Blog by Briony Phillips, Investment Activator
Over £34 million was raised by 20 companies in August ranging from Bournemouth to Cheltenham, Exeter to Penryn and many places in between. We even saw a couple of deals in Christchurch which was a new location to this list.
Of those 20 companies, only six have shared the news publicly so far so you’ll find more information about those, and the £24 million they raised in equity funding, below.
Phasecraft
Phasecraft, a spin-out of University College London and the University of Bristol, raised £13 million in Series A funding to develop quantum algorithms for practical real-world applications. An alumnus of the University of Bristol’s Quantum Technologies Innovation Centre, quantum tech start-up Phasecraft is in the race to realise the advantages of quantum.
Already claiming its quantum algorithms are primed for the imperfect quantum computers of today, the UK start-up has bagged itself £13 million in Series A funding to keep its nose out in front while further developing its quantum algorithms ‘to the point of practical quantum advantage – when quantum computers outperform classical computers for useful real-world applications like developing new materials’.
Matter
Exciting news for Matter as the scaleup announces it has successfully secured $10 million in a Series A funding round. The Bristol-based sustainability organisation specialises in pioneering technology solutions for capturing, harvesting, and recycling microplastics. This investment will enable Matter to scale its microplastic filtration technology and accelerate its roadmap of solutions for commercial and industrial applications. The investment stream has star studded connections. It was led by S2G Ventures, the direct investment team for Builders Vision, and SOUNDWaves, the sustainability-focused investment vehicle backed by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary.
Adaptavate
Adaptavate, a Bristol-based world leader in developing and industrialising carbon negative construction materials, has secured a further round of investment of £2 million. The company plans to accelerate its work to develop and industrialise carbon negative construction materials at a global scale, with a key focus on one of the world’s most used construction materials: wallboard – and associated products. This investment round has been led by Counteract, with Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2), Semin, Perivoli Innovations and several other industry experts’ participation.
Oxi-Tech
A syndicate of 14 Henley Business Angels members have made the largest investment of the network to date in Oxi-Tech, a ground-breaking clean-in-place disinfectant technology company, contributing to an overall funding round of £1m. Within the agricultural sector, large, automated, critical systems across the food manufacturing process – from milking machines to animal feed systems – require clean water as an absolute necessity for their operation.
Wake The Tiger
Bristol visitor attraction Wake The Tiger could be set to double in size after it secured a £500,000 investment. The immersive art experience, founded by the organisers of music festival Boomtown Fair, opened on Albert Road in St Philips last summer and has sold more than 190,000 tickets since. Billed as the world’s first ‘Amazement Park’, the exhibition sees guests guided through 30 different spaces which incorporate multi-sensory elements, including colourful and musical installations.
Circular11
Another 12 innovative ClimateTech start-ups have been launched and invested in by the Carbon13 venture builder, bringing Carbon13’s total number of invested ventures to 32 in the last 12 months. Each start-up has received an investment of £120,000 plus in-kind support to fast-track their development into highly scalable net zero ventures.
This article is written as part of the Investment Activator Programme (IAP) in the West of England. This programme is run by techSPARK and is kindly sponsored by TLT LLP, delaware, West of England Combined Authority, UWE, Sanderson, Engine Shed and Rocketmakers.
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