Bite-size news in business & technology, from big breaking stories to funding, appointments & deals
Published: October 10, 2025 at 12:00 pm
Serial entrepreneur Gavin Wheeldon has unveiled his target to reach one billion global users.
The CEO of Purple, a global leader in digital connectivity, was part of a stellar line-up of speakers at BusinessCloud’s FUEL Manchester 2025 event on Thursday.
No.1 Circle Square, in Manchester, hosted FUEL, which was sponsored by growing accountancy firm S&W; GM Business Growth Hub; and Bruntwood SciTech.
Wheeldon was joined on the final panel by Steve Oliver, CEO of MusicMagpie, and Hayley Roberts, CEO of Distology.
Explaining his vision, Wheeldon said: “I want to create a single, unified WiFi network all over the world that’s secure, seamless and everywhere. I want billions and billions of users every day on it.”
Purple’s WiFi has already topped 500m users and 80,000 venues, including cities, airports and stadiums like the $5.5bn SoFi Stadium, which has staged the Super Bowl.
The firm recently partnered with Newcastle City Council to deliver an extensive city-wide Wi-Fi network for residents, students and visitors.
Roberts has clocked up more than 10 years at the helm of cybersecurity distributor Distology and explained her mindset for growth: “Just keep going! Just grow and grow and keep expanding your networks and expanding the horizons constantly. Ultimately, we’re aiming for more domination across Europe and growth with people.”
Oliver spoke about the importance of ‘persevilience’, while Jack Maher, head of flexible workspace at Bruntwood SciTech, told the 90-strong audience the property giant had created a cohort specifically for female founders.
The other speakers were Janine Smith, director, GM Business Growth Hub; Lisa Morton, CEO, Roland Dransfield; Gary Fenemore, tax director, S&W; Nicola Weedall, founder & CEO, Hydr; Helen Oldham, co-founder, Lifted Ventures; Billy Gilchrist, business innovation advisor/GenAI expert, Hopwood Hall College; and Chris Hill, CEO, Northcoders.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 11:22 am
Today is World Mental Health Day – and one entrepreneur says supporting vulnerable staff has been key to his success.
“Some of my best employees are neurodiverse. If you support them, they can work wonders,” said Josh Hough, founder and CEO of CareLineLive.
One of them is Jess Davies, 31, a sales development representative who lives with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety. Davies said her mental health condition gives her an edge at work.
“My OCD is a mix of perfectionism, ‘just right’ compulsions and contamination fears,” she said. “But it also makes me incredibly organised. Every piece of intel from a client goes into our CRM. If someone mentions they have a dog or are getting married, I remember. It’s about making people feel seen and that builds trust.”
Published: October 10, 2025 at 11:10 am
ClearBank, an enabler of real-time clearing and embedded banking, has partnered with payroll software platform PayCaptain, powering real-time salary payments for more than 50,000 employees across its network of over 300 corporate clients.
PayCaptain will become ClearBank’s first embedded banking partner in the corporate sector, marking a significant milestone on the bank’s journey to deliver embedded financial services at the point of need across any industry.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 10:50 am
Liverpool-based startup Harker has launched its platform which aims to transform how homelessness charities support vulnerable individuals.
James Barber, a recent University of Liverpool graduate, founded the business with Matt Gaynor and Alfie Jones. They discovered the problem they are now trying to solve whilst consulting for a homelessness charity in the South East of England, where they saw first-hand the challenges bad software was causing them.
They say Harker is the first CRM Case Management system built from the ground up to support homelessness charities, featuring an intuitive data collection system and a powerful reporting engine.
The software aims to empower charities to provide a personalised, data-led approach to solving each person’s homelessness at its root cause, and also help them to effectively demonstrate their social value to funders.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 10:22 am
Sisters Amelia and Lydia Miller secured investment from Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett – and the offer of his London penthouse office suite – for their one-week-old startup ivee.
The tech platform is aimed at getting people back to work and is already valued at £6.5m after signing clients including Red Bull, Deliveroo, TransPennine Express and OVO Energy.
The siblings were given less than 12 hours’ notice before appearing on the show but received offers from four different Dragons after their polished pitch.
They were inspired to set up ivee after seeing how difficult their own mother found it to return to work after taking time out from her career to have children.
More than 70,000 users have joined ivee’s platform since filming for the show took place in July 2024.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 9:32 am
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has accepted paid advisory positions with tech giants Microsoft and Anthropic, just over a year after leaving 10 Downing Street.
The move has been approved by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) – the watchdog overseeing post-government employment – which ruled that Sunak must not lobby ministers or officials on behalf of the companies for two years following his time in office.
