NatWest Group has opened applications for the second year of its Fintech Programme.

The banking giant is targeting FinTechs across the UK that are using AI to help redefine the future of customer experience in financial services.

Successful applicants will join a 12-week programme, gaining support from the NatWest Innovation team to explore collaboration opportunities with the bank, access mentorship from senior decision makers, and connect with NatWest’s wider innovation ecosystem through in-person events and workshops – some of which will take place in NatWest’s Accelerator Hubs, including the new London Hub.

Building on last year’s success, the 2026 programme encourages more fintechs from across UK regional hubs and will address rapid technological change and evolving customer expectations, including agentic AI and the emergence of smart devices.

It targets pre-series A and series A fintechs with proven product-market-fit and traction, delivering solutions for the customer of the future.

IRIS Software Group, a global provider of accounting, HR, payroll, and education software, has appointed Chris Hall as its chief product officer.

Hall, who joins in January, brings extensive experience in product transformation and intelligent automation, with a career spanning over 20 years across startups and Fortune 100 companies.

Most recently, he served as CPO at Precisely, a global leader in data integrity tools used by more than 12,000 organisations, including 93 of the Fortune 100.

Prior to that, he held senior product leadership roles across B2B software companies including Pitney Bowes, Imagitas and Red Ventures.

EHE Venture Studio has appointed Anna Kerrane as legal counsel.

The firm said the arrival of Kerrane strengthens its commitment to delivering clear, high-quality support for founders across the UK’s fast-growing AI ecosystem.

Kerrane brings extensive corporate and commercial experience, with a particular depth in early-stage and growth-stage investment. She has worked alongside the EHE team for the past 18 months through its FCA-approved fund manager, Infinity Asset Management LLP, where she has played a central role in supporting the legal structuring and governance of its (S)EIS AI Growth Fund.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

BGF has completed a £16.6 million investment in Workbooks, described as a ‘no bullshit’ customer relationship management (CRM) platform.

Workbooks, based in Reading, brings sales, marketing, customer support and commercial operations together in one system.

It serves hundreds of customers across a wide range of sectors in both the USA and the UK. 

 

Author: Patrick Killeen

Shares in Frasers Group have climbed by over 7% so far today after the retail giant announced a major new share buyback arrangement with Barclays.

The retail giant said it has entered into an arrangement with Barclays Bank PLC, acting through its investment bank, which allows Barclays to purchase up to 10 million ordinary shares in the company during open periods between now and 24th April 2026.

The aggregate purchase price of shares bought under the programme will not exceed £70 million.

The business now has a share price of 676.5p and its market cap currently sits at just over £3 billion.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

University of Cambridge spinout PolyAI has raised £64 million in a Series D round of funding to scale its AI agents.

The firm, now headquartered in New York, counts more than 100 enterprises as customers today, with over 2,000 live deployments across 45 languages and more than 25 countries.

The round was co-led by Georgian, Hedosophia, and Khosla Ventures. Additional investors include NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), British Business Bank, Citi Ventures, Squarepoint Ventures, Sands Capital, Zendesk Ventures and Point72 Ventures.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Spotify has gone down for many users this afternoon.

The music streaming app is showing error messages and suffering from playback problems for tens of thousands of users in the UK and US.

Downdetector showed a peak of more than 30,000 error reports emanating from the States, with more than 9,000 in the UK.

The company said it is investigating the issue.

It might be time to dig out that Christmas Hits CD if you want to listen to Mariah or Wham! this evening…

Shares in TT Electronics have fallen sharply today after DBAY Advisors confirmed it does not intend to make an offer for the company, wiping more than 13% off the AIM-listed group’s share price.

The sell-off followed a statement from DBAY, which had previously said on 9th December that it was considering a possible offer for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of TT Electronics, excluding shares already owned by funds managed or advised by DBAY.

So far today, its share price has dropped to 115p, while its market cap sits at just over £236m.

Fulham FC has extended its partnership with HiBob, developer of human capital management (HCM) platform Bob.

The West London club said HiBob will also become its official sleeve sponsor after a successful first year of using Bob across Fulham FC, Fulham Pier and Fulham FC Foundation.

The intelligent platform spans human resources, payroll and finance. Fulham said it delivers structure, clarity and connection across all internal departments – including the Academy, Foundation and executives – and all types of staff contracts.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Startup founders require many qualities if they are to succeed – but chief among them are resilience and a capacity for hard work.

Sisters Adi and Kati Hristova, who are looking to redefine how hospitality businesses operate with growyze, know all about this.

Now based in London, their upbringing in post-Communist Bulgaria shaped them as people and, perhaps, as entrepreneurs.

“From a very young age we helped our parents with whatever extra jobs they took on to support the family – whether we were four years old or 11,” Adi tells BusinessCloud. “That experience shaped a lot of who we are today. 

“It taught us not to be afraid of hard work, to stay resourceful, and to keep going despite challenges or uncertainty. In many ways, that upbringing set the foundation for the resilience we’ve needed as founders.”

She adds: “Our family dog was called Democracy — a very on-brand name for the times. She’d even bark if someone said ‘Catch the Communist!’”

growyze has raised over £1m from angel investors including Mark McDermott; SyndicateRoom; and 00 Investments. Today the platform is used by brands including Holiday Inn, Ramada by Wyndham, IBIS hotel, Great British Inns Limited, Birleys and Padel Social Club.

Learn more about their bridge round on Crowdcube, pivot and plans for the future.

Sporta, a newly formed FinTech business aiming to become the UK’s first bank built specifically for sport, leisure and wellbeing, has closed a Crowdcube raise of £122,923 as part of its second seed round.

Sporta is led by Andrew Smith, founder of ClearBank, alongside a senior team spanning both FinTech and elite sport – including Victoria Gosling OBE, former CEO and current chair of the Invictus Games.

