Napo secures £12M Series B funding to transform pet insurance
Napo, one of the UK’s fastest-growing pet insurers, has successfully closed a £12M Series B funding round, bringing its total raised to date to approximately £30M. The round was led by Mercia Ventures, with participation from existing investors DN Capital, Companion Fund, MTech Capital, and Helvetia Venture Fund. The new funding will enhance Napo’s AI and automation capabilities, drive market share growth, and attract top talent to support its expansion.
Launched in December 2021, Napo is revolutionising pet insurance by offering ‘suuuper-comprehensive’ policies that include extras like dental cover and behavioural treatment as standard. The company, founded by pet parents for pet parents, aims to create a one-stop, all-in-one service that fits seamlessly into pet owners' lives. Napo’s mission is to provide everything owners need to keep their pets healthy and happy, using insurance as a gateway to a comprehensive suite of pet services.
CEO Jean-Philippe Doumeng emphasised that Napo’s focus is on providing high-quality coverage, with a strong commitment to sustainability and customer care. The company has achieved an impressive NPS of 70+, standout Trustpilot reviews, and significant industry recognition, including the Insurer of the Year and Innovation awards. Napo’s AI-driven claims automation and focus on compassionate customer service set it apart in the pet insurance sector, ensuring reliable coverage that gives pet parents confidence when they need it most.
Ignota Labs raises £5.5M in seed funding to turn around failed Drugs
Ignota Labs, an AI-driven company focused on rescuing distressed drug assets, has successfully closed a £5.5M seed funding round. The round was co-led by Montage Ventures and AIX Ventures, with additional participation from Modi Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, and Gaingels. The funds will be used to expand Ignota’s pipeline by acquiring additional distressed assets and advancing its first asset, a PDE9A inhibitor, into early-stage clinical trials. The company aims to address a major issue in the pharmaceutical industry—drug safety failures—which contribute to over 56% of clinical trial failures and cost the industry more than $400 billion annually.
Ignota Labs applies AI, deep learning, cheminformatics, and bioinformatics through its SAFEPATH platform to identify the root causes of drug toxicity, enabling the rescue of promising therapies that would otherwise be abandoned. CEO Sam Windsor emphasized that while traditional safety assessments only identify issues, their platform provides actionable insights to re-engineer and revive drugs. The company's novel strategy targets drugs that are typically 80-90% of the way to success, using SAFEPATH to pinpoint and solve safety issues, thus accelerating the clinical development process and reducing costs.
With a multidisciplinary team of experts in AI, drug discovery, and commercialization, Ignota Labs has already made significant progress. In just two years, the company in-licensed its first asset, a metabolic health drug that could improve the lives of over 1.2 billion post-menopausal women. By resolving safety concerns and validating the findings in rodent models, Ignota has demonstrated the power of its approach and is poised to transform drug development by reducing the risks and costs associated with therapeutic advancement.
Monument Therapeutics secures £850K to advance breakthrough schizophrenia treatment
Monument Therapeutics, a neuroscience company pioneering digital biomarkers in psychiatric drug development, has secured £850K in further funding led by ACF Investors, with participation from Wren Capital, o2h Ventures, and angel investors. The investment will support the company’s schizophrenia programme, specifically advancing its lead drug candidate, MT1988, through clinical development. MT1988 is a novel fixed-dose combination drug designed to enhance cognitive function in patients with cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS), a debilitating condition with no approved treatments.
The funding will enable Monument to progress MT1988 into clinical trials, with Phase 1 results expected in Q2 2025. The company leverages digital biomarkers to better match patients with targeted treatments, a strategy known as precision psychiatry or stratified neuroscience. Dr Jenny Barnett, CEO of Monument Tx, highlighted that the approach addresses a long-overlooked aspect of schizophrenia treatment by providing a much-needed solution for cognitive symptoms. Investors, including Tim Mills of ACF Investors and Sunil Shah of o2h Ventures, expressed confidence in Monument’s innovative approach and its potential to drive meaningful improvements in patient outcomes.
Monument Therapeutics applies a unique drug development strategy, using digital cognitive assessments to align patients with tailored pharmaceutical treatments. Its lead asset, MT1988, represents a significant step forward in addressing the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, a condition that imposes substantial personal and societal costs. By combining cutting-edge neuroscience with a precision-medicine approach, Monument aims to transform psychiatric drug development and improve the lives of millions affected by schizophrenia worldwide.
