Machine learning-led decarbonisation platform Ecolibrium has today launched its revolutionary sustainability solution in the UK, as the race to reduce carbon emissions accelerates across the built environment.

Relocating its global headquarters to London, Ecolibrium has raised $5m in a pre-Series A funding round as it looks to expand its international footprint to the UK. The round was co-led by Amit Bhatia’s Swordfish Investments and Shravin Bharti Mittal’s Unbound venture capital firm, alongside several strategic investors. 

A Stamford entrepreneur who aims to disrupt the dry-cleaning industry by installing automated drop-off points in shopping centres and railway stations has raised £550,000.

Smile Plastics raised £980k from Green Angel Syndicate members, the GAS Climate Change Fund, the British Business Investments funds committed to GAS through its Regional Angels Programme, the Angel CoFund and a number of other private investors. 

Smile Plastics has two main goals: to create the most beautiful circular plastics in the world out of 100% recycled and 100% recyclable materials and to challenge ideas about “waste” and the system that creates it. 

Stamp Free Limited, the digital postage company, has raised £600k in an oversubscribed funding round as the business progresses towards the commercial launch of its global award-winning AI phone-based alternative to traditional mailing and returns. 

Investment was led by existing investors Silicon Valley-based R42 Group and Cambridge Angels along with other technology angel investors from the UK, US and Australia. 

Aramune Technologies has raised £800,000 of new equity funding to develop an industrial-scale process for manufacturing its first product.

Flexa Careers, the platform bringing transparency to the hiring market, has raised a £2.3m ($2.9m/€2.7m) Seed Round to expand their global reach. The round was led by Ada Ventures and joined by Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, angel syndicate HERmesa, and a wide group of angel investors.

Flexa has flipped the hiring process on its head; enabling companies to showcase what their working environments offer when it comes to flexibility and benefits, and be discovered by candidates who want to know up-front how the company operates and get a transparent look at what its working policies are before applying for a role. 

Oxford Drug Design Limited (ODD), a biotechnology company with a proprietary computational and machine learning platform, has raised £2.2M in funding from existing investors ACF Investors, o2h Ventures, Meltwind Advisory, a number of returning angels and new investors and the US-based R42 Group. This brings the firm’s total amount of grant and equity funding to over £10M. 

Biotangents, a Scottish biotechnology business, has secured £2.2m of new funding made up from £1.6m from the UK Government’s Innovate UK innovation loans programme and a further £600k from a funding round lead by the investment syndicate Kelvin Capital and with Scottish Enterprise participation to support the development and roll-out of its ‘on farm’ rapid disease detection technology.

Green Angel Syndicate has backed a £2.5m funding raising in Salford Valve Company Ltd (Salvalco), alongside a consortium of six companies including Beiersdorf, Foresight Williams Technology, AWI Ltd, Fin.Essa and Growthdeck Ltd.

Three University of Birmingham students who developed a software platform that cuts the time taken by teachers to mark maths and science papers have raised £800,000 to help them commercialise the system.

Graide's funding has come from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund, Mercia’s EIS funds and capital from angel investors.

Catalyst has unveiled a new strategy for the next five years which it believes will generate significant economic benefits for Northern Ireland by enabling more of the population to access opportunities created by innovative industries.

Catalyst is an independent, not-for-profit organisation focused on fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, supporting transformative businesses and developing Northern Ireland’s tech industry. It works with an extensive network of volunteers and partners to deliver programmes and provide support to the tech and start-up community.