Sunak, who remains MP for Richmond and Northallerton, will donate all proceeds from the roles to The Richmond Project – a charity he founded with his wife to boost numeracy across the UK.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 9:12 am
West Midlands-based SecureCloud+ has received a £5 million follow-on investment from Gresham House Ventures to accelerate development of its secure collaboration platform for the UK defence and government sectors.
The Stoke-on-Trent company has tripled its headcount since Gresham House’s first investment in 2018 and will use the new funding to enhance automation and user capabilities.
It has also made leadership changes, with Greg Clarke appointed executive chair and founder Peter Williamson becoming a non-executive director.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 9:08 am
Valereum Plc has announced a £600,000 fundraise through the issue of 12 million new shares at £0.05 each — a 33% premium to the market price.
The raise includes £225,000 investments from both chairman James Bannon and group CEO Gary Cottle, alongside £150,000 from an unconnected party.
The funds will support the scale-up of VLRM Markets, strengthening its regulated footprint, partnerships and GATE Token utility.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 8:00 am
A groundbreaking mental health platform from Psyomics is now available to nearly one in ten Britons to speed up access to mental health care.
beseen, the new platform from Psyomics, has been taken up by five NHS mental health trusts and the UK’s largest private mental health provider the Priory Group, famous for treating celebrities such as Kate Moss and Robbie Williams.
Psyomics is now raising £7.5 million in pre series A funding. The funding round comes on the back of rapid growth since the commercial launch of the platform in 2023 to continue to scale operations to support mental health services worldwide.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 7:49 am
Princes Group has confirmed that it will float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
The £2.1 billion revenue food and drinks firm includes the brands Princes, Napolina, ‘Branston, Batchelors, Flora, Crisp ‘N Dry, Delverde, Naked Noodle and Vier Diamanten.
The Liverpool-headquartered group exports its products to more than 60 countries and has more than 8,000 customers globally across large food retailers, B2B partners and the foodservice industry.
The offer price will be determined by a bookbuilding process. It is currently expected that trading will commence by the end of October.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 9:02 pm
See previous investments made by Meaden throughout her career in the Den here; and made by Bartlett here.
And with that the Symcox boys have arrived to watch Celebrity Traitors.
Send us your thoughts on tonight’s pitchers in the Den using the link at the top!
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:59 pm
“We did come in here with two Dragons in mind… Deborah and Steven.”
They want half of the money from each for 6% combined.
Bartlett is sticking with his original offer. Or £50k for 5%. He’s offering office space in his London HQ.
They do a combined deal.
“They’re a force!” says Jones.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:54 pm
Davies loves it. But she wants 2% for £25,000. “I’m best-placed to help you as an ambassador for Smart Works.”
Meaden offers £75,000 for 5% of the business.
Bartlett offers £75,000 for 7.5% and says his tech background will have the difference for them.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:52 pm
Bartlett is “talking himself out of it” says Wicks. Steven stalls.
Wicks goes for it. He offers £75k for 5% of the business. “You probably don’t want me because I’m a fitness guy!”
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:50 pm
They aim to hit profitability within 4-5 years – Suleyman laughs at that timescale. “Too long… for a minute return,” he says. He’s OUT.
“The issue is scale over valuation,” says Jones. “You’re going to need more like £5-10m to make a success of this.” He’s OUT.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:48 pm
They recently quit their jobs – they have backgrounds in psychology, corporate finance and a health startup – and have now begun trading.
The Dragons are very complimentary of their pitch.
“But you have to chew glass,” says Bartlett.
They have raised at a valuation of £2m. They will raise again next year, maybe £1.5-2m. “You’ll need to raise a lot more than that,” says Bartlett.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:44 pm
The biggest problem women face when returning to work is confidence, they say. “We are not just a jobs board.”
They team up with companies who are signed up to providing the pathway back into careers.
“Music to my ears,” says Meaden.
They are still in the testing phase.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:42 pm
They are asking for £75,000 for 3% to grow their platform and help more women access flexible, meaningful employment.
They use “behavioural nudge theory” to encourage people to return to work on the platform, where returners can find jobs with flexibility and other similar factors.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:40 pm
Sisters Lydia and Amelia from London are last to enter the Den with Ivee Jobs, an app connecting women returning to work with flexible, pre-vetted employers.
Inspired by their mother’s struggle to re-enter the workforce, the pair have built a community-driven marketplace with a back-to-work bootcamp, online courses and upskilling resources.
Is this the one the Dragons will invest in?
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:39 pm
Jones says their business is “asking people to come out and play”.
Wicks loves the outdoors aspect, having run classes in local parks, but he – and all the other dragons – are OUT.
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