Two sport and exercise scientists who established ART Health Solutions, an app to improve employee wellbeing and performance have raised £800,000 from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia, to fund the next stage of growth.

Warwick Acoustics – the Midlands-based company which aims to disrupt the delivery of entertainment within the next generation of electric vehicles - has raised £2.8m from existing shareholders including Mercia Asset Management, and a small number of high net worth investors.

On-demand laundry service provider, Oxwash, which closed a £500,000 crowdfunding capital raise last month, has announced that they are aiming for net zero carbon emissions by 2023, in line with the UK government’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Easol, the leading experience commerce platform, is announcing an investment of $25 million from Tiger Global with participation from existing investors Notion Capital, Foundation Capital, Y Combinator and FMZ Ventures led by Michael Zeisser, the former Chairman of US investments at Alibaba who is also joining the board. According to CrunchBase, this will be the fifth largest Series A fundraise of all time for a UK-based SaaS company*. 

Stitched, a digitalised platform providing curtains and blinds to customers using a combination of 3D customisation and augmented reality, has secured £200,000 from the Enterprise M3 Growth Fund to grow its marketing, sales, and finance teams to take the business to the next level. The investment is part of a £750k funding round, where the Enterprise M3 Growth fund is joined by FSE’s Angel Investor Network, Angel Academe, and existing investors.

A London based contemporary hair care brand has secured £550,000 from the Greater London Investment Fund to support its range expansion. The funding will enable the brand to recruit a number of new employees over the next three years.

UK equestrian start-up, Armaros, which has developed an innovative new type of flexible body armour for horse riders, has secured a £100k investment from British Design Fund.

The company was founded by Esmeralda Tuomi (pictured), a former Finnish showjumper who suffered a bad accident while riding. The body protector she was wearing at the time saved her life but like fellow riders, she found existing products to be very rigid and uncomfortable. In some cases, also impacting on balance.

The growth equity investor Gresham House Ventures has sold its stake in Vian Marketing, the holding company for successful stand-up paddleboard owner Tushingham Sails, best known for its Red Paddle Co. brand.

High-end online travel agency, Luxury Cottages, is set to create a significant number of new jobs after securing a substantial investment from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) West Midlands Equity Fund, managed by Midven, part of the Future Planet Capital Group.

Eskuta Limited has received a total of £1m worth of funding from The Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), West Mids Debt Finance Fund, managed by Maven Capital Partners, and backed by the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).  The business, which has headquarters in Nuneaton, had already received funding from MEIF to support the business’s ambitious growth plans, but has now received a second funding round of £500,000, bringing the total to £1m.  

Putting a sustainable spin on laundry, Oxwash, a UK-based startup backed by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has raised £500,000 in equity investment through a public crowdfunder.

Stressfreecarrental.com, a new challenger in the online car rental market, has raised £534,000 in a funding round led by DSW Ventures and including angel investor Harry Dixon, former technical director at Rentalcars.com.

Stressfreecarrental.com operates a price comparison and booking platform for car hire and airport transfers. It aims to bring a fresh approach to product, service and technology and offer lower prices, improved transparency and better customer experience.