Crypto start-up cashes in £57m

London-based cryptocurrency platform Elwood has secured £57m ($70m) in a Series A funding round co-led by Goldman Sachs and Dawn Capital.

Elwood is a trading platform for institutional investors seeking to access digital assets, allowing investors to manage their portfolio and gain access to market data and analytics.

Bike Club pedals away with £16m

Aiming for sustainability within the cycling industry, kids bike subscription service Bike Club has closed £16.75m in Series B funding.

Already the largest bike-subscription scheme in the UK, Bike Club offers families the chance to subscribe to new or refurbished bikes and scooters online and then exchange them as their child grows.

The deal was led by Circularity Capital, along with existing investor Codex Capital.

Contact snaps up £3m to empower creatives

Contact, a platform that enables organisations to book creative talent like models and photographers without going through agents and managers, has raised £3m in seed funding.

Creatives can manage their careers with Contact’s suite of booking, scheduling, payments and communications tools while organisers benefit from a streamlined booking process.

The round was led by Rhino Ventures, with participation from advisor and actress Maisie Williams, Founders Fund, Riverside Ventures and creator-economy angel investors.

Arete sparks up £3m investment into heat specialists

Arete led a £3m funding round into an online retailer specialising in stoves, fireplaces and outdoor living.

The investment will help bring individual brands Direct Stoves; Direct Fireplaces; teak garden furniture business, Cotswold Teak; and specialist wicker basket business, Woven Hill, together to create Direct Home Stores.

£1m planted into biotech spinout

Biotech start-up OGI Bio has secured a £1m investment in a seed round led by TRICAPITAL.

The University of Edinburgh spinout has developed a “low-cost” way grow and manage microbes, like bacteria, algae and yeast, by reproducing the process of manual flask culturing. The start-up says its device also improves processing capabilities, cost-effectiveness and data analytics.

Further investment came from Apollo Informal Investment, Sapphire Capital Partners and Scottish Enterprise, and backing from Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture fund.

Workplace safety platform raises £250,000

Seedrs has invested £250,000 into Spacebands, a start-up aiming to improve workplace safety and wellbeing through its new hazard alert system.

The new wearable and SaaS platform will alert employees of various hazards as it aims to protect businesses from workplace injuries, prevent staff sickness and enable better workplace wellness while collating a paper trail of live safety data points.

More Deals of the Week

Deals of the Week 9 May to 13 May – a Growth Business round-up

Deals of the Week 2 May to 6 May – a Growth Business round-up