Thirdweb spins £20m Series A fundraise

Tech platform thirdweb, co-founded by Dragons’ Den TV star Steven Bartlett, has closed a $24m (£20m) Series funding round valuing the company at $160m.

Haun Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Shopify and Polygon led the round, which will be used to develop the platform as Web3 becomes more widely adopted. Thirdweb helps the creation of Web3 apps across the most popular blockchains, whether they’re blockchain games, NFT releases or token-gated membership clubs.

Bartlett said: “Web3 is the most important technological shift I’ve witnessed in my lifetime … I don’t think anybody quite realises how much Web3 is going to change the world.”

Invoice finance provider processes £17m

A London-based quick finance provider for SMEs has raised $20m (£16.9m) in debt facility.

Muse Finance supports SMEs with invoice and supply finance solutions. It provides businesses with a 90-day cash flow snapshot, access to finance within 24 hours and an invoice chasing service.

Investment platform raises £4m

Wombat, a London-based investment platform aimed at first-time investors, has raised £4m. Fuel Ventures led the Series A round.

Wombat allows stocks in blue-chip companies from £10. Trading stock revenue has risen from £2.7bn in 2016 to $9.3bn in 2020.

Brand influencer platform raises £2.5m

Brand advocacy platform Duel has secured $3m (£2.5m) in a seed funding round led by SuperSeed.

Duel’s SaaS technology enables consumer brands to grow socially active followers through their own communities of influencers. The platform helps brands to engage and incentivise these individuals to advocate on their behalf. Brands can then track, measure and coordinate their advocates at scale.

Omega-3-producing biotech can scale with £2.3m

A biotech start-up that has produced a solution for producing a sustainable source of omega-3 for animal and human consumption, has raised £2.3m. Ascension led the round.

Omega-3 is currently produced by extracting oil from wild-caught fish. Edinburgh-based MiAlgae has produced a novel biotechnology platform which uses low-value coproducts from the food and drink industry as a feedstock to initially grow microalgae rich in Omega-3 oils.

Home entertainment platform brings home £390,000

Hometainment, a home entertainment platform, has raised £390,000 in a crowdfunding campaign via Crowdcube.

The platform brings hospitality experiences into people’s homes, from Michelin star chefs and international mixologists to Café del Mar DJs, children’s entertainers and tarot card readers. Prices for entertainers start from £250.

More Deals of the Week

Deals of the Week August 15 to August 19 – a Growth Business round-up