It has been a record first half of the year for VC investment into London’s fintech sector, with new research from Dealroom.co and London & Partners revealing London-based fintech firms have already raised more VC investment than any other year, in only six months.

London’s strong performance has also helped to drive record levels of investment into Europe’s fintech sector, with European fintech firms raising $13.9bn, up 51% on full year 2020 investment levels. London was at the heart of this growth, with its fintech firms accounting for over a third of all European fintech funding.

Foresight Group, the award-winning listed private equity and infrastructure investment manager, has announced a £1.5m follow-on investment into portfolio company Biotherapy Services Ltd, a leading pharmaceutical biotech company.  The funds will be used to support the clinical development of RAPID^TM Biodynamic Haematogel, currently in phase 2b/3 clinical trials in the treatment of DFUs.

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.

Toqio has announced a seed round of €8M from Seaya Ventures, Speedinvest and SIX FinTech Ventures, to scale its global financial SaaS platform. The company makes it easier for any business to quickly launch financial solutions, removing the need to build and manage complex software solutions through its platform and marketplace. 

After a year of record growth, national courier company Speedy Freight has announced investment from BGF – the UK’s most active growth capital investor – to accelerate its ambitious expansion plans.  

The British Business Bank has published data that gives a final comprehensive picture of how the Future Fund has supported businesses during the pandemic. 

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.

QV Bioelectronics – a medical device start-up pioneering a first of its kind electric field therapy implant for the treatment of the most common and aggressive type of brain tumours, has closed a £735,000 seed funding round to advance the development of its innovative GRACE implant.

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.

Funding London talked to expert investors and shares their advice for entrepreneurs on how to raise funds in the Post-Pandemic Era.

Some of the most famous companies,  such as WhatsApp, Uber, Slack and AirBnb, were launched right after the 2008 economic crisis. The economic crisis induced by the coronavirus pandemic is challenging and terrifying, but the current environment can be a good time for entrepreneurs to launch the start-up of their dreams.