Suir Valley Ventures, the entrepreneur-led venture capital fund launched in partnership with Shard Capital Partners LLP to invest in early stage software companies across a range of high-tech verticals, is pleased to announce its participation alongside Atlantic Bridge, in a €1.1 million investment round for Ambisense Ltd, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) environmental analytics company. The round was also supported by Enterprise Ireland and a number of private investors.

Awen Collective has secured seed investment through Startup Funding Club (SFC)’s early stage funds. The Welsh cyber-security startup, which develops digital forensics software solutions for Industrial Control Systems, Robotics and Internet-of-Things devices, helps manufacturers and critical infrastructure providers reduce the time spent before and after a cyber-attack or cyber-physical incident.  The funds obtained from the SFC Angel Fund and the SFC SEIS Fund will enable Awen Collective to further grow and continue to provide client successes with Digital Forensics & Incident Response across Critical Infrastructure & Manufacturing. Additionally to SFC’s investment, to encourage its growth and international expansion, Awen Collective will receive support from the Tech Nation Cyber programme.

autologyx has announced that it has raised an additional £1 million to rapidly expand its foothold in legal, RPO and insurance sectors. The digital operations platform, which automates real-world, complex business processes, has seen significant growth over the past year, both in terms of recurring revenues – which have doubled, and demand for its market-leading platform.

Enlaps, the inventor of the Tikee timelapse solution, has announced that it has closed a funding round of €3 millions from business angels including Fabien Pierlot, founder and CEO of Coyote, Jiong Ma, Senior Partner at Braemar, Charles Matine, ex-Apple and from banking institutions such as BPI, BNP Paribas and Caisse d’Epargne.  This financing will allow the Grenoble-based start-up founded in 2015 and recognized in 2016 by an Innovation Award at CES in Las Vegas, to speed up its development and to continue to provide its solutions to a wider range of customers from professional users to individuals with a passion for photography.

As “on demand” services expand into more industries and market places,Trukkin is leading the way in digital logistics solutions for long-haul trucking.  Launched in 2017, Trukkin is a techno-logistics firm based in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates operating throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and beyond. The company works to innovate and simplify logistics and land transportation. Trukkin has raised over $3.5 million in the recent funding round, which included marquee investors from the AL-Namlah Family Group, the Al-Madi Family Group, and the Abanumay Family Group. Batic Investments and Logistics, a publicly listed company on Tadawul, remains as one of the key investors in the start-up.

Minerva, the University of Warwick Science Park’s Business Angel Network, has played a vital role in helping Lincoln-based tech start-up Tended access the funds and know-how needed to take its intelligent safety solutions to the next level.

Angel backed novel diagnostic developer PBD Biotech has appointed new CEO Mark Hammond to drive the company’s expansion. 

A new initiative to support Business Angels looking to invest in the North East was launched yesterday at FinanceCamp, the region’s annual investment conference.

The Newcastle Angel Hub will form part of the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA) wider Hub network across the country, and will be delivered by the Innovation SuperNetwork, in partnership with Invest Newcastle.

Funding London recently interviewed Stephen Kelly, until recently CEO of FTSE100 company Sage Group, and angel investor about his own investment strategy and what he looks for in a company before investing.

By Estelle Blanks,  Executive Director of the Innovation SuperNetwork

Biotangents, a Scottish medical diagnostics business, has secured £1.5m of new investment following the completion of a second fundraising round.

Insurance startup, Urban Jungle has announced a £2.5 million seed funding round with participation from a range of new and existing high profile Angel investors, including Rob Devey, ex CEO of Prudential UK, and Simon Rogerson, CEO of Octopus Group.