Downing Ventures has completed a $35 million Series B funding round in Ayar Labs as the co-lead investor. Ayar Labs is a Deep Tech organisation that is solving semiconductor interconnect (I/O), bandwidth and power bottlenecks by moving data using light, with its TeraPHY™ monolithic in-package electronic/photonic chiplet-based solution. The result is a vast improvement in bandwidth, bandwidth density, latency and power consumption across a wider distance.

ArmaUrto, an innovative provider of protective cycle wear, has secured a £150k equity investment from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF), as part of a larger £300k funding round. The investment round was led by The FSE Group, the appointed fund manager of CIOSIF.

Interest in road cycling has long been on an upward trend and during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic cycling activity has been propelled higher by as much as 100%. Whilst overall the activity is extremely beneficial for health and fitness, unfortunately accidents involving bikes in the UK have also risen to more than 25,000 a year.

EXM Insight, the next-generation solution for portfolio monitoring and value creation for the Private Equity industry, has successfully completed a £400,000 funding round with a £200,000 investment from the Enterprise M3 Growth Fund, managed by The FSE Group.

BiVictriX Therapeutics has completed a £1m funding round from existing shareholders including Acceleris Private Investors, the Development Bank of Wales & BioCity Investments, alongside the Future Fund.

20 scaleups from 10 countries (4 from UK) compete in the finals of Europe’s flagship scaleup competition in digital to win international growth support totalling €350,000. 

MIME Technologies, a med-tech spin-out from the University of Aberdeen, has received £248,000 in funding from the Scottish Government to help deliver technology that will support the heavily impacted aviation industry during its recovery from the pandemic. It will also drive new maritime med-tech solutions and create several skilled jobs in Scotland.

Foresight Group and Williams Advanced Engineering have announced an investment of £1.05m into AudioScenic, which is developing immersive 3D audio technology for loudspeaker systems that will revolutionise the way users experience sound. 

The funding from the Foresight Williams Technology EIS and VCT funds is part of a £1.58m funding round alongside existing investor IP Group, which will enable the company to further commercialise its products and hire additional staff.

British Business Investments, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has announced a £30 million commitment to support UK small businesses through Funding Circle’s UK SME Direct Lending Fund.

Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) has announced that its technology investment partnership with Foresight Group has hit a milestone of £50 million raised, helping a total of 20 UK-based SMEs and start-ups take their innovative products to market.

flypop, the UK’s only international long-haul low-cost airline, has secured significant investment from the UK Government’s Future Fund and is currently completing its final funding round. 

Buy & build activity in first half of 2020 shows resilience in the face of Covid-19 according to Silverfleet’s European Buy & Build Monitor for H1 2020.

• Silverfleet’s European Buy & Build Monitor for H1 2020 reports 253¹ add-ons, down from 387 in H1 2019
• TMT sector most resilient during the pandemic, outpacing other sectors
• The Nordic region was the most active, with the UK & Ireland in second place
• The DACH, Benelux and Iberia regions showed relative resilience in number of add-ons compared to H1 2019