Author: Patrick Killeen

Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester (TIC Manchester) has unveiled the first cohort of its new Startup Lab.

The incubator is designed to help early-stage AI founders turn technical ideas into commercial businesses rooted in Greater Manchester.

The three-month programme is aimed at academic entrepreneurs, technical builders and DeepTech founders at the very start of their journey, providing hands-on support to help AI-first ideas gain real-world traction.

The businesses taking part are AI assessment platform Running Paper; STEM education equity organisation ClickSafe Sentinel; solo traveller social network SoloBudd; PR specialists Unhooked Communications; video generation platform VideoZero; autonomous medical sterilisation system Smarterile; and polymer data platform PolymerFlow.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

A FinTech company backed early on by Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has secured a $100 million (£73m) long-term debt facility from Oxford Finance.

The profitable business payments company only announced a £38m Series B fundraise in December – led by Prysm Capital – which valued it at $300m.

Sokin was unveiled as United’s official global business payment solutions partner in August.

The new facility will accelerate Sokin’s expansion across North America, Asia, the Middle East and South America, and fast-track the acquisition of further regional licenses, banking partnerships and global infrastructure scaling.

Additionally, investments will fund the development and launch of new products, including embedded payments capabilities.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Shares in FDM Group have recovered today after the IT-focused professional services provider reported its annual results.

The London-headquartered PLC said for the year to 31st December 2025 it expects financial performance to be within the range of market expectations.

Revenue is expected to be £178 million, down 31% in comparison to the prior year (2024: £258m).

Its share price is up 12% today (writing at 12pm), at 162 pence, giving it a market cap of £178m.

Shares remain down 17% over six months and 39% over the last 12 months.

The CFO of listed Cerillion is to step dow.

The billing, charging and customer relationship management software solutions provider said Andrew Dickson will leave the board on 1st March 2026 to pursue new opportunities.

He will remain at the company for a handover period with his successor, Greg Price, who will take up the role and join the board and the company by 1st May 2026. 

Price, aged 50 years, joins Cerillion from essensys plc, a global provider of software and technology for the flexible workspace industry.

He was previously CFO at Checkit plc, the provider of intelligent operations management software, and prior to that, CFO at CargoLogic Air.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Shares are down at Card Factory plc today despite reporting revenue growth this morning.

The retailer said total group revenue for the 11 months ended 31st December 2025 of £541.6 million was up 7.3% year-on-year, supported by positive contributions from acquired businesses including Funky Pigeon.

Trading was in line with revised guidance it said, while it expects to deliver adjusted profit before tax for FY26 of between £55-60 million.

Broker Insights, a UK-based InsurTech that is transforming the way brokers place commercial insurance policies, says it has marked another first with the latest version of its platform.

The firm says its VISION platform now uses AI and data insights to help brokers identify businesses with gaps in product coverage – in particular cybersecurity or management liability insurance – and quickly quote and bind a policy.

The move will not only help brokers to increase revenue, it says, but could also increase uptake of cybersecurity insurance.

This currently stands at just 2.8% of businesses, according to Broker Insights’ figures.

PayPlan has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of a new chairman and three senior industry executives.

Founded in 1992 and led by chief executive Rachel Duffey, PayPlan is one of the UK’s leading providers of free-to-consumer debt advice and tailored payment plan solutions.

Each year, the organisation helps hundreds of thousands of people to improve their financial wellbeing with confidential, FCA-regulated advice.

PayPlan has received strategic investment from Palladian Investment Partners, which will be used to accelerate the rollout of enhanced digital debt advice services.

Mark  Arnold, formerly Barclays UK’s Head of Savings and Mortgages has been appointed as its new chairman.

It has also appointed Jaco Wilsenach as COO, Tim Richardson as CTO and Paul Giggins as operational strategy director.

Litestream Ventures saw $78m in non-binding investor pledges during the World Economic Forum for companies helping to solve the world’s biggest challenges.