Relay raises £27.6M million led by Plural to reinvent parcel delivery for the age of ecommerce
Relay, the AI-driven logistics company revolutionising ecommerce delivery, has secured a £27.6M Series A funding round led by Plural, with continued support from Project A and Prologis Ventures. The investment will accelerate Relay’s nationwide expansion across the UK and fuel further advancements in AI and machine learning to enhance delivery efficiency.
With ecommerce growth outpacing traditional retail, outdated delivery networks have become a bottleneck, costing retailers billions annually due to cart abandonment driven by high delivery costs and slow shipping speeds. Relay tackles this challenge by deploying a decentralised, AI-powered delivery model that moves away from traditional "hub and spoke" systems. Instead, it leverages hyperlocal nodes to reduce shipping distances by up to 95%, optimise route pricing, and consolidate deliveries—drastically cutting costs while improving performance.
Founded in 2022 by logistics veterans Jonathan Jenssen (CEO) and Nicole Mazza (CCO), Relay has already gained traction with leading ecommerce players, including Vinted, TikTok Shop, Temu, and UK retail giant THG Fulfil. The company’s AI-driven approach not only enhances efficiency but also bolsters security, as evidenced by its Generative AI Courier Training Tool, which has improved Proof-of-Delivery compliance by 82%—helping retailers save millions in fraud prevention and claims.
Now operational in major UK cities like London and Manchester, Relay plans to expand nationwide over the next two years. With this fresh funding, the company aims to reshape the logistics backbone of ecommerce, turning delivery from a cost burden into a strategic advantage for online retailers.
VRAI secures £4.1M Series A led by Beringea
VRAI, a startup focused on enhancing simulation-based training with data-driven insights, has raised £4.1M in a Series A round led by transatlantic venture capital firm Beringea. This investment will enable VRAI to expand its footprint in the US, the largest market for immersive technologies in aerospace, defence, and security, while also doubling its team and further developing its core product, HEAT. The company’s technology integrates with a wide range of simulation solutions, including virtual reality (VR) headsets and traditional simulators, to provide actionable insights into human performance during training.
Founded in 2017, VRAI initially provided performance data for the United Nations Mine Action Service in Somalia to help identify IED threats within VR training environments. Since then, the company has expanded its customer base to include the British Army, Kongsberg, BAE Systems, and clients in offshore renewable energy. VRAI’s platform, HEAT, delivers an analytics layer that integrates with various simulators to track and optimise performance, providing critical feedback to improve training outcomes.
As the global simulation learning market is expected to grow to $45B by 2032, VRAI’s technology is positioned to meet the rising demand for safe, cost-effective, and data-driven training solutions. “This investment will allow us to continue innovating for our existing customers and expand our reach in the US market,” said Pat O'Connor, founder and CEO of VRAI. With a proven track record and Beringea's strategic support, VRAI is poised to lead the next phase of growth in simulation-based training.
WilsonAI raises £1.34M led by Nomad Ventures to introduce the world’s first AI paralegal for in-house legal teams
WilsonAI, an AI-powered legal assistant aimed at transforming in-house legal operations, has raised £1.34M in a pre-seed round led by Nomad Ventures. Additional investors include Autopilot Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Transpose Platform, and strategic angels such as Mei Z, several exited founders, and law firm partners. The funds will be used to accelerate the development of WilsonAI's AI paralegal, which integrates seamlessly into legal teams, automating repetitive tasks like contract reviews, handling legal queries, and streamlining workflows.
Founded in August 2024 by Gus Neate (ex-Clifford Chance) and Alex Wang (ex-D.E. Shaw), WilsonAI’s AI paralegal is designed to scale legal teams instantly by learning from internal processes and improving over time. Unlike traditional static tools, WilsonAI’s proprietary Legal Large Action Model (LLAM) continuously refines its capabilities based on real-world usage. Early deployments across 10 high-growth technology companies have demonstrated that the AI can automate over 50% of routine legal tasks and accelerate contract reviews by up to 70%, saving legal teams significant time.
With this strategic funding, WilsonAI plans to enhance its AI capabilities, integrate with existing legal tech stacks, and expand its adoption across industries. The company aims to address the growing pressures on in-house legal teams by freeing them from low-value, repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on more strategic and impactful legal work. WilsonAI’s co-founders see this as an opportunity to reshape corporate legal departments by providing efficiency, consistency, and scalability.
