Bite-size news and insight from UK business and tech – including funding, deals and appointments
Published: January 26, 2026 at 9:51 am
Venture Life has reported a sharp uplift in revenue for 2025, as the AIM-listed consumer healthcare group continued to focus on scaling its core portfolio of branded products.
The Berkshire-based company delivered revenues of £35.1 million, up 32% year-on-year, with proforma growth of 11.1% driven mainly by higher volumes sold.
Growth was led by its “power brands” range, including Balance Activ, Lift/Glucogel, Earol and Health & Her/Him, with the business performing strongly after increased investment in advertising and promotion.
Published: January 26, 2026 at 9:48 am
London-based AI video creation platform Synthesia has raised $200 million (£146m) in a new funding round led by Google Ventures (GV), pushing its valuation to $4 billion.
The investment makes the business one of the UK’s most valuable AI companies and follows a prior £146m Series D round in January 2025.
That round valued the company at $2.1bn and its latest deal highlights the rapid rise of the now-UK giant amid the AI boom.
The latest round also saw participation from Evantic, the venture fund founded by former Sequoia partner Matt Miller, and Hedosophia.
Other existing investors NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Accel, Kleiner Perkins, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), PSP Growth, Air Street Capital and MMC Ventures also participated.
As part of the transaction, the business will also facilitate an employee secondary sale in partnership with NASDAQ at a $4bn valuation.
Published: January 26, 2026 at 9:29 am
Revolut has ditched its plan to acquire a US bank, according to the Financial Times, and will instead seek to secure a standalone licence to operate in the country.
The UK neobank had been seeking a target with a licence to operate across all 50 states.
However sources told the FT that if it bought a community bank, it might have to commit to keeping open high street branches, while any takeover would also require engagement with US regulators.
Meanwhile the Trump administration has promoted deregulation – and so Revolut is now said to be banking on securing its own licence quickly.
Published: January 26, 2026 at 9:22 am
BGF returned more than £600 million during 2025 as it continued to scale its model of patient, minority growth capital across the UK and Ireland.
The growth capital investor said the performance delivered a money multiple of more than 2x, helped by a series of successful exits and continued positive trading across its portfolio.
The London-based firm also paid a £75m dividend to shareholders, supported by the strength of realisations during the year.
Published: January 26, 2026 at 9:05 am
A British AI boss intends to quit Britain for the United States as the latter is more founder-friendly.
Gravitee CEO Rory Blundell is planning to relocate to Denver, Colorado with most of his senior team, reports The Telegraph.
However Blundell and his three co-founders had already chosen to headquarter the firm, founded in 2015, in Denver. It also has bases in London and Lille, France.
Last summer it was valued at $300 million in a $60m Series C round of funding.
Published: January 26, 2026 at 8:52 am
Develop North has appointed Michelle Percy as its new CEO as the North East-based investment company ramps up for its next phase of growth following the launch of a £58 million fundraise.
Percy’s appointment takes effect immediately and comes soon after the publication of its prospectus.
It plans to expand its activity as it continues to deploy capital into projects across the region.
Percy joins the listed company after almost nine years at Newcastle City Council, where she played a senior role in attracting inward investment and building public-private partnerships across a development pipeline valued at around £7 billion.
Published: January 26, 2026 at 8:26 am
An AI platform designed specifically for real estate law, has secured a $60 million (£44m) Series B funding round as it accelerates expansion across the UK and US.
Orbital raised the funds in a round led by Brighton Park Capital (BPC), a New York-based growth fund, with the investment supporting continued scaling on both sides of the Atlantic.
It will also fund product development aimed at creating a single, secure workspace for real estate legal work across the full lifecycle of an asset.
Founded in 2018 by Will Pearce and Ed Boulle, the business has positioned itself as the UK market leader in AI for real estate legal work – a specialised area which it argues has been largely overlooked by the broader industry.
Its platform combines AI built for real estate law with mapping, spatial visualisation and real estate data, with the goal of automating the document-heavy review process in property transactions.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 3:02 pm
CLIQ has secured a seven-figure investment round as it looks to accelerate growth for its social networking and community app.
The London-based firm has designed the platform to help users turn online connections into real-life experiences.
The funding was led by Artesian, alongside a family office and a group of angel investors, and follows a £530,000 pre-seed round in 2024.
The company has so far attracted hundreds of thousands of users worldwide with zero marketing spend to date, positioning it a a fast-emerging social apps.
The latest investment will be used to scale operations, expand the team and strengthen the platform’s technology ahead of planned international expansion in 2026.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 2:19 pm
Top Tech Yorkshire 2026 has officially launched, bringing together a cohort of fast-growing technology businesses and expert mentors from across the region.
The six-month accelerator programme, developed by Mills & Reeve, kicked off with a speed networking event at the firm’s Leeds office this week, giving founders the chance to refine their pitches and build early connections.
The cohort reflects the breadth of Yorkshire’s tech sector, with companies spanning areas including AI, HealthTech, EdTech, digital accessibility and information exchange.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Syrenis has established a new US presence as part of its wider growth strategy to accelerate go-to-market activity across North America.
The operation will focus on sales, partnerships and customer engagement, strengthening support for enterprises facing increasingly complex privacy, consent and data governance requirements.
The US team will initially be based in Atlanta and will work closely with the Warrington firm’s UK headquarters to maintain continuity across product development, security and customer delivery, with further investment planned throughout 2026.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 1:02 pm
Applications have opened for the third cohort of GM Business Growth Hub’s ASCEND Scale Up programme – and it really is a fantastic opportunity for businesses of all sizes to move to the next level.
