Manchester graphene spin-out Concretene raises £4.5m in Series A
The Concretene Series A first close brings in £4.5m for the Manchester spin-out to move its graphene concrete admixture into multi-tonne production.
Wednesday 28 October 2026
The Concretene Series A first close brings in £4.5m for the Manchester spin-out to move its graphene concrete admixture into multi-tonne production.
The $15m Firstwork Series A, led by Earlybird VC, will fund AI agents that clear frontline workers for their first shift across the US and Europe.
The CHAOS app, a London music collaboration platform, has raised £1m in a pre-seed round led by Bridford Group, with distributor Amuse also investing.
Eindhoven start-up Photon Bridge has raised €10m to develop laser sources for AI data centres, with first samples due in 2027 and volume output from 2028.
Starling founder Anne Boden has sold her remaining 2.7 per cent stake in the bank at a £1.7bn valuation, as she starts a new AI venture.
British companies are set to win more than £330m of contracts on nine infrastructure projects in Guinea and Benin, backed by £1.1bn from UK Export Finance.
British Business Bank data shows Start Up Loans have helped create or support more than 249,000 UK jobs, with 140,000 loans worth over £1.4bn issued.
Oxfordshire's Equinox 2035 strategy targets 20 unicorns, more than £1bn a year in venture investment and 30,000 new innovation jobs within a decade.
Nuveen Private Capital, comprising Churchill and Arcmont, says committed capital has passed $100bn, up more than 50 per cent since its creation in 2023.
Reports of Bumble takeover talks valuing the dating app at $1bn sent its shares up almost 50 per cent, with a deal with Ithaca possible this…
San Francisco AI commerce platform Loops has raised $3.5m in seed funding to scale its search, shopping assistant and virtual try-on tools for retailers.
Invest NI will host British companies in London on 15 October after reporting that Northern Ireland investment secured with its support rose to £764m.
Tesco is among the bidders considering a Majestic Wine takeover after private equity owner Fortress put the UK's largest wine retailer up for sale.
