Oxfordshire has set out a 10-year ambition to create 20 unicorn companies, attract more than £1 billion a year in venture and growth investment and create 30,000 net new innovation-linked jobs, as it looks to build greater global scale from one of the world’s most concentrated innovation economies.

The new Equinox 2035 Strategy, launched at the House of Commons yesterday, also sets an ambition to attract investment from 10 Tier 1 US venture capital funds and 10 UK pension funds, establish six global corporates with a permanent Oxfordshire presence and rank the county among the world’s top three innovation-intensive clusters per capita.

Equinox is an Oxfordshire-wide partnership bringing together businesses, universities, investors, government and communities behind a shared direction for the county’s innovation economy. The University of Oxford provides the Equinox secretariat, convening partners, advocating for the region and activating collaboration across the ecosystem.

Hosted by Oxford East MP Anneliese Dodds, the House of Commons event heard from Professor Irene Tracey, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and chair of the Equinox Council; Dr Olga Kozlova, director of innovation and engagement, University of Oxford and CEO of Equinox; and Peter Leek, chief scientific officer at Oxford Quantum Circuits.

Oxfordshire already has around 3,000 high-tech businesses employing some 30,000 people, alongside major science and innovation assets including Harwell and the UK’s first AI Growth Zone at Culham. Companies including Moderna, BMW Group and the Ellison Institute for Technology have invested in the county.

The University of Oxford has supported the creation of more than 350 companies through its innovation partner, Oxford University Innovation, which since 2011 has collectively attracted more than £8 billion in investment. In the first half of 2026 alone, Oxford spinouts raised €908 million, more than Germany’s entire university ecosystem combined (€864 million), and representing 20% of the entirety of investment in spinouts across Europe.

The launch follows new analysis from Public First and the Oxford-Cambridge Supercluster Board highlighting the exceptional research intensity and spinout performance of the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, alongside the opportunity to build greater global scale across capital, commercialisation, talent and infrastructure.

The Equinox strategy sets out what that opportunity could mean for Oxfordshire: connecting its research, businesses, talent, investment and innovation assets more effectively; creating a clearer front door for international investment; helping more companies start, scale and grow; and ensuring that growth creates jobs, skills and opportunities for people across the county.

Digital Catapult has appointed Jonathan Tudor as CEO.

He takes on the role from David Bletso, who has served as interim CEO since April and will resume his role as CFO.

Digital Catapult is a research and technology organisation for frontier digital technologies. It is uniquely positioned as a trusted partner across the UK innovation ecosystem and directly supports the UK Government’s Digital and Technologies Sector Plan.

 

Robert Samuelson, co-founder and COO of Zegona Communications plc, has passed away unexpectedly.

The experienced telecoms and media executive founded Zegona with fellow former Virgin Media colleagues in 2015 after it was acquired by Liberty Global.

Eamonn O’Hare, chairman and CEO of Zegona, paid tribute to Samuelson.

“Robert was my co-founder, a trusted colleague and, above all, a dear friend. I will miss him deeply.”

Manchester SportTech Rezzil has raised $10 million (£7.5m) in strategic growth funding to expand globally.

The round brings together new strategic investors alongside continued backing from existing partners the Premier League and Simba Investments.

New strategic investors include Borussia Dortmund star Jobe Bellingham, brother of Real Madrid’s Jude, and world-renowned putting coach Phil Kenyon.

Jobe’s investment forms part of a broader strategic partnership with the Bellingham family, under which Rezzil will deliver technology supporting future digital initiatives.

They join an existing investor group that includes Thierry Henry, Cesc Fàbregas, Vincent Kompany (through Plankton and Smallfish Ltd), Tyrone Mings, Michail Antonio, Anthony Watson and Marcus Smith, creating a unique mix of corporate and strategic investors backing Rezzil’s global ambitions.

RegTech scale-up CoComply has raised £1.9m to accelerate development of its external workforce compliance platform and drive growth in the UK and internationally.

Unlike traditional compliance tools, CoComply helps mid-market and large organisations uncover and manage their external workforce, including workers hidden within supplier contracts. It identifies how people are engaged, determines which compliance checks are needed and combines technology with expert classification to help organisations reduce risk and engage workers with confidence.

