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UK-fintech business lender MarketFinance is an online platform that lets businesses access a range of flexible finance solutions easily. Today, the fintech has secured £280 million debt and equity investment. Also, it has been accredited by the British Business Bank as a lender under Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS).
The debt financing was provided from a large global investment firm alongside Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. The equity investment was led by Black River Ventures that has backed Marqeta, Upgrade, Coursera, and Digital Ocean alongside participation from existing investor, Barclays Bank PLC.
MarketFinance intends to use the funds to help UK companies with business loans. It has launched Flex Loans, which is an unsecured flexible facility that will help SMEs solve their everyday cash flow problems. It aims to help nearly one million SMEs in the UK solve their short-term funding gaps up to £100,000.
Viola Credit has provided MarketFinance with £20 million to launch the Flex Loans product. Similar to a credit card or overdraft, businesses will have a pre-agreed limit of up to £100,000, which they can withdraw at once or in smaller amounts. Flexible repayment options enable the businesses to spread their repayments over 3 – 12 months based on their working capital needs.
This solution will support a variety of one-off and ongoing funding requirements, including purchasing inventory, clearing outstanding invoices, upfront supplier payments, investment into sales and marketing or expanding the team.
Besides the investment, MarketFinance became one of the first fintechs to be accredited under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which lent £250 million to companies across the UK. Launched by the British Business Bank in April 2021, the Recovery Loan Scheme supports access to finance for UK businesses as they recover and grow following the pandemic.
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One of the most significant players in the UK’s fintech industry, the insurtech sector has emerged as a clear winner. Even amid a myriad of economic disruptions caused by the pandemic, the sector has been reaping huge investments.
Adding to this intense competition in the sector is London-based digital motor insurance startup Marshmallow which has raised $85 million in a funding round that valued the company at $1.25 billion – making it Britain’s first and UK’s second unicorn to be founded by people of black heritage, following in the footsteps of WorldRemit.
The high-profile backers include Passion Capital, Investec and Scor.
Established in 2017 by identical twins Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham along with David Goaté, the platform’s founding purpose was to modernise the insurance industry with the ultimate aim of using data to provide more affordable insurance to customers who fall outside the typical “good risk” profile.
The business’ innovative use of technology, big data and artificial intelligence has enabled it to grow into a serious challenger brand that aims to be one of the largest players in the insurance industry. It is one of just two UK ‘insurtechs’ to have secured an insurance licence, allowing it complete flexibility from quote to claim.
Marshmallow’s unique approach, comprising fair pricing, quick and efficient customer service and no charge for changes made to a policy, has driven growth of over 100% during the last six months with the company having sold well over 100,000 policies. The business’ headcount has also increased by more than by 200% in the past year, and with fresh funding, it expects to hire 400 people over the next 24 months. The Series B will also be used by Marshmallow to expand into other countries, continue to hire the best talent and build other products.
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While we’ve managed to come up with ways to improve drug discovery and cure our own ailments, there’s been notably less headway for our pets. However, the Cambridge based startup PetMedix is working hard to develop new ways to invent drugs that can help relieve ailments for our pet companions. The company has now raised a notable £27 million in its series B funding round.
The latest funding round for PetMedix was led by Digitalis Ventures, and British funds Parkwalk Advisors. Additionally, Tencent and Japanese corporation Kyoritsu Holdings also participated, along with Cambridge Innovation Capital. The startup says this latest funding round will enable it to go from an R&D-stage to a clinical-stage international organisation.
In a conversation with UKTN, PetMedix’s co-founder Jolyon Martin says, ” These funds will take us from being a research-stage organisation to a development-stage one. We recently announced the first-ever canine trial with one of our antibodies, and were thrilled with the results. In the tech world, this would be our MVP or a very early beta.”
However, there’s still clinical trials and regulatory processes that the company needs to go through and it also has to set up manufacturing for each drug it develops. The startup currently consists of 40 people, almost all of which are scientists in its lab at Cambridge. The company expects to further grow the team in coming years.
PetMedix is a UK-focused biotech company that was founded in 2018. It spun out from the lab of Prof Allan Bradley FRS and is based upon the PhD work of his student, now PetMedix co-founder, Jolyon Martin. The company is developing the first, fully species-specific therapeutic antibodies for dogs and cats.
The company’s Ky9 and Felyne transgenic platforms are used to generate antigen-specific antibodies. As per PetMedix, they’ve generated over 50,000 fully canine, antigen-specific antibodies, which can help ensure that only high-quality therapeutic candidates advance to the clinics.
To reach this point, the startup had to face its fair share of challenges. As per Martin the key challenge is to break new scientific ground as a young company. “ Our scientists have frequently had to invent brand new techniques and solutions to achieve our technical goals.,” he notes. As for rivals, some players are still some ways away from showcasing their work on antibodies. Major players such as Elanco and Merck being one of them. Zoetis, on the other hand, has already launched a therapeutic antibody.
The global pet medicine market is estimated to be worth $17 B and is growing by 10% per year. With such innovation happening in the pet healthcare space, we try to understand what could be in store for the future for this sector.
