Blog by Briony Phillips, Investment Activator
In September, 16 companies closed equity investment rounds totalling nearly £37.5million. Nine of the 16 companies have announced their investments publicly so read on to find out more about who is winning the hearts, and wallets of the investors this month:
Boundless
Boundless Activated Snacking has secured a six-figure investment to maintain rapid growth at the gut health snacking brand. Ben Jones, co-founder of DTC businesses Graze and Tails, also joined the Boundless board as director and investor following the raise. The £650,000 investment – raised from private firms and angels – will be put towards NPD and growing brand awareness. It is the third round of funding for the business, following a £1m raise in 2020 to expand overseas.
Famli
Bristol-based Family wellbeing app, Famli, has crowdfunded £144,000 to help households improve their health and happiness with fun and engaging activities. Focused on exercise, nutrition, and mental health – the three core pillars of wellbeing – Famli’s 200+ intergenerational activities allow families to build healthier habits into their daily routines.
Ferryx
A biotech company, currently going through the SETsquared Bristol incubation programme, aiming to tackle the lack of satisfactory treatments for gut inflammation has raised £300,000 to get its first production onto the market. University of Bristol spin-out Ferryx is preparing to launch the probiotic as a food supplement while also taking it through a clinical trial in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
FocalPoint Positioning
Listed as a South West company based in Bristol, but reported by the press as being Cambridge, UK-based FocalPoint, a company that develops next-generation navigation and positioning software for smartphones, wearables and autonomous vehicles, announced on Thursday, September 8, that it has raised £23M (approximately €26.48M) in a Series C round of funding.
iKue
Telcos have always had an abundance of potentially valuable customer data at hand but, as many will know from the school of hard knocks, have consistently tried and mostly failed to gather, analyse and exploit it in a way that benefits both the service providers and their customers. The founders of UK-based startup Ikue (pronounced IQ) have experienced the challenges and frustrations associated with turning telco customer data into gold but believe they have found a way to turn an industry Achilles heel into a potentially lucrative strength.
Pentire Drinks
A North Cornish drinks brand has secured a £500,000 investment from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) as part of a wider £3m round. The cash injection will help fund the company’s growth plans, which include creating jobs. Pentire is a direct-to-consumer led business, with its non-alcoholic botanical spirits championed by chefs across Cornwall and the UK including Rick Stein, Nathan Outlaw, Paul Ainsworth and Emily Scott.
Transdermal Diagnostics
A University of Bath spin-out has secured £1.1m to develop technology it believes could “revolutionise” the treatment of diabetes. Transdermal Diagnostics (TD) is working towards commercialising a wearable “smart-patch” which it says could be the first completely needle-free blood sugar monitor.
Unity5
Growth investor Synova is delighted to announce an investment in Unity Five Limited. Unity5 is a leading software provider delivering SaaS solutions through “ZatSuite”, the UK’s leading provider of software to the parking and traffic management sector. The product suite provides a complete turnkey solution for both public bodies and private companies to effectively monitor and manage traffic and mobility services.
WiLD HYDROGEN
In August, SyndicateRoom added four new startups to the Access EIS portfolio, investing alongside super angels in each case.
The remaining £14million raised in September was raised by 7 companies who have chosen not to announce their investment news publicly, for now.
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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