The investment round was led by NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), Haatch, a UK venture capital firm backing ambitious founders with capital and hands-on support to accelerate growth, and management and other investors.

These include Richard Law, former CEO of GBG and an experienced technology investor whose portfolio includes Vypr who becomes chair; Seb Timpson, co-founder of financial data and intelligence business With Intelligence, which was acquired by S&P Global for $1.8bn in November 2025; and Stephen Cann, CEO of Bollin Group, whose brands include Mountain Equipment, Sprayway, Ronhill and Bridgedale.

Plans for a new West Midlands Accelerator Cluster were announced today at the Leadership Breakfast that opened Birmingham Tech Week. 

The initiative will support entrepreneurs and growing businesses in clean energy, advanced manufacturing, future mobility and digital innovation.

Unveiled by Andy Hague, CEO of TechWM, the initiative will connect business growth programs across multiple locations, anchored by a new NatWest Accelerator site at the University of Wolverhampton. It is intended to create the first coordinated cluster of its kind in the region.

Laura Keir, CEO of Speke-based lifestyle nutrition brand Protein Works, has been named Business Woman of the Year at the 2026 Women of the Year Awards.

The award recognise her leadership and entrepreneurial success in building one of the UK’s fastest-growing food and beverage businesses.

Keir was named the overall winner from 16 finalists, following more than 400 nominations, at the annual awards, which celebrate outstanding female achievement and leadership across business and wider society.

A startup whose innovative powder transfer valve solves some of the key challenges facing pharmaceutical and other manufacturers has raised over £2.4m to commercialise its technology.

Medcotec has secured funding from NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), alongside LYVA Labs, the Liverpool City Region Seed Fund which is managed by AXM Venture Capital, and private investors.

The Daresbury-based business is already working with a leading pharmaceutical company as well as other manufacturers that use powder systems. The funding will enable it to carry out further trials and build its team. Its first product, the Helyx valve, is designed to be safer and more cost‑effective than existing powder transfer systems, particularly for shorter production runs.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

ePayments Systems Ltd has entered special administration six years after an anti-money laundering investigation forced it to suspend its services.

In 2020 a review by the Financial Conduct Authority identified weaknesses in the London firm’s AML systems and controls, which led to customers being unable to conduct transactions or access normal electronic wallet services.

At the time, a Financial Times report said the firm counted the adult entertainment, affiliate marketing and crypto industries among its most important clients, and said it was ‘one of the biggest digital payments companies in the UK’ with over a million digital individual accounts and 1,000 business accounts.

A palm-sized device based on a decade of research at the University of Glasgow is aiming to track women’s fluctuating hormone data daily.

Unravel Health, now based in London, has raised £2.5 million to develop the Micro Lab, which is designed to read multiple hormones from a saliva sample at home in minutes. 

The round was led by Conduit EIS Impact Fund and Wrightwood, joined by Leo Capital, Embryo Ventures, Hermesa and returning investor Zinc VC.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is “minded to intervene” in Sky’s takeover of ITV.

Comcast, the American owner of Sky, agreed a £1.6 billion deal in July to acquire the broadcast arm of ITV.

The deal, which includes ITV’s free-to-air channels and on-demand streaming service ITVX, would create the UK’s biggest commercial broadcaster.

However Nandy said she has a number of potential public interest concerns and has written to both companies before she takes a final decision on whether to call in regulators to scrutinise the deal.

Sky and ITV have been given until Tuesday 20th October to respond to her letters.

Connexin has announced a financing package of up to £35 million to support the continued deployment and growth of its smart water meter network across the UK.

The financing brings together Santander UK, PATRIZIA and Connexin in a funding structure designed to support the large-scale rollout of critical smart water infrastructure.

The package comprises a £10 million facility from Santander UK, alongside a £5m revolving trade facility, £10m of financing provided through PATRIZIA-managed funds, and a further £10m accordion facility.

The transaction is believed to be the first financing of its kind for a smart water meter network in the UK.

 

Microbiotica, a clinical-stage biopharma company developing a pipeline of orally-dosed, precision microbiome medicines, has announced the first close of a £36 million Series C financing.

The financing was led by British Business Bank, with participation from Tencent, IP Group, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Flerie Invest, and Seventure Partners. All existing Series B investors participated.