“There are already some excellent companies working on DNA testing, gene therapy and cell therapies,” he concludes. Martin expects that every scientific and medical advance we’ve made for human health will eventually make it to animal health.
Berlin-based Mobius Labs is a next-generation AI-powered computer vision startup that disrupts how the world works with visual content. In a recent development, the startup secured €5.2 million (nearly £4.5 million) in a Series A funding round.
The investment round was led by European Venture Capital pioneer Ventech VC. Also, other investors that took part in the round include Atlantic Labs, APEX Ventures, Space Capital, Lunar Ventures and additional angel investors.
Mobius Labs has more than doubled its team over the last 18 months and has 30 employees now. It plans to use the funds to double its headcount in the next 12 months. Also, Mobius Labs will continue to accelerate its growth and expand its geographical footprint with a strong focus on Europe and US. The investment will partly go towards growing its presence in UK. Mobius Labs plans to open an office in the UK in early 2022.
The company celebrates twofold year-on-year growth while retaining all existing customers and plans to further strengthen its activities in the media and space sectors with geospatial intelligence a big focus area for its technology.
The company plans to improve core algorithms that power its few-shot capability feature and develop further algorithms for edge computing that can be deployed in many devices and scenarios including cameras, mobiles or satellites.
“I am very proud of what we have achieved at Mobius Labs so far but there is still a lot to be done. This new round of funding will help accelerate our plans and expand quickly as a company,” said Appu Shaji, CEO and Chief Scientist at Mobius Labs. “The last 18 months has been very challenging for many firms, but we have continued to grow throughout the pandemic while retaining all existing customers and look forward to enhancing our product and taking computer vision technology to the next level.”
“Appu and the team at Mobius Labs have developed an unparalleled offering in the computer vision space. Superhuman Vision™ is impressively innovative with its high degree of accuracy despite very limited required training to recognise new objects at excellent computational efficiency. We believe industries will be transformed through AI, and Mobius Labs is the European Deep Tech innovator teaching machines to see,” said Stephan Wirries, Partner at Ventech VC.
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Since the pandemic, there has been a huge uptick in people being worried about their mental wellbeing. Research by cloud accounting software provider based in the UK, FreeAgent revealed the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small business owners and the steps that they have been taking to combat it.
According to the research, around 2.9 million SME owners have experienced burnout as a result of COVID-19. With rising pressure and stress being felt from the pandemic, many business owners have turned to new hobbies and measures to help lessen the negative impact on their mental health.
While a fraction has implemented personal lifestyle changes to combat burnout, more than 22.9 per cent of UK small businesses have implemented mental health policies for their businesses or employees since the start of the pandemic. Given that, here are some mental health startups that are helping small businesses, employees and the common people come out of the pandemic stress.
London-based mental health startup Spill provides remote mental health support for companies via Slack. The startup offers all-in-one mental health support that helps employees to speak with qualified therapists over video, phone or message.
In January, Spill picked up £2 million seed funding led by Ada Ventures along with partner Francesca Warner and the government’s Future Fund initiative. It announced that the investment will be used to develop proactive tools that will help the company create a more psychologically considerate workplace.
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The London-based startup for sharing of food and other items, OLIO, has closed a $43 million Series B funding round, to fund its fight against the $1.3 trillion of food waste created globally each year.
This latest fundraise saw existing investors Swedish investment firm VNV Global and New York-based hedge fund Lugard Road Capital become major investors in OLIO, supported by further funds from Accel, Octopus Ventures, Rubio plus technology entrepreneur and chair of Grimsby Town football club Jason Stockwood and media entrepreneur and politician Lord Waheed Alli. DX Ventures, the VC arm of food delivery firm Delivery Hero, is a new highly strategic investor in the round.
The women-led startup, founded in 2015 by Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One, has now amassed a user base of five million people. The hyperlocal food sharing app is used to give away unwanted food and other household items to neighbours, for free, with the aim of reducing waste in the home and helping people to consume more locally and sustainably.
It is the brainchild of Clarke, who struggled to find anyone to take the unwanted food from her fridge when she was moving home. Since its launch, the app has enabled over 25 million portions of food and three million non-food items to be saved from the bin.
This partnership will enable the app to accelerate its international expansion plans, and quickly grow the Food Waste Heroes Programme, which supports food businesses and restaurants around the world in their quest to achieve zero food waste locations.
After a year of rapid growth in the UK, the next generation community marketplace plans to build its presence across the world, focusing on 10 key markets in Latin America, Northern Europe and Asia, where the app has seen very strong organic growth.
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Ignite Software Systems is a Manchester-based provider of insurance policy administration systems to brokers, MGAs, and insurers. It has signed an acquisition agreement with Sequel, a Verisk business.
The Sequel acquisition and investment will accelerate the expansion of Ignite’s technology platform and form part of Sequel’s digital ecosystem.
Ignite’s Integrated Software as a Service platform includes policy administration, rating engine and digital engagement for brokers and MGAs with specific domain expertise in motor, property, and pet insurance.
