Author: Rosie Christie, director, Fusion Surfaces

When you start a business, you might think the hard part will be getting customers. I certainly did.

We had to build everything from scratch: case studies, credibility and trust before we could scale. Looking back, that part wasn’t the hardest though. The hardest part has been people.

I came from a teaching background, where getting people to do their job well didn’t feel like such a battle. In business, it’s very different.

Without clear structure, things slip. Jobs don’t get finished properly, standards drop, corners get cut. It’s taken us years to find the right people.

At the same time, we started the business when our daughter was just two years old. That brought a completely different layer of pressure.

Jade Mitchell and I are not just business partners. We’re a couple, raising a family and running a company together.

From the outside, it can look like flexibility. In reality, it often means you never really switch off.

And because we’re both in the business, there’s no safety net. If things go quiet, it’s on us. That pressure sits there all the time.

A management buyout of North East digital marketing agency Podium has been completed, with ownership transferring to three long-standing members of its senior team.

Ownership of Podium, a digital marketing agency specialising in SEO, PPC and social media management, has transferred to Sarah McKevitt, Lia Gordon and Katie Toman.

Founder and managing director Andy Thevarokiam, who set up the company in 2012, is stepping back from day-to-day leadership.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Irish digital transformation firm Version 1 has swooped for Scottish counterpart CreateFuture.

Dublin-based Version 1 said the deal – for an undisclosed amount – creates one of Europe’s largest digital transformation leaders with revenues of more than €500 million and 4,250 employees.

Version 1 was founded in Ireland in 1996. It has 3,700 employees globally with revenues exceeding €400m.

CreateFuture, formerly known as xDesign, is a technology services firm of 550 professionals working with clients in highly regulated industries including iGaming, financial services and utilities. It has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Sofia.

Nervecentre Software has announced the expansion of its UK footprint with the unveiling of a major new operational office in the Spine building in Liverpool.

The new office has been strategically located in central Liverpool to support Nervecentre’s large-scale Electronic Patient Record (EPR) contract with Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Establishing a presence in the region will enable closer collaboration with clinical and operational teams, the Wokingham firm says, ensuring responsive, on-the-ground support and strengthening delivery of the programme.

Northern Ireland’s leading property portal has partnered with uFurnish.com to launch a brand new virtual ‘Shop the Look’ experience.

PropertyPal sees more than 130,000 daily visitors exploring the homes advertised on its portal. Users can now enhance that experience by discovering and shopping interiors influenced by the properties they browse.

uFurnish.com uses AI product-matching technology to source items from more than 100 home retailers. Since launching on the PropertyPal website, the feature has been used more than 17,000 times.

Hypervision Surgical has closed a £17 million Series A raise. The raise marks a meteoric rise for the King’s College London spin-out pioneering hyperspectral imaging for surgery.

The round, led by Heal Capital with participation from Angelini Ventures, IP Group, Daycrest, HERAN Partners, Redalpine, LifeX Ventures, and ZEISS Ventures, also includes strategic investment from the SINC Fund managed by SAGES Ingenuity, and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Surgeons have always made critical decisions based on what the human eye can see. Hypervision Surgical changes what’s visible.

The company’s Hyperspectral Intelligence platform moves beyond the visible spectrum by giving surgeons real-time, pixel-level insights into tissue physiology.

This new intelligence layer for the operating room is already cleared by the FDA and certified in the UK.

Maven Capital Partners has led a £4.4 million investment in Third Space Learning, an online education platform.

Funding was provided by the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund, managed by Maven, alongside Blackfinch Ventures and existing investors Foresight and Nesta.

Swindon-based Third Space Learning (TSL) delivers curriculum-aligned, online one-to-one maths tutoring to primary and secondary school students in the UK and US via its spoken AI tutor, Skye.

The investment will enable TSL to invest in Skye, fuelling product development to improve learning impact through AI, and expanding distribution across geographies, subjects, and languages.

Funding will also support the business as it scales, building a dedicated US function to accelerate international growth.

Corgi Insurance, a Y Combinator-backed AI insurance carrier, is expanding to London.

Corgi, which raised $108m from YC, Kindred Ventures, Contrary and SV Angel at a $630m valuation, is generating $40m+ annual recurring revenue.

The San Francisco firm, founded in 2024 by Nico Laqua (CEO) and Emily Yuan (COO), is now hiring 10+ roles in London across finance, operations, engineering and recruiting.

Online Oceans, a Dorset-based company building autonomous surface vessels and fleet software for defence and maritime security, has raised £4 million in funding.

The round was led by Seraphim Space and includes participation from investors including Peter Rive, co-founder of SolarCity, Frank Thieser and Florian Seibel, founders of Quantum Systems, and Koro Capital.

Online Oceans is building a new model for persistent maritime coverage. Its autonomous surface vessel, Scout, and fleet command platform, Tether, enable operators to deploy dense, always-connected fleets for missions including anti-submarine warfare, protection of subsea infrastructure, border security and counter-drug smuggling.

The firm was founded in early 2025 by George Morton and Alistair Douglas. Together, they have moved from first builds to production ramp in little over a year.

HousingAI, a new AI-powered knowledge platform built specifically for the social housing sector in England, has officially launched.

Developed in close collaboration with housing providers, sector experts and in partnership with Healthy Homes Hub, HousingAI has been designed to reflect the reality of how decisions are made across housing – often under pressure, across multiple systems, and with significant regulatory and resident implications.

It aims to turn complex regulation into clear, structured guidance that housing teams can access and help inform their decision-making.

