Author: Chris Maguire

Hugh Campbell has joined the board of US EdTech Lingokids after Bullhound Capital led a $120m investment round in the firm.

Lingokids is the No 1 interactive app for kids aged between two and eight and is trusted by more than 185 million families worldwide.

Bullhound Capital is the investment management arm of GP Bullhound. Other investments include PLAYTOMIC, RavenPack, ConnexAI, HackerOne and MUBI.

 

 

Author: Patrick Killeen

London-based FinTech GoCardless is set to open a new office in Leeds, strengthening its UK footprint as it works towards profitability within the next 12 months.

The company, which processes direct bank payments for businesses of all sizes, will establish the new hub later this year in the city centre.

Around 50 roles across sales, partnerships, corporate services and operations are planned for the first 12 months, with headcount expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, replicating the expansion model of its existing bases in London and Riga.

The move has been applauded by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, and Mayor of West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Tracy Brabin.

A brand advocacy platform used by Lush, ELEMIS, Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch, has raised £12 million in Series A funding.

The round for London-based Duel was co-led by Molten Ventures and Bright Pixel, with backing from Mimecast founder Peter Bauer.

The firm helps retail brands build growth engines from their own fan and creator communities, turning everyday customers into advocates who drive referrals and sales, and funding will support expansion in the US and the development of new AI-driven enterprise tools.

Asset and wealth management software provider ZILO has raised £20m in a Series A2 round, led by Portage with participation from State Street, existing shareholders and management.

The funding, at an increased valuation from its 2024 Series A, will fuel global expansion and the rollout of new AI-powered tools.

The London-based FinTech’s platform has already won major mandates from two of the world’s top five custodians and a leading asset manager, alongside deals with Fidelity International and State Street.

PropTech platform Hubflow has raised £3.5 million from Whiterock’s Growth Capital Fund, which backs scaling companies with proven models.

The funding will accelerate Hubflow’s rollout across prime Zone 1 locations, adding to its existing sites in London and Belfast.

New flagship hubs are set to launch in the city, Midtown and West End from 2025–26.

The founder and CEO of social media powerhouse LADbible has backed Manchester startup Veridox in a £1 million funding round to combat fraudulent insurance claims with AI.

Solly Solomou invested through his Solo Investments Holdings vehicle, joining lead investor Outward VC in the round.

The InsurTech has developed AI software that analyses documents and images linked to insurance claims, flagging signs of possible manipulation that would otherwise require detailed manual checks.

The investment will support expansion in product and sales as the business prepares for general launch.

The advertising arm of Sky has extended its partnership with Manchester-based Regit, the ‘digital garage’ platform with insights on millions of UK car owners.

The partnership between Sky Media and the Macclesfield-based firm has proven especially effective for automotive and insurance advertisers, with campaigns delivering twice the effectiveness of other approaches.

One recent campaign directly drove 17k website visits and 37 extra car sales for a well-known brand.

To mark the renewal, Regit has also commissioned fresh research into motorists’ behaviour.

London-based sustainable finance data firm Connect Earth has acquired Stockholm-based ESG reporting platform Datia.

The move is part of its push to build a “Sustainable Finance Operating System” unifying compliance, emissions insights and green finance tools.

Connect Earth provides carbon and ESG data infrastructure for banks and asset managers.

An AIM-listed mobile-first media group behind Entertainment Daily, The Daily Mash and The Tab, has reported a 12% rise in revenue to £1.8 million for the first half of 2025.

Peterborough-based Digitalbpx also saw adjusted EBITDA climb 30% to £0.3m, while page views grew 15% year on year, with The Tab up 38% and TV Guide traffic rising 25%.

CEO James Carter said the performance highlights the group’s “strong operating model and agility” as it invests in new products and integrations.

Its board remains confident of meeting full-year expectations despite turbulence in the global ad market.

Digital marketing group MISSION Group plc saw revenue fall in the first half of the year.

MISSION, which blocked a takeover bid from Brave Bison last year, made operational savings in the second half of 2024.

However for the first half of 2025, it saw revenue drop 19% compared with H1 2024 to £34.1m. Losses before tax were £4m, compared with break-even in the prior year.

The Smarter Web Company has purchased another £4.6m worth of Bitcoin.

The London-listed web design firm has followed the trend of US companies such as Tesla in adopting a Bitcoin treasury policy.