The deal was supported by FRP Corporate Finance and it enabled Ignite to become part of Sequel. The acquisition by the Nasdaq-listed data analytics group Verisk was worth $33 billion (nearly £24 billion).
The acquisition will accelerate the expansion of Ignite’s integrated Software as a Service platform. It targets significant organic revenue growth with the support of the wider group.
This is a licensed platform supporting policy administration, rating engine and digital engagement for brokers and MGAs, with specific domain expertise in motor, property, and pet insurance. The business will benefit from full access to the significant technology, people and capital resources that Sequel and Verisk offer.
Sequel recognises that the Ignite platform plays with specialist insurance companies and will enable it to accelerate development and expand its capabilities. Ignite will benefit from the full support and access to the significant technology, people, and capital resources that Sequel and Verisk offer.
Notably, Sequel provides reinsurance software solutions to the global specialty market.
“Joining Sequel is a fantastic leap forward for Ignite, our clients and our team,” said Ignite MD Toby MacLachlan. “For Ignite as a company it will mean winning more tenders because, whilst our technology has always outperformed the market, our balance sheet was historically that of a young company. For our existing clients, Ignite will now have access to all the world-class infrastructure, resources, security, and expertise that come with Sequel and Verisk.”
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Delivery Hero SE raised 1.25 billion euros ($1.5 billion) from an offering of notes convertible into shares, marking the food-delivery company’s third equity-linked issuance in less than two years.
The company sold 750 million euros of notes maturing in 2026 and 500 million euros of 2029 securities, according to terms seen by Bloomberg. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and to “take advantage of attractive investment opportunities that may arise,” the company said in a statement.
Eager to lock in cheap financing from investors before bond yields rise further, companies have piled into the equity-linked market this year, with a blockbuster $16 billion raised across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Delivery Hero’s offering is one of the biggest in Europe this year.
Delivery Hero may spend the money on operating or capital expenses, or on acquisitions, Giles Thorne, an analyst at Jefferies, wrote in a note.
“Today’s raise promises the near term will be remain busy,” he said. The company has been “masterful” in using its rising stock price to match competitors’ capitalization, he said.
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Based out of London, Cazoo is a developer of an online used car marketplace designed to transform the way people buy, finance, or rent used cars.
Recently, the online car retailer announced the acquisition of vehicle data insight firm Cazana for £25 million in cash. The transaction is expected to have an immaterial impact on Cazoo’s FY2021 operating results.
The acquisition by Cazoo will combine its market-leading brand, proposition, and platform with Cazana’s extensive data, products, and expertise. This acquisition follows its recent listing on the NYSE.
This deal will enhance Cazoo’s data team and capabilities and allow it to further optimise its car buying and pricing across the UK & Europe for the benefit of consumers.
Tom Wood, CEO of Cazana said, “I am very proud of what we have built and what the Cazana team has achieved over the past few years. We now have comprehensive vehicle data across Europe and our extensive dataset, products, and tools are highly valued by our customers. Cazoo has a clear vision and strategy to provide the best full-stack car buying and selling experience across Europe and by joining forces, the Cazana team, data, and products will continue to play a key part in accelerating the digital transformation of the industry. Chris and I are excited to be continuing our journey leading Car & Classic whilst supporting the integration of the Cazana business with Cazoo over the coming months.”
Founded by Tom Wood in 2012, Cazana data helps motor retailers, insurers and lenders digitally transform with big data and machine learning technology.
The London-based built an extensive dataset of over 500 million vehicle transactions from over 40 countries including, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.
Cazana’s products include real-time vehicle valuation, pricing, and stock management tools.
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London-based Heroes is an e-commerce startup focused on acquiring and scaling small-sized category-leading consumer brands. Now, the startup closed $200 million (nearly £145 million) investment for its growth.
The investment round was led by US-based investor Crayhill Capital Management. The funds will be used for the next phase of Heroes’ rapid growth and enable it to acquire and scale consumer brands across the world.
Riccardo Bruni, Co-founder, said: “We’ve achieved incredible growth since our launch in October 2020 and we are excited to be partnering with Crayhill Capital Management to support us on the next phase of our journey. By adding this significant amount of capital, we now have a high level of flexibility in executing on our growth plans and significantly expand and further diversify our brand portfolio. We look forward to continuing our work with the new wave of outstanding entrepreneurs to give them a fast, seller-friendly and reliable way to sell their business, so they can reap the fruits of the hard work they have put into building their brands.”
Founded by brothers Riccardo Bruni and Alessio Bruni in October 2020, Heroes empowers the next generation of e-commerce entrepreneurs to reap the rewards of their hard work through a fair and fast exit. The company uses a proprietary approach to identify, assess, acquire and optimise e-commerce brands, which enables it to complete brand acquisitions in just three weeks.
Amidst the pandemic, Heroes has scaled its business in the UK, the EU, North America and Asia. This has been through multiple acquisitions that has enabled it to build a portfolio of category-leading consumer brands operating on global Amazon marketplaces. The company employs over 70 staff globally with a view to doubling headcount by the end of the year.
As per the company, some of the acquired brands having grown as much as 5x in 6 months post acquisition.