Digital soccer coaching platform coachbetter has announced the close of its seed funding round, totaling nearly $1M. Investment came from the Swiss Founders Fund, TheVentureCity, and former professional soccer player, Remo Staubli. The capital will go toward developing new features, expanding the coachbetter team, and actioning the company's international strategy.

techspert.io, the AI technology innovator connecting businesses with experts for domain-specific industry insights, has closed a $12 million investment round led by BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor and existing investors Nauta Capital, a Pan-European Venture Capital firm.

Tech Nation, the UK’s leading growth platform for tech scaleups, today announces the 30 companies who have been accepted into Fintech 4.0 - the fourth iteration of Tech Nation’s sector-specific growth programme for fintech entrepreneurs to enable their startups to scale, both at home and abroad.

Investment non-profit NorthInvest has appointed senior business leader, Jordan Dargue, to its Board of Directors. Operating across the investment, finance and business growth landscape, Jordan’s significant entrepreneurial experience combined with her passion for the Northern SME economy will help drive NorthInvest’s strategic direction at a key time for the organisation.

A new University of Birmingham spinout, Salinity Solutions, is partnering with the mineral exploration and mining industry with a compact, energy-efficient desalination system that can concentrate the salts in ground water to extract a mineral rich brine. 

The company will be field-testing the system with eco-technology company Cornish Lithium, which has secured agreements with the owners of mineral rights over a large area of the county of Cornwall. 

BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active investor, has exited its investment in HeleCloud, a leading independent AWS Premier Consulting Partner, following its acquisition by SoftwareONE Holding AG, a global provider of end-to-end software and Cloud technology solutions.

TransferGo, one of the world’s fastest growing money transfer companies, has secured $50m in a Series C funding round.  This latest fundraise, led by Elbrus Capital Fund III and Black River Ventures, follows consistent 80% year-on-year growth for the fintech company since its launch, and brings the total raised to-date for TransferGo to $77m.

Heydoc, an integrated clinical operating system and electronic health record (EHR), has closed a $8.3m Series A round led by Smedvig Capital with existing investors Hambro Perks, Triple Point Ventures and InHealth Ventures also participating. This brings the total amount raised to date by Heydoc to $12m. The new funding will be used for further expansion in the UK healthcare market, where Heydoc is rapidly growing, and to expand its product offering to its existing and new clients. 

A company that restores and resells luxury handbags to clients worldwide has raised £800,000 from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia, and private investors, to support its growth.  The investment will allow Handbag Clinic to create around 20 new jobs at its premises in Burnopfield, Co Durham, further develop its technology and strengthen its senior management team.

Aviva, the UK’s leading insurer, has announced a £10 million investment and a five year extension to its innovation partnership with Founders Factory to support new start-ups in the UK. 

Profian, a Confidential Computing platform focused on bespoke open source solutions, has secured $5 million seed funding. 

The Finance Durham Fund, established by Durham County Council and overseen by Business Durham, the business support service for Durham County Council, has invested £185,000 in Project Control Tools, as part of a £300,000 funding package. The investment through Finance Durham, which is managed by Maven Capital Partners, will provide the business with a relocation package as it expands to open a site in County Durham, as well as allowing the business to invest in its in-house product development to grow its portfolio, and enhance its sales and marketing function.