It has bought another 55 Bitcoin at an average purchase price of £83,882, taking its total Bitcoin holdings to 2,525 – with £208m worth purchased to date.

Mark Fry has been appointed to the newly created role of group CEO at Begbies Traynor Group plc.

Fry is currently an executive director and head of restructuring and advisory services at the financial and real estate advisory firm.

Ric Traynor remains as executive chairman and Nick Taylor will continue to perform the role of group CFO at the company, which is creating a new management board following a decade of growth.

The management board will include two managing partners: Julian Pitts, who takes over restructuring services from Fry, and Anthony Spencer (real estate advisory).

Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust plc has unveiled a five-year strategy to scale the company to a £1 billion renewables vehicle.

Part of Octopus Group, the diversified renewables investment company says ORIT 2030 will deliver substantial net-asset-value growth.

It said after the first six months of the year, NAV was £540m, down from £570m a year earlier. Revenue was identical at £68.7m and EBITDA decreased slightly to £44.3m.

Mpac Group plc, a firm specialising in high-speed packaging and automation solutions, has added three business heavyweights to its board.

The three incoming non-executive directors are Simon Kesterton, CFO of Kier Group plc, a FTSE 250 construction and infrastructure services company; David Squires, CEO of Senior plc, a FTSE 250 engineering company; and Clive Whiley, who was previously non-executive chairman of De la Rue plc and has over 40 years’ experience in executive and non-executive directors’ roles across a wide range of industries and geographies in regulated and listed companies.

Sara Fowler is to step down from the board of the Tadcaster-based company, while Doug Robertson also stepped down recently.

Identity technology business GBG expects to be admitted to the main market of the London Stock Exchange on Thursday 30th October.

Currently listed on the junior AIM market, Chester-headquartered GBG says admission is not conditional upon shareholder approval.

It also says this morning that trading in the year-to-date has been in line with the board’s expectations.

Premium experiences platform Seat Unique has renewed its partnership with the London Stadium following a successful summer of live music in 2025.

Since first being named the official premium platform for the home stadium of West Ham United, the London-headquartered firm is said to have delivered ‘standout premium experiences’, including the creation of the Seat Unique Club, which hosted guests for numerous sold-out shows. 

The business, which is backed by a multitude of British sporting figures, has also confirmed that it has seen a positive start to sales for events taking place in the summer of 2026.

Administrators have confirmed that Bodycare will shut its final 56 High Street stores, leading to the loss of 444 jobs.

The retailer, which collapsed into administration earlier this month, had already announced 30 store closures last week.

Administrators said mounting costs and difficulties securing stock meant keeping the chain’s 115-strong estate trading was no longer sustainable.

The news comes after Sky News reported that Bodycare had been searching for a buyer to rescue the business.

North East ClimateTech Mutha Cuva has secured significant angel investment in pre-seed funding to scale its subscription-based platform for heat pump servicing and maintenance.

The round was spearheaded by regional female investment firm, Lifted Ventures, with participation from nine angel investors in the Lifted Ventures network.

Founded by Amy Mooney, an experienced heating industry director, the startup is tackling one of the UK’s most urgent clean energy challenges in ensuring reliable and scalable aftercare for heat pumps as they replace gas boilers.

Its solution is a technology-led subscription service that aims to simplify and streamline heat pump maintenance.

Northern Ireland’s science and technology hub Catalyst brought 40 UK and Irish venture capital firms to Belfast last week for its annual Inbound Investors event, to meet and hear from 50 of the country’s fast-growing startups and scaleups.

Held at Titanic Belfast on Thursday 18th September, supported by headline partner British Business Bank, the occasion saw Northern Ireland’s most high-growth potential companies meet with and pitch to relevant investors through tailored pre-matched meetings.

With investments from Pre-Seed up to Series A available, Inbound Investors gave participating companies such as MoveTru and Eolas Medical, from SportTech and MedTech sectors the opportunity to secure funding in order to grow their business.

INSHUR, an insurance platform for the on-demand economy, has appointed ManyPets co-founder and former CTO Guy Farley to its UK board of advisors

Farley, named multiple times as one of Computer Weekly’s Top 100 Most Influential People in UK Technology, brings deep experience in building and scaling insurtech businesses.

At the New York-based InsurTech, he will help advise and validate the company’s technology roadmap, with its focus on AI and the fast-emerging autonomous vehicle market.