Evie Mulberry, MD, Astia asks whether the start-up ecosystem’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on women entrepreneurs.

Putting a sustainable spin on laundry, Oxwash, the UK-based startup backed by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has raised £2.08m ($3M) in seed expansion investment, to clean up the traditional and environmentally costly washing and dry cleaning sector with its space-age technology.

Raising £5.2M ($7M) to date, the company founded in 2018 by ex-NASA scientist and Forbes’s Europe’s 30 under 30 alumni, Dr Kyle Grant and Oxford engineer Tom de Wilson, uses water-saving ozone technology to sterilize fabrics at lower temperatures, thermal and biodegradable chemical processes to achieve higher than medical-grade disinfection, dissolvable laundry bags, along with electric cargo bikes for hyper local pickups and deliveries.

Hertility Health, the new women’s health start-up revolutionising the world of hormone and reproductive health, has announced the closing of a £4.2 million Seed funding round led by LocalGlobe - one of the UK's most prolific seed investors, Venrex, and some key angel investors including former CEO of Bupa, Evelyn Bourke, CEO of Nested and the unicorn company GoCardless, Matt Robinson.

Kavida.ai – a supply chain resiliency startup, founded in 2020, has secured £300,000 ($425,000) in pre seed capital from strategic investors. The company provides enterprises with decision intelligence tools to prevent and mitigate supply chain disruptions in a range of sectors including apparel, FMCG, food, retail and pharma.

SENTZ, a new range of naturally fruitful British hard seltzers for people who want to live life guilt-free, has received investment from Henley Business Angels (HBA) members and guest investors.

Green Angel Syndicate, one of the largest active angel syndicates in the UK and the only one specialising in the fight against climate change, has made a new appointment to its Board of Directors. With immediate effect Christine Chisholm, who was previously Finance Manager, is promoted to Chief Financial Officer.

Christine will remain on the company’s executive committee responsible for the day to day operations of Green Angel Syndicate and has also joined the Investment Advisory Committee of the Green Angel Syndicate EIS Climate Change Fund. 

Teemyco, the Swedish online office provider, has raised $3.2m from German seed fund 42CAP, who led the round with participation from previous investors Antler, Luminar Ventures and numerous high profile angel investors; Mehdi Ghissassi (Head of Product, DeepMind) and Sameer Singh (Creator of Breadcrumb.vc), who are investing via the 2021 Atomico Angel Programme, and Keith Richman (Co-Founder of Voi & Partner at 31 Atlantic).

The Danish robotics upstart, WeldingDroid, is adding Thomas Visti to its ownership group. Thomas Visti, who is sometimes referred to as the Danish ‘King of Robotics’ as he has been a crucial component to the success of the Danish robotics industry, said WeldingDroid has incredible earning potential across many industries. The welding robot will do tank and pipe welding jobs six times as fast as conventional systems.

Heja, the vertical social platform for Team Sport communication, has scored a $4.2m seed round led by Amsterdam-based Peak Capital. Peak is joined by existing investors, including Luminar Ventures, Bonnier Ventures, Inbox Capital, and Max Ventures, as well as various high profile angels, namely Ted Nelson (ex-Truecaller CCO) and former NHL player Mattias Weinhandl.  Heja’s social platform allows coaches, parents and players to easily organize and communicate in one place.

Dutch artificial intelligence company Sentinels has raised £4.9 million (€5.7 million) in a seed funding round, led by INKEF Capital, complemented by strategic angel investors and industry leaders – including several members of the early Adyen team. The startup has now raised a total of £7.3m (€8.4m) to date.  

A company which has designed a software platform that helps businesses optimise online recruitment has raised £630,000 to support its growth plans.  Smart Recruit Online secured the funding from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), and private investors.

Qualus, the leading provider of sustainable solutions to the leather industry, has secured £1 million of financing in a round led by Irrus Investments, an Ireland based angel syndicate. Co-investors in the round include CPI Enterprises and angels from Cambridge Capital Group and Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of London.  After years of optimising its solution through in-field trials at tanneries, Qualus now has multiple customers transitioning all production to its innovative system and a strong pipeline of potential customers in Asia, Europe, and Latin America that have successfully applied its system at a pilot scale.