Global Work, a startup dedicated to reshaping the future of work, has raised $1.25 million in pre-seed funding to enhance its AI-powered platform, which provides personalised support and automation for every specialist looking for a new job.

PhilosopherKing, an AI-driven gaming platform enabling real-time, dynamic storytelling, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by 468 Capital and 212. The funding will be used to advance the company’s AI-powered technology, expand its team, and accelerate its vision of transforming interactive storytelling in gaming and other industries.

Finnish energy technology company Capalo AI announces a €3.8 million seed funding round to maximise the value of energy storage systems and accelerate the green transition through its AI-powered virtual power plant.

Soulmates Ventures is strengthening its commitment to sustainable innovation with a €50 million fund, increasing initial investments to up to €3 million per startup, with follow-on funding totalling up to €5 million to ensure long-term support.

Bioniq, founded in 2019 and renowned for its personalised nutritional supplements based on blood biomarker data, is proud to announce that football star Diogo Dalot, right-back for Manchester United and the Portugal national team, has joined the company as an investor, contributing over €1 million.

Investment in any startup comes with a degree of the unknown, and investors will do all the due diligence they can before making a decision. Pre-seed investors come in at an early stage – when companies are a little more untried and carry greater risk of failure.

YAi, a platform helping marketing agencies and brands create, evaluate, and improve AI-generated content at scale, has raised £250,000 in Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) funding from Jenson Ventures.

OpenOcean, a pan European venture capital firm specialising in early-stage investments in business software that drive AI innovation, has announced its fourth main venture fund.

Blackwall has announced that it has raised a €45 million Series B round led by B2B investor, Dawn Capital. Already deployed across more than 2.3 million websites and applications, Blackwall defends web ecosystems from malicious automated threats.

Alloyed has announced the completion of a £37m Series B funding round. The fundraise will be used to expand Alloyed’s manufacturing facilities in Abingdon, UK, and Seattle, USA, as well as accelerating the development of its digital platforms for the design and processing of improved alloys and alloy components.

The United Kingdom has an evolved startup ecosystem, with over 73,000 active tech companies, of which more than 4,600 are led by women. The region ranks third globally for startups led by women. However, funding for women-led tech companies in the UK has seen a downward trend since its peak in 2021 at $2.9 billion. Ongoing economic challenges, such as rising inflation and geopolitical conflicts, have impacted investments.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, announces it has completed a £15 million investment with Oxford Science Enterprises, an independent billion-pound investment company that finds, funds, and builds transformational science and technology companies – across life sciences, healthtech, and deeptech –from Oxford’s world-leading research.

An invention improving microscopes to battle diseases like cancer and a tool ensuring financial AI models are unbiased are ideas that have won £20,000 for their female founders.

While venture capital funding shows signs of bouncing back in 2025, funding for early-stage startups is unfortunately still lagging since reaching a high in 2022. To increase runway and build a sustainable business, startups should find alternative ways to secure funding beyond traditional VC firms. As the founder and CEO of an early-stage startup myself, here are the best options we’ve found for increasing runway amid a VC slowdown.

eBrands, a Nordic-based export platform enabling international growth for consumer brands, has raised €7.5 million in its latest equity funding round, bringing its total funding raised to €50 million. The funding round was led primarily by Veikko Laine family office, Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company, and operative shareholders.

The Founder Institute is reportedly raising $15 million for a new venture fund, named Founder Capital. This development, which has been revealed in a recent regulatory filing, marks a significant milestone for the Silicon Valley-based accelerator, which first opened its doors in 2009 and has since spread to over 100 countries.

Wearable tech startup UNA Watch has secured more than £300,000 investment from the backer of some of the UK’s most exciting consumer brands as it prepares to take on industry giants Apple and Garmin with the world’s first repairable modular GPS sports watch.

MISSION – a natural energy drink and performance tea company – has announced it has successfully extended its equity fundraising round to  £2 million, inclusive of investment from F1 driver Pierre Gasly.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, there’s still a lot of progress to be made in closing the female investment gap. Despite one in five startups having a female founder, by the time you get to venture funding, a shocking 2% goes to all-women founded teams. According to the latest Virgin StartUp Founder Barometer, over a fifth (22%) of women shared that the biggest challenges when it comes to running their own business today is access to funding.

The European Commission (EC)’s CLIMOS project has partnered with global innovation network F6S to establish an AI-powered early warning system for outbreaks of tropical diseases in Europe. CLIMOS (Climate Monitoring and Decision Support Framework for Sand Fly-borne Diseases Detection and Mitigation) seeks to reduce model uncertainties for better prognosis of the current and potential spread of Sand Fly-Borne Diseases (SFBD). This, in turn, provides socio-economic and risk assessments for a diversity of stakeholders.