Despite the uncertainty and volatility of the financial year to March 2025, Scotland's angel investors maintained their support for Scotland's emerging high-potential SMEs, according to the latest annual data from Angel Capital Scotland.

PlaySafe ID, the platform for gamers that keeps cheaters, hackers, bots, and predators out of games, has raised $1.12M (€1 million) in pre-seed funding to bring trust, fairness, and accountability to gaming communities, without compromising player privacy or freedom.

The round was led by Early Game Ventures, with participation from Hartmann Capital and Overwolf. The raised capital will fuel rapid expansion and strategic platform integrations, as the company gears up for a major go-to-market push and targets 250,000+ users in the coming months.

Emerald, a preventive health platform that combines diagnostics, AI and continuous GP access, has officially launched out of stealth with backing from a number strategic angel investors. The company has raised £625,000 led by Europe's leading founders, operators and professional athletes.

Dorset Business Angels (DBA) hosted a successful pitch event on 22 May with three of the five presenting companies receiving expressions of interest from the 30+ attending angel investors.

Angel Investor Forum has reported an increase of its AIF Seed Fund V to $1.35 million as well as new investments of $125,000 in Reach Neuro and $150,000 in TETmedical. AIF Fund V provides AIF members with access to a carefully curated portfolio of high-potential early-stage companies while adhering to rigorous due diligence and investment analysis processes.

Outmin, an intelligent bookkeeping start-up that automates financial data production and eliminates manual data entry, has raised €4 million led by Praetura Ventures and NPIF II - Praetura Equity Finance, which is managed by Praetura as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. The company also confirmed the appointment of Feargal O'Rourke, current IDA Chairman and former Managing Partner of PwC Ireland, as Chairman of the Board.

Fuel Ventures, one of the UK's most prolific VC firms, is inviting startups to pitch businesses built with an AI co-founder, with up to £250,000 available for investment in the strongest idea.

Oxford University Innovation (OUI) spinout Mode Labs has raised £3 million in seed funding to take chemical sensing out of the lab and into the field - anywhere, anytime. Its platform could radically change how water quality is monitored, delivering lab-grade sensitivity with 1,000 times less reagent, a fraction of the power consumption, and at just 10% of the cost of current technologies.

Lifted Ventures has announced a new partnership with the British Business Bank aimed at transforming the investment landscape for women outside of London, by supporting both women-led startups and the women investors backing them.

This strategic collaboration focuses on increasing the flow of capital to female founders, while simultaneously expanding the pool of women angel investors through targeted education and ecosystem-building initiatives. Through this partnership, Lifted Ventures will deliver a series of initiatives, events, and educational content designed to empower women founders and activate more investors to back them, supported by the British Business Bank.

Despite a complex global landscape, angel investors are planning to invest more in startups in 2025 than last year, with cautious optimism the prevailing mood. This is the key finding from the latest global survey of investors from Angel Investment Network (AIN), the world's largest online angel investment network.

SCI Semiconductor, a UK start-up that aims to win the race to develop the world's first ‘memory safe' computer chip has raised £2.5m in a funding round led by Mercia Ventures.

Persi, the fashion-tech start-up determined to repair what it calls the "broken" state of online personalisation, has closed a £660,000 pre-seed fundraising round that was twice oversubscribed. Institutional B2B Investor Haatch and ESM Investments led the raise, while the final £50,000 was deliberately reserved for female angel investors.