detected, the global mark of trust for eCommerce, has completed its latest funding round of £900k. This newest round demonstrates impressive industry backing and strong support for detected. Participants in this round include existing angel investors and institutional stakeholder EmergeVest, plus a new tranche of high-profile investors.

Liam Chennells, Chief Executive Officer at detected, said: “Twelve months ago, detected was an idea; the opportunity to build a business capable of solving an existential problem facing the entire eCommerce industry. Buyer trust, and for marketplaces, knowing who your sellers are. I couldn’t be prouder of our team and what they have achieved already.

A fast-growing company that delivers high-speed internet connectivity to sites that lack the usual infrastructure has secured a further £500,000 investment from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia.

Trench Networks’ innovative device, Outpost, aggregates connections from all the major mobile networks and combines them to provide a reliable internet service. The business, which started out by supplying construction sites, has recently launched a ‘Wi-Fi SOS’  service for businesses suffering wi-fi outages or moving to sites which lack connectivity.

Maven Capital Partners has led the £2.6 million investment in cloud-based internal communication and employee engagement platform Oak Engage Limited. A total of £1.825 million has been provided by Maven’s Investor Partners network alongside a further £775,000 from the Maven managed North East Development Capital Fund and the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Northstar Ventures, as well as existing and new private investors.

Unibuddy, the number one peer-to-peer university recruitment platform that has helped 770,000 students from over 180 countries make better decisions about their higher education journey, has raised $20 million USD in funding. The Series B round was led by Highland Europe with additional participation from Stride.VC. Unibuddy has raised a total of USD $32 million since its inception in 2017.

Video-software company mmhmm has raised a $100 million B round led by SoftBank Vision Fund a year after launching its first private beta, totalling $136 million raised for mmhmm since October 2020.

byrd, the tech-driven digital logistics and fulfilment platform, has raised a €16 million Series B funding round. The round was led by new investors Mouro Capital, an autonomously managed venture capital fund focused on fintechs and adjacent businesses that is backed by Banco Santander, joining Speedinvest, Verve Ventures, Rider Global and VentureFriends. This latest round follows on from byrd’s €5m Series A round in July 2020, bringing the total amount raised to date to €26 million.

CAPZA, an independent management company and leading player in private investments in European SMEs – has invested in the French HR Tech AssessFirst, an SaaS platform for predictive recruitment and talent development focused on soft skills.

Nottingham-based Boditrax Technologies Ltd has received a £500,000 loan from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) East & South East Midlands Debt Finance fund, backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), managed by Maven Capital Partners.

Fair By Design & GC Angels have backed death tech start-up Guardian Angel in a £1.1m Seed round.  Guardian Angel is a London-Manchester based death tech company that helps people plan for and manage death.The fresh funding comes off the back of a hot 6 months, with revenue and team tripling and customers growing to 100k across their services.This round brings Guardian Angel’s total funding to £1.6m in the last 24 months.

AME Group , a company that designs products for many leading consumer brands, has raised £750,000 from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia and is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

Byway, the world's first flight-free holiday platform, has announced £1.1 million of funding from an Innovate UK SMART grant as well as Founders Factory and angel investors. Angels include founder/CEO of Viator and Rome2Rio, Rod Cuthbert, slow travel guru Ed Gillespie, and former Chair of Visit Britain, Christopher Rodrigues CBE.

OpenBlend, the SaaS platform transforming the way companies and their employees think about performance management has taken additional funding and appointed David Grundy as Chair to support rapidly growing demand for its products and services. OpenBlend performance management software helps companies, and their employees stay engaged and productive as they respond to the new challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic and the new world of work.