The firm also debuted its pledge-based signalling technology at its forum, delivered through a private app used by attending investors.

The closed-door Litestream forum brought together more than 120 investors, founders and funds, and a charitable partner — Star for Life. During the session, investors in the room signalled $78.1 million in non-binding pledges in support of 12 participating companies and the charitable initiative.

Manchester-based ProDataStack is looking to change how professional athletes understand, evidence and negotiate their value, with a data and analytics platform built specifically for elite sport.

Founded in 2022 by data specialist and author Fiona Green, the business was sparked by Kevin De Bruyne’s data-led contract negotiations at Manchester City.

The moment highlighted how few athletes had access to the kind of insight needed to truly understand their market worth and ProDataStack was created to close that gap.

Backed by GM Business Growth Hub’s Innovation Service, the company has developed a centralised platform that brings together six performance, digital and market datasets into a single, accessible dashboard.

The result is a clear, evidence-based view of an athlete’s value, designed for use by players, agents and teams alike.

The platform is already being used by Team Scotland in preparation for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, as well as by agents representing elite athletes including Premier League defender Rúben Dias and Manchester United Women’s Jayde Riviere.

Anthropic is reportedly set to raise about $20 billion amid a surge in investor demand.

The Financial Times reports that the AI startup is looking to double the amount it previously planned to raise to finance expansion plans.

FT sources said Anthropic will raise an initial $10-15bn from investors as early as Tuesday then complete the raise in the coming weeks.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

FitzWalter Capital has made a final offer to buy Auction Technology Group and slammed the company for failing to grant it access to conduct due diligence.

On 16th January 2026, FitzWalter announced that it was considering making an offer at a price of 400 pence in cash per ATG share after its previous 12 bids were rejected.

With a deadline of 5pm on 2nd February for any firm and final offer fast approaching, FitzWalter said the financial terms would not be improved.

“It is uncontroversial to say that a potential buyer who is not able to conduct due diligence will be constrained in their bidding in comparison with a buyer who is,” said Andrew Gray, partner at FitzWalter Capital.

“If FitzWalter are not able to access diligence in relation to ATG, it is shareholders who will ultimately miss out.”

Author: Patrick Killeen

Modern Milkman has secured a £10 million investment from Salica Investments, taking total funding raised by the sustainable grocery delivery business to more than £60m.

The funding will support the continued expansion of the Manchester-based firm’s doorstep delivery model as the business builds out a broader logistics and services platform for households across the UK.

Leveraging its existing delivery infrastructure, the company plans to roll out additional integrated services aimed at making sustainable, low-waste choices easier and more convenient for customers.

The investment marks the first direct-to-consumer deal from Salica’s Growth Debt Fund, with the London-headquartered investor backing the company’s scale-up strategy and long-term focus on sustainability.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

The CEO of Darktrace has stepped down after just 16 months, with reports suggesting that she has been forced out by the cyber giant’s private equity owner.

Jill Popelka, who described herself as a “long-term leader” to The Times recently, has been replaced by chairman Charles Goodman on an interim basis while it searches for a permanent successor.

Popelka joined the company as a non-executive director two years ago and was soon named COO. She then replaced co-founder Baroness Poppy Gustafsson, who served briefly as the Government’s Minister for Investment, as CEO around the time of Darktrace’s £4.3 billion acquisition by Thoma Bravo.

Popelka, who will remain as an adviser until a successor is found, is said to have been instrumental in moving Darktrace into a more professional organisation – such as moving sales from spreadsheets and into the Salesforce CRM.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Shares in boohoo group plc, which now trades as Debenhams Group, have risen by more than 5% to 25p (8:42am) in early trading today after the company upgraded its profit expectations for the current financial year

The AIM-listed ecommerce group said it is trading ahead of expectations and now expects adjusted EBITDA of £50 million for the year to 28th February, up from previous guidance of around £45m issued in November.