Space propulsion startup Magdrive raises £8.3M seed funding to enable a new era of sustainable space exploration
Magdrive, a startup revolutionising spacecraft propulsion, has announced a £8.3M seed funding round, led by pan-European VC Redalpine. Founded in 2019, the company is developing an electric propulsion system that delivers unmatched thrust and efficiency, enabling spacecraft to travel farther and manoeuvre with greater precision. Unique to Magdrive’s system is its use of a sustainable metal propellant, which can be sourced from recycled space debris or asteroid mining, providing a more sustainable solution for space travel.
Magdrive’s flagship product, the Magdrive Rogue thruster, is set to undergo its first in-space tests in June 2025 in collaboration with D-Orbit. This high-thrust, high-efficiency propulsion system is aimed at meeting the needs of the rapidly growing satellite constellations market. The seed funding will support continued R&D, the establishment of a manufacturing facility in the UK, and the creation of a US office. With significant backing from investors, including Founders Fund and Balerion, Magdrive is well-positioned to scale up its propulsion technology to support a wide range of space industries.
CEO Mark Stokes and CTO Dr Thomas Clayson, both experts in aerospace systems and engineering, lead Magdrive’s innovative approach to spacecraft propulsion. Their long-term vision includes supporting industries such as in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing, as well as enabling large-scale constellation management and interplanetary travel. As space exploration evolves, Magdrive’s next-generation propulsion systems are poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of space travel and commercialisation.
Scottish bio-tech company secures £3.4M investment
Scottish biotech engineering company uFraction8 has secured £3.4M in a funding round led by Foresight Group. The Falkirk-based company, which also has a subsidiary in Poland, has developed microfiltration technology that optimises cell and biomass production, offering a sustainable, energy-efficient alternative to traditional methods in the production of food, feed, and bio-based products. The funding will help accelerate the commercialisation of their technology and address key challenges in the global biotech sector.
The latest round also includes support from University of Edinburgh’s Old College Capital, Scottish Enterprise, Alwyn Capital, Thia Ventures, and a grant from the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. This investment will aid uFraction8’s growth, particularly in the biopharma and microalgae industries, which are poised for significant market expansion. The technology, initially developed at the University of Edinburgh, has the potential to transform the bio-separation process within biopharma, a sector forecasted to grow to $30B by 2030.
uFraction8, co-founded by Dr Brian Miller and Dr Monika Tomecka, currently employs seven people in Scotland and Poland. The company’s previous £2.5M investment round in 2022 helped propel its initial development. Dr Tomecka expressed excitement for the next stage of growth, particularly in the microalgae and biopharma sectors, while Foresight Group and Scottish Enterprise highlighted the transformative impact uFraction8’s technology could have on global industries.
OneUp Sales secures follow-on funding from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund
OneUp Sales, a UK-based platform that uses gaming technology to manage and motivate sales teams, has secured an additional £1.5M in funding from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) and Mercia Ventures. This funding will help the company expand its customer base in the US, where it has already gained traction, and further develop its product.
Founded in 2016 by former games developers Derry Holt and James Heath, OneUp Sales enables sales teams to track performance, incentivise team members, and celebrate success through automated online competitions. The platform currently serves over 350 customers and has achieved annual recurring revenue (ARR) of £2.7M. This latest round of investment brings the total raised to over £5 million, following three earlier funding rounds from Mercia and MEIF.
Derry Holt, CEO of OneUp Sales, expressed excitement about expanding the company's reach in the US market, while David Baker from Mercia highlighted the company's pioneering role in sales management systems. The Midlands Engine Investment Fund, which is backed by the European Regional Development Fund, continues to support regional businesses like OneUp Sales in scaling their operations and achieving growth.
ClearScore secures £30M financing from HSBC Innovation Banking UK to fuel next phase of growth
The ClearScore Group, a leading global FinTech and financial marketplace, has secured £30M in debt financing from HSBC Innovation Banking UK to accelerate its growth across domestic and international markets. This funding continues a long-standing partnership that began in 2017, with HSBC Innovation Banking playing a vital role in supporting ClearScore’s expansion, helping the platform serve over 24 million users in the UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
Brian Cole, CFO at ClearScore, emphasised that this financing will enable the company to enhance its product offerings and expand the channels through which it reaches users. As the company scales globally, the funding also supports its strategic M&A initiatives, including the recent acquisition of Aro Finance, which broadens ClearScore’s secured loan services and facilitates its entry into embedded finance.
