Onstage (previously known as Focal), the hub for early-stage fundraising, has new data showing the top traits VCs look for in founders when investing. Although youth entrepreneurship remains strong, with 60% of European Gen Zs planning to start a business in the next 3-5 years, founders who were serial entrepreneurs or had prior product or investment experience were more likely to attract VC attention than those who didn’t.

Sprive, the UK’s only independent mortgage overpayment app, has successfully closed a £5.5 million funding round led by Ascension, with participation from Channel4Ventures, the broadcaster’s consumer investment arm, Velocity Capital, and Two Magnolias.

Ulla Technology has secured £500,000 in private investment to unveil Ulla, an AI-powered assistant designed to revolutionise meeting management. The innovative tool transforms how businesses in law, government, accounting, and corporate services manage meetings, enhancing productivity while prioritising data security with a privacy-first approach.

Volution, a UK-based venture capital firm investing in high-growth fintech, AI, and SaaS businesses tackling productivity challenges in capital markets and enterprise, has launched a new $100 million fund.

WineFi, the wine investment fintech which offers investors a data-driven approach to investing in fine wine, today confirmed it has raised a £1.5 million seed round.

RepAir Carbon has secured $15 million in Series A extension funding. The round was co-led by Taranis Carbon Ventures and Extantia Capital, with participation from renewable energy player Ormat Technologies, and Repsol.

United has announced an investment in blended wing body (BWB) aircraft startup JetZero.

Isembard, the software-first manufacturing company, has raised a $9 million (£7 million) seed round led by Notion Capital, which is backed by the UK Government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF) and the German Federal Government.

The Northeast Microelectronics Coalition (NEMC) Hub has announced $1,432,373 in awards to 19 startups and small businesses through its Powering Regional Opportunities for Prototyping Microelectronics (PROPEL) Operations Program.

In today’s venture capital landscape, AI is no longer just a buzzword – it’s a critical factor in our investment decisions.

Capably, the intelligent automation platform, has raised $4 million to help businesses effortlessly delegate work to AI across their organisations.

VC funding in the AI sector started strong in 2025, carrying forward impressive momentum from 2024. During the first three months of the year, AI companies and startups raised tens of billions of dollars in funding rounds, proving investor confidence in the sector remains strong.

Innovate UK has awarded TreQ and a consortium of partners including Rigetti, Oxford Ionics, Q-CTRL, and Qruise, £1.65 million to develop an Open Architecture Quantum (OAQ) Testbed.

WSense – the Italian ocean tech company enabling the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) through its proprietary "subsea wifi" systems – has successfully closed a €7.2 million pre-Series B Round.

TDK Corporation has announced that its corporate venture-capital subsidiary TDK Ventures has launched Fund 3, a $150 million commitment to catalysing the next generation of iconic deeptech startups.

The 2024 EIB Investment Survey reinforces market trends supporting a shift in Europe’s current investment landscape. Economic changes and geopolitical uncertainty are placing more significant stress on business owners. Where some industries struggle to adapt, digital innovation is seeing a renaissance through private equity (PE) support.

viAct, an AI-powered impact monitoring platform, has successfully closed a $7.3 million Series A funding round.

Nyobolt has raised $30 million in funding, led by IQ Capital and Latitude, the sister fund of LocalGlobe, with strategic partners including Scania Invest and Takasago Industry.

Inephany, an AI optimisation startup, has announced the close of a $2.2 million pre-seed funding round to accelerate the development of its AI-powered optimisation platform, which promises to revolutionise how neural networks – including Large Language Models (LLMs) – are trained and fine-tuned.

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, has announced it has made an €11.4 million investment with Lakestar, a European venture & growth capital firm specialising in technology.