Digital training platform Virti has raised $10m in a Series A to further its goal of improving human performance using world-class interactive technology. The round was led by deeptech investors IQ Capital and joined by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a new, UK-based learning technology VC fund.

Launched in 2018 by Dr Alexander Young - an NHS trauma and orthopaedic surgeon - Virti helps organisations optimise learning, training and performance using interactive simulations and AI-powered data analysis. The technology turns traditionally subjectively-assessed skills (such as communication, teamwork and decision-making under pressure) into objective and measurable data to improve performance.

Private equity firms invested in a record 566 companies in Central and Eastern Europe in 2020, as the industry supported dynamic SMEs and start-ups that will fuel the recovery from the impact of COVID-19 and underpin long-term economic and social development across the region.

Translated, an Italy and US-based company that pioneered the use of artificial intelligence to support professional translators, announces that the world-leading private investment house Ardian has invested $25 million via its Ardian Growth fund, leading a $30 million investment round.

Thymia has raised a £780k/$1.1m pre-seed round to scale its platform to assess for and monitor depression. The Thymia technology removes the subjectivity from mental health assessments: instead of answering questionnaires, patients play specially designed video games which use cutting-edge Neuropsychology, Linguistics and Machine Learning to detect signs of depression, as well as monitor whether symptoms are improving or worsening over time. 

NPIF - Maven Equity Finance, part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) and managed by Maven Capital Partners, has invested £250,000 in Boiler Plan to support the company’s growth and training centre in Featherstone, West Yorkshire.  The transaction also includes a £500,000 investment from the North East Development Capital Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund also managed by Maven, and a further £750,000 was invested on behalf of the Government’s Future Fund.

Turquoise, the UK merchant bank specialising in energy, environment and efficiency, has invested in Ablatus Therapeutics for the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2). The investment of £85,000 is part of an overall round which could reach £1.5 million.

Ablatus Therapeutics is developing Bimodal Electric Tissue Ablation (BETA), an innovative improvement over existing tissue ablation techniques, in order to offer greater clinical options and to improve patient outcomes. 

BGF – the UK & Ireland’s most active investor – has announced a successful exit from Semafone, a leading provider of data security and compliance solutions for call and contact centres, after it was acquired by Livingbridge.

Distill Ventures is committed to increasing diversity within the drinks industry through a range of global initiatives, 

Checksteps, the UK startup providing advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) products for contextual content moderation to social media and enterprise platforms, has raised seed funding of $1.8m alongside the key hiring of Kyle Dent as Head of AI Ethics. The raise will advance its scale-to-market plans and enable further hires to enhance AI functionality - continuing its journey towards offering end-to-end content moderation processes. The round is led by Shutterstock’s Founder Jon Oringer, the former CBO of Uber Emil Michael and Microsoft’s former head of Corporate Strategy Charles Songhurst and is supported by VCs, Angel and private investors that share Checkstep’s vision of a safe, inclusive internet for all. 

Insurtech platform Nayms has announced a new cohort of investors who have subscribed to a future listing of the project's native token, NAYM. This new cohort includes some existing investors, including XBTO, Maven11 and Coinbase Ventures, whilst welcoming in the likes of Spartan Ventures, DFG, LD Capital, Cadenza, Woodstock, and Kin Insurance CEO, Sean Harper. These investors are among 20+ funds and angels across the digital asset and insurance market who are partaking in the NAYM token round.

M40 Offices has received a £250,000 funding package from the East & South East Midlands (ESEM) Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

CEMEX Ventures, the corporate venture capital and open innovation unit of CEMEX, has increased its participation in Modulous, a UK based company that exploits technology in a bid to modernise the design and construction of affordable housing, making the process more efficient, scalable, and relying on a strong network of supply chain partners. Modulous received its first investment from CEMEX Ventures in 2020 after winning the firm’s Construction Startup Competition.