Nick Conway, Director of FinTech Coverage at HSBC Innovation Banking UK, expressed enthusiasm for ClearScore’s continued transformation of financial management and praised their long-term partnership. With a range of data-driven financial tools, ClearScore Group is well-positioned to continue its rapid growth, partnering with over 160 financial institutions to provide tailored financial products to users worldwide.
In other investment news
Cambridge Innovation Capital launches £100M opportunity fund
Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) has launched a £100M Opportunity Fund, backed by Aviva Investors and British Patient Capital, to invest in growth-stage deep tech and life sciences companies. The fund is designed to address the UK’s scale-up financing gap, providing up to £20M for later-stage rounds. This initiative comes at a critical time for the UK, which often loses its most promising businesses to overseas funding during their growth phase. CIC’s new fund aims to help retain these high-potential companies, further establishing Cambridge as a hub for global innovation.
The Opportunity Fund has already made its first two investments in Pragmatic Semiconductor, a leader in UK chip design and manufacturing, and Riverlane, a top quantum error correction company. Both investments underscore CIC’s focus on high-growth sectors that are central to the UK’s ambition of becoming Europe's Silicon Valley. The fund is part of a broader strategy to support companies as they reach crucial points in their development, ensuring they have the capital to scale up and succeed on the global stage.
CIC has a strong track record of supporting innovative companies, with notable exits including the $1.5 billion sale of Gyroscope Therapeutics to Novartis and the $285 million acquisition of PetMedix by Zoetis. The firm’s portfolio also includes Bicycle Therapeutics, which listed on NASDAQ in 2019. With Cambridge ranked as the world’s leading science and technology cluster by the Global Innovation Index 2024, the new fund positions CIC to continue its pivotal role in nurturing the UK’s deep tech and life sciences industries, driving both innovation and economic growth.
Tomorrow University Launches €1M African Changemaker Scholarship: Empowering Future Leaders Through Innovative Education
Tomorrow University, a global leader in education for impactful careers, has announced the launch of its €1M African Changemaker Scholarship Fund at the Inclusive FinTech Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. The fund aims to provide scholarships of up to €10,000 each to over 100 exceptional students from 12 African countries. This initiative is designed to empower students pursuing transformative education in sustainability, entrepreneurship, and technology, with a focus on addressing pressing global challenges.
The African Changemaker Scholarship Fund reflects Tomorrow University’s commitment to nurturing visionary leaders. The university's innovative educational model is rooted in three pillars: personalized, AI-supported learning journeys; real-world challenges for mastering 21st-century skills; and a global, community-driven approach that fosters collaboration and impact. The scholarships will provide financial support, mentorship, and access to a vibrant learning community, helping students shape a sustainable and equitable future.
This initiative also addresses the significant digital skills gap in Africa, where digital literacy remains a key challenge. With many African countries scoring below the global average on the Digital Skills Gap Index, the fund aims to bridge this gap by providing access to education in critical fields. Tomorrow University invites aspiring changemakers from eligible countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda to apply and join a global community dedicated to shaping a better tomorrow.
MFG expands to the U.S., announces a $30M in Media Credits Raise, and first investment in LA Golf
Mediaforgrowth (MFG), a global platform for media capital investments, is launching in the U.S. with $30M in advertising credits to support high-growth consumer brands. MFG’s first U.S. investment will see $5M in media credits deployed to amplify LA Golf, a performance-driven golf brand, across key U.S. markets. The campaign, featuring professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, will air across Sinclair’s television stations on February 21st.
Founded in 2022 and led by Diana Florescu, MFG allows media companies to deploy advertising inventory in high-growth brands, offering an alternative to traditional venture capital. By leveraging media credits, consumer brands can gain national reach while conserving cash. MFG’s unique model is expanding rapidly, already supporting a portfolio of 24 companies globally, including the publicly listed Camplify.
MFG’s approach is reshaping brand-building strategies, with data indicating that brands using media capital can achieve mass-market penetration five years earlier than those using traditional methods. The platform empowers media companies to invest in emerging brands, diversify cash flow, and reclaim a portion of the $772B advertising market increasingly dominated by Big Tech.
In international investment news
Swedish Lovable raises $15M pre-series A led by Creandum
Lovable, the Swedish AI startup behind the world’s first AI full-stack engineer, has raised $15M in a pre-Series A round led by Creandum, with notable angel investors including Charlie Songhurst (Meta board), Adam D’Angelo, and Thomas Wolf (Huggingface). This follows a remarkable growth trajectory for Lovable, which has reached $17M in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and 30,000 paying customers within just three months of launch, making it the fastest-growing startup in European history. The platform empowers not only developers but entrepreneurs, designers, business owners, product managers, and operators to build software.