Dex, an AI-powered recruiter aiming to redefine how top software engineering talent connects to opportunities, has raised $5.3 million in seed funding.

The round is led by Notion Capital, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Concept Ventures 2100, and angel investors from OpenAI and other leading organisations. It follows a $3.1m pre-seed round in 2025.

The company says it will accelerate its mission of empowering individuals to find meaningful work through the use of humane AI technology.

Hulme Grammar School has announced plans to spearhead a national shift to AI-centric learning.

The independent co-educational day school in Oldham, founded more than four hundred years ago, is to fully integrate AI through everything it does.

From September 2026, every pupil will be taught AI as a subject in its own right. In addition, all subjects will explicitly consider how AI can be effectively incorporated within the established traditional curriculum to further enhance the outcomes and prospects of all students.

Misti AI has secured £250,000 in pre-seed funding led by Fuel Ventures, with the current round open and actively closing toward a £500k target.

The startup is seeking to transform existing camera infrastructure into real-time operational awareness within heavy industries. The company’s platform converts passive video feeds into structured data, enabling autonomous monitoring, safety compliance, and operational insights across industrial environments.

It has begun deployments across remote industrial operations in Latin America, including mining and energy sites operating in low-connectivity, high-risk environments – where real-time visibility has historically been impossible.

fu3e has appointed Graham Harle, the former CEO of Gleeds, as a non-executive director to accelerate its strategic growth.

fu3e, a regular on BusinessCloud’s PropTech 50 ranking, is an enterprise SaaS platform transforming operational workflows for the real estate and investment industry.

Harle has joined fu3e’s board to support commercial strategy, institutional client engagement and international expansion.

Harle served in senior roles at Gleeds from 1995. He most recently led the company as CEO from 2019-26, driving significant growth, digital and ESG transformation as well as global expansion across Europe, the United States and Asia.

This month he moved into a NED role at the international construction and property consultancy. He also serves on boards in the real estate and investor community.

Social Chain owner Brave Bison has appointed a non-executive director and reported its final results for 2025.

The AIM-listed marketing and technology company said net revenue for the calendar year was £34.1 million, up 60% on 2024 (£21.3m). Adjusted EBITDA climbed 51% to £6.8m.

Statutory profit before tax was £700,000, down 65% from £2m in 2024, following five acquisitions in the period – including Builtvisible, MTM, MiniMBA and M+C Saatchi Performance – which cost a total of £2.3m.

The results are ahead of recently upgraded consensus expectations.

 

StudentCrowd has completed a £7 million series A funding round led by YFM Equity Partners.

Based in Wolverhampton, the firm is a data and insights platform serving the top 30 operators in the purpose-built student accommodation sector. It has helped over 14 million students find accommodation to date.

The round was also backed by the Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, through fund manager Mercia Ventures.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

A Newcastle-based robotics firm is set for a crucial insolvency hearing this morning.

Wootzano, once considered one of the brightest lights in the North East tech scene, is facing shutdown after a court order initiated by Innovate UK Loans froze its bank accounts for months.

Founder Dr Atif Syed labelled the scheme – ostensibly a supporter of innovative UK companies – an “insolvency accelerator” last year on social media.

With Wootzano subject to insolvency proceedings initiated by Innovate UK Loans, a source told BusinessCloud that a hearing is scheduled at the Court of Session in Edinburgh – Scotland’s supreme civil court – today at 10am.

The source added that its bank accounts remain frozen, leaving it unable to fund a legal appeal.

The University of York, in partnership with Lifted Ventures, is launching a new initiative to support women across the region to become angel investors and back the next generation of female entrepreneurs.

‘A New Era for Women Angels in York & North Yorkshire’ is a funded programme designed to equip women with the knowledge, confidence, and networks needed to begin investing in high-potential businesses across the region.

Delivered through Lifted Ventures’ Angel Academy, the initiative will bring together a cohort of 15 aspiring women investors and guide them from initial interest through to confident, informed investment activity.

GM Business Growth Hub has announced the full cohort of 24 founder-led businesses selected for ASCEND Scale Up Cohort 3, with the programme officially kicking off at a residential retreat at Mottram Hall in Cheshire.

Now in its third year, ASCEND is GM Business Growth Hub’s flagship programme for ambitious founders across Greater Manchester, offering expert-led workshops, personalised mentoring, peer learning and access to the region’s wider business ecosystem.

The programme is delivered in partnership with KPMG and RBC Brewin Dolphin.

This year’s cohort is the most diverse in the programme’s history. Selected from a competitive application process involving hundreds of businesses from across the city-region, the 24 companies span more than ten industry sectors – from health and life sciences and construction to consumer products, facilities management, education and technology.

Author: Lee Rorison, founder and CEO, Seriös Group (and lifelong fan of Sunderland AFC)

Football is one of the most emotional industries in the world, capturing the hearts and minds of fans from a young age.

They come back every time, despite the occasional heartbreak. It’s a masterclass in brand loyalty; but there are other teachable moments for businesses beyond legions of die-hard fans.

Behind the chants, rivalries, last-minute goals and dramatics from players looking to delay and distract, sits an increasingly complex business operation. 

Like a top signing, accessible, cohesive and responsive data can change your game entirely. Our work with Sunderland AFC is a good example of how data can take you from the underdog, to snapping at the heels of the best the Premier League has to offer.  

While we can’t take credit for the goals, I’ll simply say our relationship with the club began in 2022.

For businesses looking to do the same, treat your data like Sunderland AFC treats matchday preparation. Because in both cases, better information leads to better decisions – and better decisions.