Once again, we’ll be looking for 25 businesses – a mix of traditional and tech – across all 10 Greater Manchester boroughs to take part in the programme, which will be held alongside our delivery partners KPMG and RBC Brewin Dolphin. They can apply here.
Those on the programme will get access to workshops, talks and discussions with successful founders spanning a broad spectrum of topics, including strategy governance, people and culture, innovation, finance and longer-term exit planning.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 12:15 pm
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is reportedly lining up four Wall Street banks as it explores a potential stock market listing, in what could become one of the biggest IPOs of all time.
The company is said to be considering Bank of America, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for leading roles, according to reports from the Financial Times and Reuters.
SpaceX has also been linked to discussions over a private share sale valuing the business as high as $800 billion, while Reuters reports it could seek to raise $25bn if an IPO goes ahead.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 11:43 am
The builders of the ill-fated Bayesian superyacht, which sank off the coast of Sicily with tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch on board, are reportedly suing his widow for almost £400 million.
The Italian Sea Group (ITS), the company behind the £30m vessel, is said to be taking legal action against Angela Bacares for €456m (£399m), claiming the yacht’s crew was responsible for the tragedy and that the fallout has damaged its commercial reputation.
According to reports, the case has been brought against Bacares as the legal owner of Revtom, the Isle of Man-registered company that owned the yacht.
The sinking killed seven people, including Lynch and their daughter Hannah, while Bacares survived.
ITS, which is majority-owned by Italian yacht businessman Giovanni Costantino, is understood to be arguing that alleged crew negligence led to the yacht’s sinking during a freak weather event described by some as tornado-like conditions.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 11:10 am
London-headquartered Pri0r1ty Intelligence Group has reported a strong start to FY26, with contracted revenue of more than £500,000 in just over three months – already exceeding its total revenue for FY25.
The AIM-listed AI-focused business, which provides growth solutions to SMEs, said the uplift reflects the rollout of its proprietary products including Advisor, Fan Sonar, Vox and Compass ID, which help clients capture, enrich and apply audience data through integrated consultancy support.
New contracts have been secured with customers such as World Aquatics, Untamd and Love Mondays, while usage has also expanded across existing clients including Aston Villa FC, Leukaemia Care and Great British Racing, with products being rolled out across all 58 UK racecourses.
With more than 100 paying users currently across its platforms, the business is targeting 500 paying users by the end of FY26.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 10:38 am
Listed GSTechnologies has completed the acquisition of Polish payments firm Metapay SP. z o.o., taking ownership of 100% of its issued share capital.
Metapay holds a small payment institution (SPI) licence and is registered under Poland’s Act on Payment Services, supporting GST’s strategy to expand its domestic and cross-border payments footprint across Europe.
Following the deal, the company has renamed Metapay to Angra Limited sp. z o.o., which is expected to support the continued growth of Angra Global as its licensing plans progress.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 10:06 am
AIM-listed energy-as-a-service provider eEnergy has reported annual revenue of £23 million (down from £25.1m), with £4m of previously anticipated FY25 revenue now expected to be recognised in H1 2026.
Despite the top-line dip, adjusted EBITDA jumped 183% to £1.7m, supported by an optimised cost base, improved operating efficiencies and a higher gross margin of 35.3%.
The London-based company ended the year with a record £14m contracted and awarded forward order book, double the level at the start of FY25, alongside an “investment grade” pipeline of £127m.
The board has upgraded FY26 expectations to £34m revenue and £4.5m adjusted EBITDA.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 9:34 am
A Manchester startup claims to be building some of the most advanced AI workers in the world – despite its co-founders being the only real people in the business.
SmartFlows has flown under the radar since it was founded 14 months ago and claims to have built more than 10,000 of its Syms – virtual employees – for clients via partnerships and word of mouth.
It is also claiming astonishing revenue growth.
For my first weekly Founder Friday feature, I met Karl Percival at the Campfield cafe in the city to hear more – and was astonished to hear that his virtual sales rep Dylan is a mad Manchester United fan…
Published: January 23, 2026 at 9:24 am
YFM Equity Partners has exited its investment in Vuealta following the sale of the business to Keyrus, a global data and digital consulting group.
London-based Vuealta supports organisations with connected business planning and digital transformation, helping improve forecasting, decision-making and operational performance.
YFM backed Vuealta the business to help it scale, supporting international expansion, strengthening operational capabilities and developing its service offering in response to growing client demand.
The acquisition also strengthens France-headquartered Keyrus’ presence in the APAC region and its leadership in anaplan solutions.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 9:09 am
ClearScore Group has acquired Acre Platforms Limited, a London-based technology solutions provider to the mortgage industry.
The deal builds on the firm’s established position in unsecured credit broking and follows its acquisition of Aro Finance in early 2025, which expanded its capabilities in secured loans.
Under ClearScore’s ownership, Acre will continue to provide technology solutions for mortgage and protection businesses, while supporting ClearScore’s ambition to deliver an improved home-buying experience to its 16 million UK users.
ClearScore, also headquartered in London, plans to extend the platform into its international markets, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Published: January 23, 2026 at 8:53 am
TikTok has closed a deal that will allow the short-video platform to continue operating in the US, following years of pressure over national security concerns linked to its Chinese owner, ByteDance.
The move comes after legislation passed under former President Joe Biden required ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban, with enforcement repeatedly delayed by President Donald Trump.
Under the agreement, a new entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC has been established in compliance with an executive order signed by Trump on 25th September 2025.
The majority US-owned joint venture will enable more than 200 million Americans and 7.5m businesses to continue using the platform.
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