Unlike no-code tools with limited capabilities, Lovable allows users to create both simple and complex applications, from personal websites to interactive dashboards and full startups. The startup’s incredible growth has been achieved with just $2 million in capital expenditure, and with this new funding, Lovable plans to scale rapidly. The company will invest in AI advancements, expand its automation capabilities, and enhance integrations with third-party services like Supabase and GitHub.
Co-founder and CEO Anton Osika highlighted that Lovable aims to overcome the barrier that less than 1% of the world’s population can code, opening the door for anyone with an idea to turn it into a product. With the AI-driven software development market projected to reach $26.8B by 2030, Lovable is well-positioned to lead this revolution.
Dutch AI quality control startup, Langwatch raises €1M pre-seed
LangWatch, a Dutch AI startup focused on quality control for LLM-powered applications, has raised €1M in a pre-seed funding round led by Passion Capital, with participation from Volta Ventures and Antler. The company has developed an intuitive, low-code platform to monitor, evaluate, and optimise AI applications, addressing a key challenge in ensuring consistent performance across new LLM models. Unlike traditional software development, where results are predictable, LLMs often produce varying answers to the same question, complicating quality control.
The funding will allow LangWatch to attract engineering talent and refine its platform, positioning it to meet the needs of enterprise customers. The platform empowers developers and domain experts to collaborate easily, improving LLM outputs and accelerating iteration cycles. LangWatch’s technology is poised to play a key role in the fast-growing LLM market, which is expected to see massive expansion over the next decade, projected to reach up to $140 billion by 2034.
LangWatch was co-founded by Rogerio Chaves and Manouk Draisma, bringing over 25 years of combined experience from companies like Booking.com and Lightspeed. With a user-friendly design and powerful AI optimization tools, LangWatch aims to set a new standard for AI deployment at scale, addressing a major gap in the industry. The team’s deep technical and commercial expertise positions LangWatch as a promising player in the rapidly evolving AI sector.
Flanks raises €14M to automate wealth management for next-gen advisory
Flanks, a leading wealth management technology company, has raised €14M in an equity round led by New York-based Motive Ventures, with participation from Battery Ventures and existing investors Earlybird, JME Ventures, and 4Founders Capital. The funding will be used to accelerate Flanks' expansion across Europe and further develop its innovative technology platform. Flanks, founded in 2019 by Joaquim de la Cruz, Álvaro Morales, and Sergi Lao, aims to digitise the wealth management industry and provide advisors with the tools to enhance their client services.
Flanks has evolved from a wealth data aggregation solution into Flanks LUME, a comprehensive end-to-end platform that combines cutting-edge automation and intelligence. The platform aggregates, reconciles, and enriches data across all asset classes, offering actionable insights to help wealth managers optimise their workflows. With a client base including over 100 banks, advisors, and financial institutions managing portfolios worth more than $39B, Flanks processes over 500,000 portfolios per month and is positioning itself to expand its offerings to include order execution and automated investment proposals.
Unique secures $30M Series A to pioneer agentic AI workforce in financial services
Unique, a leader in vertical AI for the financial sector, has raised USD $30M in a Series A funding round, bringing its total investment to $53M since its founding in 2021. The round was led by CommerzVentures and DN Capital, with continued backing from seed investors, including VI Partners and Pictet Group. Unique’s AI platform offers specialised solutions for financial firms, enabling the deployment of agentic AI across 25 pre-designed use cases or custom-built agents to improve back and middle-office operations, integrating seamlessly with existing systems for enhanced efficiency and accuracy.
With blue-chip clients such as Pictet Group, UBP, and LGT Private Banking, Unique’s platform has proven its value, with Pictet Group reporting an efficiency gain of two hours per week per employee. Unique’s solutions are designed to improve data processing and task management, streamlining operations while keeping human relationship managers at the heart of client interactions. The platform is also fully compliant with regulatory standards, providing a secure environment for financial institutions to adopt AI-driven innovation.
To accelerate its global expansion, Unique is welcoming Dana Ritter, former Group Product Manager at Google DeepMind, as its new Chief Product Officer, effective April 2025. With a strong leadership team, significant financial backing, and a proven product, Unique is poised to continue its growth in the financial services sector, driving innovation and offering AI solutions to meet the pressing needs of banks and asset managers worldwide.
