption, and Decentralised Science before they hit the mainstream, venture capital firm Lunar Ventures is launching Fund II, purpose-built for pre-seed deeptech investments in technical founders solving hard problems.

Format-3 has supported the raise over $100 million for tech startups over the last two years alone through its incubator model – innovation accelerator.

Spanish startup Catalyxx has closed a €3 million funding round led by Axon Partners Group. The investment will be used to drive development of the company’s facility in La Rinconada (Seville), focused on producing renewable chemicals and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

Solestial, the solar energy company for space, has announced a significant milestone with the closing of its $17 million Series A funding round led by AE Ventures.

Rockaway Ventures, a European investment fund under the Rockaway Capital group, has announced the closing of its second fund, Rockaway Ventures II, at nearly €55 million.

Verdi, the company making irrigation automation accessible to every farm, has announced it has raised $6.5 million CAD ($4.7 million USD) in its latest oversubscribed seed round, bringing total funding to $9.5 million.

Space Forge, a pioneer in space-based advanced materials manufacturing and return technology, has announced the completion of its record-breaking £22.6 million (c. $30 million) Series A funding round-the largest Series A in UK spacetech history.

A screening process that removes bias in VC investment decisions identifies more successful exits and fewer shut-downs than traditional methods, according to a new white paper that has analysed thousands of companies over 25 years.

Kickscale, an AI-powered sales and intelligence platform, has raised a €2.1 million Seed round to scale its business in Europe and later to the Middle East and Asia. 

Meridian Health Ventures, formerly known as KHP Ventures, has announced a transatlantic fund to provide healthtech superscalers with global and domestic growth opportunities, while supporting UK innovation to be adopted in the NHS.

Shakers, the workforce orchestration platform connecting companies with top tech freelancers, has announced its €14 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Partech, with further investment from KFund, Brighteye Ventures, Athos Capital, and Wayra.