Author: Patrick Killeen

AI startup Gradient Labs has launched in the US as it looks to bring its financial services-focused support technology to a wider market.

Founded in 2023 by former Monzo employees Dimitri Masin, Neal Lathia and Danai Antoniou, the company builds AI agents designed to automate customer operations in regulated sectors without breaching compliance standards.

Its software is already used by European fintechs including Zego, Plum, Nala and Sling Money, reaching more than 32 million end-users.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Reedah El-Saie, founder of EdTech Brainspark Games, secured funding from Dragons’ Den stars Sara Davies, Deborah Meaden and Touker Suleyman on last night’s episode.

The London-based entrepreneur, who pitched her multi-award-winning business, impressed some of the Dragons with her AI-powered, immersive educational mobile games platform.

El-Saie said she has secured several grants from Innovate UK as well as funding from ‘super angels’ in the gaming industry, while also putting £400k of her own cash into the business, which remained pre-revenue at the time of filming. She was seeking £10,000 for 1% of the company.

Peter Jones, who has a strong background in the education sector – advising government, for example – said the only way it could really succeed would be to become embedded in the National Curriculum, while Steven Bartlett also questioned the business model.

However the other Dragons were more receptive. Sara Davies and Deborah Meaden quickly agreed to accept her offer, while Touker Suleyman played hardball by offering her the £10k for 5%, alongside a space in his own office – before climbing down to 1% in an unexpected U-turn.

 

UK  investment platform, AJ Bell, revealed its customer numbers increased 19 per cent by 102,000 to nearly 644,000 and record platform assets under administration of £103.3bn, in the financial year to the end of September 2025.

CEO Michael Summersgill said: “I am delighted to report a year of record growth, surpassing £100bn in platform AUA and attracting over 100,000 new customers to our low-cost, easy-to-use platform propositions, supported by market-leading customer service.

“This excellent growth marks a significant milestone for the business and reflects the continued success of our dual-channel model, enhancing our growth opportunity within the platform market.”

“We’re so pleased to have someone with Touker’s experience on board,” they say.

Jones congratulates Touker on his investment and says he has a good pair of founders to work with there.

Meaden is more positive but is also OUT.

Suleyman is on the fence. He says the business as pitched is uninvestable.

He knows there’s a lot of work to do. He offers the £100k… for 20%.

They accept the offer!

Suleyman is on the board of a co-living business, and sees opportunity in that area.

Bartlett says technology needs to be well-capitalised and he thinks a £100k investment would be down the drain within a year. He’s OUT.

Jones and Davies agree. They are also OUT.

Touker’s view: “You’ve got to add a lot more features to this app to be a credible business.”

The friends are looking to move into recommendations in other areas, such as a handyman or plumber.

Jones points out that agencies do checks such as DBS, employment and landlord references.

But what are the checks they are carrying out? Purely anecdotal, it seems.

The free app has 100,000 downloads and there are 700-900 rooms on the platform at any given time.

Effectively shared contacts on social networks can vouch for the people seeking to flatshare.

There is also a paid version with premium features.

They are looking for £100,000 for 5% of the business.

Closing the episode are co-founders Sophie Emler and Rebecca Moule with MatesPlace – a social app that helps renters find flatmates through friends of friends.

The platform looks to offer a safer, more personal alternative to traditional flat-hunting sites by letting users filter connections by “degrees” of familiarity, view mutual contacts and browse verified profiles.

Reedah convinces Touker to come in at 1% – so she walks away with £30,000 for the 3% of Brainspark Games.

Suleyman also offers the £10,000… for 5%!

He’s also offering a working space next to his office.

Bartlett and Jones whisper about that one.

 

Success is “heavily based on fortune and hitting zeitgeist”. He’s OUT.

Meaden has connections in this industry – including the founder of MumsNet – and offers her the £10,000 for the 1%!

Davies is also impressed and says she will match Meaden’s offer.

There is a big package which can be sold into schools and other organisations.

Reedah says each of the five apps – including one focused on climate education – will also be made available to retail customers on the App Store.

Jones has a strong background in this – advising government, for example – and says the only way this can really succeed is to become embedded in the National Curriculum. He’s OUT.

Reedah has won several Innovate UK grants, has funding including from ‘super angels’ in the gaming industry, and put in £400k of her own cash into the business.

“It’s difficult to make money from schools,” says Bartlett, who questions the business model.

Reedah admits that they are pre-revenue.

London-based Reedah says her product condenses 12 weeks of learning into a few hours of gameplay.

She is seeking £10,000 for 1% of her business.

Suleyman steps up to have a go on the gam, which seems to be a robot running around.

Reedah El-Saie steps into the Den with Brainspark Games, an educational app helping children learn through play.

Launched in 2019, the platform creates fun, curriculum-aligned games for ages 7 to 13, covering subjects like maths, English, science, climate, languages and art.

Available on both iOS and Android, the app aims to make learning interactive and engaging for young users.

“I think you’ve got a real chance of doing this,” says Jones.

However he can’t join her on the journey and is also OUT. But he’s very complimentary and polite.

Bartlett is also OUT.

Meaden disagrees with Suleyman and thinks she is right to give studios the opportunity to showcase their creativity on the product. But she is also OUT.

Davies doesn’t see it as an attractive investment proposition either. She’s OUT.

Fiona says her unique selling point is the ability to give studios the ability to put their own designs on the bottles.

However Suleyman says she should be focused on telling people simply: “You need this to look after your tattoos.”

He’s OUT.