London startup, Koalaa, whose world-first soft prosthetic arms are aiding independence for individuals with limb differences around the world, has closed a funding round of $1.2 million led by British Design Fund.

Circadian Lighting Limited, trading as Circadacare, has raised £1.3 million led by the North East Innovation Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Northstar Ventures, alongside angels, with additional grants of £358,000 provided by Innovate UK through the Healthy Ageing Innovate UK (HAIA) grant and £80,000 Longitude Prize on Dementia for its ground-breaking technology.

Northstar Ventures has appointed a new board member, Judith Hartley, former CEO of British Business Investments.

Yurtle, a London-based insurtech helping workplaces combat caregiver burnout, has closed a seed funding round of £1.37m co-led by Insurtech Gateway and Mustard Seed Maze, to grow its team and roll out the world’s first digital care ally.  Yurtle envisages a world where everyone has the choice to live independently as they age. To do so, we must empower informal social care networks to deliver care support in a sustainable and effective manner.

Validient , a Newport-based tech business that is helping the professional services sector to keep up with increasing regulatory compliance, has secured a second investment of £200,000 from the Development Bank of Wales and £100,000 from Wesley Clover.

Graide, a University of Birmingham spinout whose assistive AI-based platform helps teachers mark student homework, has raised £1.65m to expand in the UK and target new markets in the US and Canada.  The funding has come from XTX Ventures alongside existing investors Mercia Ventures, the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), SFC Capital and private investors.

HACE: Data Changing Child Labour, has raised £450,000 in its pre-seed funding round, beating its initial target by 20%. The funding was led by Manchester Angels and includes co-investments from GC Angels, Ada Ventures, Found Capital and individual angel investors.

Sonichem, an East Midlands-based startup that converts low-value forestry by-products into high-value, renewable biochemicals, has secured £1.2 million in Pre-Series A funding including a follow-on investment by ACF Investors. The investment will be used to further develop its technology and finalise plans for a biorefinery plant — the first of its kind.

TSL Professional Products, a broadcast & media technology company, is seeking funding of £1.25m to scale up the business. Check out their investment advert on our Funding Pages website for more information about the company and how you can invest.

Newly launched angel network, Lifted Ventures, is on a mission to drive change in the female founder space.

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has released a comprehensive report on the ownership of investment companies.

OX Delivers, UK-based emobility start-up, has received a £1.2 million funding grant from Energy Catalyst as the company readies its next-generation affordable all-electric OX4 truck for production.