London-based startup IMPOSSIBREW has successfully closed its latest Crowdcube fundraising round, securing £1,575,390—more than three times its original £500,000 target. Founded by Mark Wong, the company is redefining alcohol-free drinking with its patent-pending Social Blend technology, which naturally enhances relaxation while delivering an authentic beer experience. The funding round, which valued IMPOSSIBREW at £12 million […]
A former DeepMind scientist who helped develop AlphaFold, the AI model that revolutionised protein structure prediction, has raised $50 million to launch Latent Labs, a startup focused on using artificial intelligence to design new proteins. Simon Kohl, a German-born physicist and machine learning expert, founded Latent Labs in 2023 with the ambition of “achieving computational […]
Forma-Care (UK) Ltd, a leading supplier of continence care products to the NHS, has secured a significant funding package with the support of Leonard Curtis. The arrangement marks over £5m of funding raised in recent years, ensuring the Durham-based firm can accelerate its growth strategy, invest in product innovation, and strengthen supply chains amid market […]
A new report suggests that a third of the UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are relying on research and development (R&D) to power their growth plans for 2025. Despite difficult economic conditions, the “Geared for Growth 2025” study by alternative finance provider Growth Lending indicates that strategic investments in technology, talent and innovation could […]
Sales of personalised car number plates have more than doubled over the past ten years, according to new figures released by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The data, obtained by the BBC, reveals more than 1.2 million transactions in 2024, up from about 500,000 in 2014. This surge is fuelled by two primary […]
Innovate UK has temporarily halted its Smart Grants programme—worth £25 million a year—to overhaul how it supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The pause aims to address oversubscription issues, with success rates reportedly falling below 10 per cent for applicants, and possibly as low as 2 per cent according to some. Under the existing scheme, […]
Fuel Ventures, one of the UK’s leading venture capital firms, has led a £4 million funding round in Prosper, a high-net-worth wealth management platform that combines cutting-edge AI with expert financial insights. Fuel Ventures contributed £2 million of the total round, which also saw participation from existing investors. Prosper, which already has more than £200 […]
BGF, the most active growth capital investor in the UK and Ireland, deployed £489 million in 2024, welcoming 47 new businesses into its expanding portfolio of 360 companies. Despite a subdued mergers and acquisitions landscape, several of BGF’s portfolio firms enjoyed robust exits this year, underscoring the benefits of BGF’s investment and value creation model. […]
Prisoners in the UK may soon benefit from an artificial intelligence system designed to transform how they access and engage with education. EdTech company Coracle has received funding from Innovate UK to work alongside the University of Hertfordshire in developing a system dubbed the “AI cellmate.” This platform would tailor learning content to inmates’ individual […]
London-based solar tech startup GRYD Energy has secured £1 million in pre-seed funding to scale its subscription-based solar and battery systems across the UK. Investors in the round include Black Seed VC, an early-stage fund dedicated to Black founders, and SFC Capital, a leading early-stage investor in disruptive British businesses. GRYD’s groundbreaking “solar-as-a-service” approach removes […]