Proceeds will support the advancement of its lead asset MB310 into Phase 2 clinical development in ulcerative colitis, following positive early study results.

 

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Nearhuman, a physical AI startup based at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, has raised £350,000 in pre-seed funding led by SFC Capital. 

Founder Faizan Mir grew up in Kashmir and was building things from an early age. At 14, he built a drone and a working flamethrower, earning national recognition. 

Yet he says his father’s response stayed with him: “How does a flamethrower help people? Build something that makes the world a better place.”

 

Silvia Bio, a University of Sheffield spinout looking to accelerate biomanufacturing, has raised £3 million in seed funding.

More than half of new biological medicines are now considered difficult to manufacture. Many critical therapeutics such as antibodies and gene therapies rely on using living mammalian cells as a factory to produce them. As those molecules become more complex, the cells can struggle to manufacture them consistently, creating low yields, variable quality and costly delays.

For biopharmaceutical companies, each day a medicine is delayed can represent around £500,000 in lost sales, while patients wait longer for potentially important treatments.

Silvia Bio addresses this challenge through an integrated platform that identifies the biological bottlenecks limiting cell performance and develops precision media additives to overcome them.

Northern Gritstone led the round, with additional investment from the Parkwalk Northern Universities Venture Fund, the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (managed by Future Planet Capital), Wren Capital and angel investors.

The British Business Bank has committed £180 million across six venture capital and growth equity funds, creating deeper pools of capital for the UK’s high-potential AI and DeepTech companies. 

From foundational technology to applied solutions, the funds will back the UK’s AI innovators across all stages, from inception and early-stage funding through to Series B and beyond.

Alongside its investment through funds, the Bank is backing UK AI companies directly. It recently made a £10m investment in Salience Labs, an Oxford spinout building optical switching technology that removes a key bottleneck in AI networking. 

That followed direct investments in Wayve, Kraken Technologies, PhysicsX, PolyAI and Ineffable Intelligence.

 

Deloitte has officially opened the doors to its new Birmingham office in One Centenary Way, strengthening the firm’s long-standing commitment to the Midlands.

Deloitte will occupy two floors in One Centenary Way, one of the city’s largest contemporary buildings, spanning a total of 46,000 sq. ft.

Located in the Paradise development in the heart of Birmingham, the firm’s new Midlands headquarters will serve more than 1,000 people across the region.

A UK startup whose innovative powder transfer valve solves some of the key challenges facing pharmaceutical and other manufacturers has raised over £2.4m to commercialise its technology.

Medcotec has secured funding from NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by Mercia Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II), alongside LYVA Labs, the Liverpool City Region Seed Fund which is managed by AXM Venture Capital, and private investors.

The Daresbury-based business is already working with a leading pharmaceutical company as well as other manufacturers that use powder systems. The funding will enable it to carry out further trials and build its team.

Its first product, the Helyx valve, is designed to be safer and more cost‑effective than existing powder transfer systems, particularly for shorter production runs.

Maven Capital Partners has opened a new office in central Leeds and appointed Greg Allsopp as investment director to lead its investment activity across Yorkshire.

The move follows £4.3 million of investment in Leeds-based businesses Xentra and eviFile over the past 12 months.

Allsopp joins from Venturian Funding & Investment Group, bringing more than a decade of investment experience, and will lead deal origination and execution across the region.

Manchester-based InsurTech startup Fruga has raised £1m to scale its open banking technology and help customers reduce the cost of their annual insurance renewals.

Fruga allows customers to link their bank, credit or debit card to their insurance policy using open banking. When an insurer’s customer spends with selected partners across travel, supermarkets and high street brands, they earn ‘insurance credits’, which build up over time, giving them a discount on renewal – often in excess of £150 – and value throughout the policy lifecycle.

One business already partnering with Fruga is Money Expert, which uses Fruga’s technology to let its customers earn insurance credits every time they spend with partner brands, building a pot of money to cut insurance costs, which remain one of the largest household expenses.

Insurance providers can also embed the technology under their own brand to gather data and build a year-round relationship with their customers.

Fruga has been bootstrapped to date but is now scaling its ambitions after raising money from NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, which is managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II). Investment has also come from Haatch.