Veenoo Sharma’s SHE Leads with AI, a fully funded female founder accelerator for 30 women, will start at Dubai’s DIFC Innovation Hub on 16 November.
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Deepmirror wins Sovereign AI grant for £1m molecule data project
AI drug design startup deepmirror has been awarded a Sovereign AI grant by Innovate UK to fund a £1m project expanding its molecular property dataset.
McLaren set to be planning £450m Woking investment and 1,000 jobs
A reported £450m McLaren investment at the supercar maker’s Woking factory would create up to 1,000 jobs, with a formal announcement expected next week.
British Business Bank launches £210m South East Investment Fund
The British Business Bank’s £210m South East Investment Fund, launched on 9 September, offers loans and equity to smaller firms from Kent to Oxfordshire.
Mistral AI raises €3bn in Europe’s largest venture funding round
The Mistral AI funding round of €3bn, the largest venture raise in Europe, values the Paris-based open-weight AI model developer at more than €21bn.
Kendall Jenner buys stake in London drinks brand Trip
Kendall Jenner Trip deal: the model takes a minority stake in the London CBD drinks brand and will front a global campaign as revenues head for $200m.
UKEF backs £655m of Angola projects, unlocking £167m for UK firms
UK Export Finance is providing £655m for four Angola infrastructure projects, including a new international airport, unlocking £167m for UK suppliers.
Molten Ventures raises £175m growth fund for UK tech scale-ups
Molten Ventures growth fund raises £175m, with a £75m British Business Bank cornerstone, to back high-growth UK and European tech firms in AI and space.
Rydoo puts expense management inside Claude and ChatGPT with MCP launch
Expense management provider Rydoo has launched the Rydoo MCP, a governed connector that lets its customers check, approve and question employee expenses from inside Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools they already use, rather than logging into another piece of software.
Cambridge spinout Flower Labs launches Endeavor AI model to rival OpenAI and Anthropic
Flower Labs Endeavor, a frontier AI model from the Cambridge University spinout, is claimed to complete tasks at a similar level to OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol and Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5, and can be deployed on an organisation’s own IT systems rather than accessed through a US provider’s interface.
Soul Padel raises £3.6m at £30m valuation to grow from four clubs to ten
Soul Padel raises £3.6 million from three family offices at a £30 million valuation, with six new clubs already through planning and the operator saying its schools, women’s and over-50s programmes and a 12,000-member loyalty platform give it the foundations to scale.
Government opens £100m Sovereign AI competition to buy from British start-ups
The first competitions under the £100 million Sovereign AI procurement scheme invite British AI companies to build solutions for the NHS, defence, compute and cyber security, with upfront payments on offer and winners keeping their intellectual property.
Octopus Energy buys Danish startup BD Energy to bolster automated power trading
The Octopus Energy acquisition of Danish startup BD Energy hands its power trading arm a 31-strong team whose algorithms execute around 99 per cent of trades across 15 countries.
Scan.com raises $220m to fund US push ahead of flotation talks
A $220 million Scan.com funding round backed by Aviva will bankroll a bigger push into the American market, as Britain’s largest private medical imaging company prepares to meet London Stock Exchange officials this week over a potential flotation.
Applied Nutrition closes in on £1bn valuation after raising guidance for third time this year
Applied Nutrition, the sports supplement maker founded by former Liverpool scaffolder Tom Ryder, has upgraded its sales and profit guidance for the third time this year, with revenue expected to jump 50 per cent to £160 million and the group closing in on a £1 billion stock market valuation.
