Cardiff-based Smallspark Space Systems will collaborate with the University of Southampton on a new project to design, manufacture and test fire a new satellite thruster. Funded by the national SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) programme, the high-performance satellite thruster will enable greater manoeuvrability and exploration freedom to low-mass satellites. This will create the first satellite thruster used in Low Earth Orbit or beyond, and the first ever hybrid rocket-based satellite thruster.

Scottish radio technology company, Sofant Technologies, has received significant financial backing (€7.3M) from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) to support the commercialisation of its low-cost low-power satellite communications platform. 

Proptech startup Evo has secured a £1 million investment round via the GroVentive investment platform, supported by venture capital firm Moscar Capital.  Evo connects landlords, residents, and trades professionals, with the aim of making the property management process more transparent and driving down associated costs.

Maven Capital Partners has led a £2.5 million funding round in Power Roll, a developer of ultra-low-cost and lightweight flexible film for energy generation and storage. The transaction comprised two investments from Maven managed regional funds including a £500,000 investment from the Finance Durham Fund, established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham and a £250,000 investment from the North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund. A further £1.75 million was invested by existing shareholders.

Foresight Group has sold Selazar Limited, a logistics management software platform, to an independent global investment firm.

Based in Castle Donington, Belfast and London, Selazar is an end-to-end eCommerce fulfilment platform which aims to simplify and reduce the costs of fulfilling ecommerce sales orders for retailers and logistics providers. Selazar connects the four major components of ecommerce order fulfilment: product suppliers, fulfilment centres, couriers and retailers. Retailers are able to readily view and manage their stock, sales orders and returns through a single, unified platform.

Foresight has taken a proactive approach alongside the management team to strengthen the business.  Since the investment round in November 2019 led by Foresight, Selazar has fully launched its proprietary software platform and opened a base in Castle Donington, Leicestershire, strategically positioned in an area with a strong logistics presence. This also gave the company access to the large SME retailer market and its fulfilment partners, which has supported material growth in the company’s customer base. To meet this demand, Selazar has grown its team, with 30 high quality jobs created.

Forensic Analytics, a digital forensics company whose communications analysis software is used by police forces throughout the UK, has secured a £4.5m investment from Mercia Asset Management PLC.  The funding, which comes from Mercia’s own balance sheet and the Northern VCT Funds managed by Mercia, will allow it to further invest into its innovative cloud-based software platform and expand its sales internationally.

Permutive, an audience platform for publishers and advertisers, which enables media to be traded in a privacy-safe way, has secured $75M in Series C from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. It brings Permutive’s total raised to date to $105M, with previous investors EQT Ventures, Octopus Ventures, and ACE & Company also participating. The funding will enable Permutive to grow its patented on-device technology and scale its Audience Platform to create a global privacy-first infrastructure for programmatic advertising, now a $155B industry. 

AutoFill, a Dutch deep tech company revolutionising inspection workflow processes for the automotive and rail industries, has secured €2.6 million in pre-series A funding.

UK-based Unlock, a SaaS-enabled marketplace to build culture among remote teams, has raised a $2m seed round.  The round was lead by La Famiglia, with other investors including Kima Ventures, Antler, GuideStar Ventures and well-known angels Eduardo Ronzano, Thibaud Elziere, Frederic Montagnon, Julien Romanetto, Nicolas Steegmann, Philipp Moehring, Andy Chung, Ville Vesterinen and Deepali Nangia from Atomico Angel Network, Richard Faern, Ian Hathaway, Lu Li, co-founders of Personio and Foodora, VP Product at Malt and more.

DeHaat, the technology-based platform offering end-to-end agricultural services to farmers in India, has raised $115 million in Series D funding, led by Belgium-based investment firm Sofina and Lightrock India. Temasek co-invested in the round, with participation from existing investors Prosus, RTP Global, Sequoia Capital India and FMO.

Market research platform Attest has raised $60 million in Series B funding, to continue its mission in helping brands be truly customer-centric via continuous insights. The round brings the total funds invested in the company to over $85 million.

TAINA Technology, an award-winning regulatory technology company, has announced that it is closing a substantial funding round, welcoming onboard Deutsche Bank and HSBC Asset Management’s Financial Technology Venture Capital Fund alongside its existing investors led by Anthemis.