It also confirmed that it would be reversing any plans to sell PrettyLittleThing after a huge improvement in the brand.

Aston University has opened a new million-pound AI-powered business hub in Birmingham as part of a major investment in the city’s innovation and enterprise ecosystem, supporting entrepreneurs, startups and scaleups with access to expert support, talent and collaborative workspace.

At the heart of the Aston Business Hub is the AI growth engine, designed to help businesses move beyond ideas to sustainable growth. Those basing themselves in the new hub will be able to benefit from the growth engine which includes structured business diagnostics, expert guidance and hands-on support.

Located on Woodcock Street, the Aston Business Hub offers modern, adaptable workspaces including hot desks, meeting rooms and collaborative spaces.

Companies basing themselves in the new hub will also be able to tap into a pool of industry-ready students and graduates looking for placements, internships and employment opportunities.

More than 330 businesses across Greater Manchester have been supported to grow, innovate and improve productivity thanks to the University of Salford’s Centre for Sustainable Innovation, which is marking two years since its launch.

The Centre for Sustainable Innovation was established to give local businesses access to University expertise, facilities and funding opportunities that are often out of reach for small and medium-sized businesses.

Since opening in 2024, the centre has secured over £2.5 million in external funding to deliver direct support for small and medium-sized businesses, helping them develop new products, test ideas, improve processes and build more sustainable business models.

This support has directly contributed to the development of 30 new innovations, strengthened leadership and management skills and helped businesses progress into long-term growth activities – boosting jobs, skills and investment across the region.

Zeus Sleep has been awarded £1.48 million of funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to run one of the UK’s largest multi-centre clinical trials in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA).

With the trial is being led by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, new research by Zeus has found that over half of adults (56%) reveal snoring either significantly or slightly impacts their life, offering fresh hope to millions suffering from sleep disruption due to chronic snoring.

This comes as the company’s first consumer product, a discreet anti-snoring device, is already available in the UK and helping poor sleepers and their partners.

Data giant Experian and pensions data platform Fincentive have joined together in a strategic partnership to transform the pension payslip and help providers meet regulatory obligations.

The Pensions Regulator’s November 2025 Market Oversight Report revealed that one in four schemes still have non-digitised records and fewer than 60% are confident in their data accuracy.

In addition, Consumer Duty, requires providers to evidence member outcomes, not simply prove communications were sent. Yet with 49% of UK adults showing characteristics of vulnerability, most providers have limited visibility into which members need support, and no systematic way to demonstrate they are fulfilling their obligations.

Fincentive addresses this issue by using the power of data and technology by digitalising the pension payslip and transforming it into a data-driven engagement channel.

The UK’s 10 million pension recipients typically receive just one annual statement, but the platform enables providers to offer up to 12 monthly digital updates, delivering engagement insights, identifying vulnerability risks, and ensuring regulatory compliance.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Evaro, an NHS-licensed digital healthcare platform serving over two million patients, has closed a Series A funding round of around £18 million.

The platform already partners with period-tracking app Clue and sexual wellness retailer Lovehoney, embedding prescription services directly into their customer experiences.

The Norwich-based firm says the round will accelerate Evaro’s healthcare-as-a-service model across three markets: consumer brands seeking new revenue streams, healthcare organisations expanding digital capacity, and employers deploying health benefits.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

LegalTech Summize has completed a £40 million funding and reinvestment round to accelerate global expansion.

The Manchester-headquartered scaleup is an AI-powered contract lifecycle management provider with a growing presence in the United States.

It has offices in Boston and San Diego, and a new headquarters location in Manchester.

Alongside Maven Capital Partners, new investors Kennet Partners and Federated Hermes Private Equity, and existing investor YFM Equity Partners, also participated in the round. 

The transaction has enabled Maven to deliver a profitable partial realisation for its VCT investors of 3.7x the original investment, which includes the value of a retained equity stake.