Their central thesis is that sport’s financial model – from grassroots to elite – is increasingly unsustainable, and that regulation is accelerating faster than clubs’ ability to cope. Nearly half of English professional clubs now operate with less than one month of cash, while community clubs face mounting regulatory, insurance and banking barriers that would cripple most small businesses.

The raise is designed to give those most affected by the financial fragility of sport the chance to invest and have ownership at a formative stage ahead of Sporta’s planned UK banking licence application in 2026.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Filtronic plc has secured a significant boost to its defence order book after receiving an authorisation to proceed worth around £7 million from a major European defence customer.

The AIM-listed designer and manufacturer of advanced RF solutions said the ATP relates to the supply of high-performance active components for the next phase of a long-standing electronic sensor programme supporting a major defence project.

The authorisation allows the Sedgefield-headquartered company to begin work immediately, ahead of the formal conversion to purchase orders, which is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2026.

The total value of the two-year programme is anticipated to reach approximately £11m.

Author: Patrick Killeen

LendInvest has launched a new £175 million long-term development finance funding partnership with AB CarVal and HSBC as it looks to scale its support for SME housebuilders and accelerate the delivery of new homes across the UK.

The new funding vehicle launches with £175m of senior capital committed by HSBC, supported by funds managed by AB CarVal and LendInvest.

It evolves the London-based FinTech’s existing institutional development finance arrangements into a larger and more flexible structure, allowing the business to back a greater number of SME developers and a broader range of residential project types

Author: Patrick Killeen

Alusid has raised £500,000 in a pre-IPO equity funding round as the sustainable tile manufacturer steps up preparations for a potential flotation on AIM.

The fundraising values the Preston-based company at £10 million and attracted backing from existing investor Octopus Investments, through its Octopus AIM VCT plc and Octopus AIM VCT 2 plc funds, alongside the University of Lancashire.

As part of the round, existing investor Frontier IP converted £250,000 of loans into equity, meaning the group now holds a 36.16% stake in Alusid.

The funding will be used to support the business as it prepares for a potential IPO, while also accelerating the development of new product ranges, expanding its international distribution network and continuing to invest in its proprietary low-carbon manufacturing technology.

DBAY Advisors has confirmed it will not make an offer for TT Electronics, ending speculation after it said last week that it was considering a possible bid for the company.

The move follows a takeover panel ruling that DBAY had until 5:00pm today to either announce a firm intention to bid under Rule 2.7 or confirm it would not proceed, a deadline it accepted.

The firm said it reserves the right to set those restrictions aside in specific scenarios, including if Cicor’s offer is withdrawn or lapses (with TT’s board agreement), if a third party launches a firm offer, if TT announces a Rule 9 waiver or a reverse takeover, or if the Panel determines there has been a material change of circumstances.

Switzerland-listed Cicor announced its intention to purchase the Greater Manchester-based company back in October for a price of £287 million.

Author: Patrick Killeen

An entrepreneur and energy expert has launched WattsWatt.co.uk, a new national service designed to stop households overpaying for energy and unlock up to £3.8 billion in savings this winter.

The free-to-use platform, launched by CEO Lisa Malyon, offers a ‘Never Overpay Guarantee’, giving 19.7 million households on the price cap access to all tariffs from all suppliers, ranked transparently by price.

It is an independent social enterprise that can use live smart meter data to deliver smarter, fairer tariff results.

The service also helps households access decarbonisation schemes and community energy projects.

Mercia Asset Management PLC has appointed Penny Freer as a non-executive director.

The private capital asset manager – which has £2 billion of assets under management – welcomes a figure who currently serves as chair of AP Ventures LLP and The Henderson Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc.

Freer is also a non-executive director of FTSE 100 company The Weir Group PLC.

She has previously held a number of non-executive Director roles in both public and private companies, including as chair of Crown Place VCT Plc and senior independent director and chair of the remuneration committee at Advanced Medical Solutions Group PLC.

Intuitive Investments Group plc has agreed to invest £30m into a paperless lottery technology firm.

IIG plc says it has entered an agreement with Helikon Investments, a UK investment manager, to provide up to £30m in equity funding to finance Hui10 Inc’s roll-out across China.

Under the terms of the agreement, the equity funding will be drawn down in three tranches, each of which is subject to Hui10 achieving strategic milestones.

Hui10 will look to cement its position as the central technology partner in China’s nationwide transition to digital lottery.

It will deploy its POS terminal infrastructure across China’s 200,000+ lottery-only shops, and also accelerate commercial partnerships through its omnichannel Lucky World TEAM CHINA and Lottery HongBao platforms.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

London FinTech GoCardless has been sold to Dutch rival Mollie in a €1.1 billion (£920 million) deal.

More than 90% of the consideration will be paid in shares, with the remainder in cash.

The figure is around half the valuation achieved by the payments platform in its latest funding round in 2022, which featured Balderton Capital, BlackRock and Permira.

GoCardless was founded by CEO Hiroki Takeuchi, Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield and Matt Robinson in 2011. A few years later Takeuchi, its chief executive, was paralysed from the chest down following a cycle crash.

It finally achieved quarterly profitability this year, although it made a £34.5m pre-tax loss in 2024.

 

The British Business Bank has announced a £5 million commitment to the British Design Fund (BDF), an early-stage fund and angel network that backs UK product-focused businesses, through its Regional Angels Programme.

The fund is managed by Sapphire Capital Partners LLP and seeks to support UK-based startup enterprises that design and manufacture physical products.

The Regional Angels Programme, launched in 2019 with the objective of addressing regional imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance, targets angel networks and other early-stage investors outside of London. This commitment supports this mission, enhancing access to capital for early-stage businesses across diverse sectors.