Draper Esprit flows £15m into Riverlane

Riverlane, the quantum software company, has raised $20m (£14.6m) in Series A funding to build its Deltaflow operating system for quantum computers. Over the past year, Riverlane has signed up 20 per cent of the world’s quantum hardware manufacturers to use Deltaflow. It will use the funding to expand internationally to the US, Europe and beyond.

The round was led by tech venture capital fund Draper Esprit and supported by existing investors, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners and the University of Cambridge.

This new funding follows a £3.25m seed round completed in June 2019.

Ecclesiastical blesses TapSimple

Ecclesiastical, the ethical financial services company, has invested alongside Lord Michael Spencer, Lord Mervyn Davies and Sir Martyn Lewis lifting charity tech start-up TapSimple to a £2m investment total. TapSimple has signed 80 new clients since September, working with major UK charities including Macmillan, the NSPCC, Children with Cancer UK and Christian Aid.

Investors sign £1.2m cheque for Manus

Edinburgh medtech company Manus has closed a £1.2m funding round for the launch of its digital pen that provides early warning of Parkinson’s disease. Manus will roll out its NeuroMotor Pen later this year, initially focusing on the UK and Benelux, while hoping to secure regulatory approval for the US. Around 145,000 people live with Parkinson’s in the UK and it’s the fastest-growing neurological condition in the world. Investors include the North East Innovation Fund, social investor SIS Ventures and the Edinburgh University venture fund Old College Capital. To date, Manus has raised £5m to develop the NeuroMotor Pen over the past 10 years.

>See also: Deals of the Week, January 8 to 15 – Growth Business roundup

Sano Genetics raises £2.5m for Long Covid research

Sano Genetics, the remote-access clinical trial start-up, has raised £2.5m in Seed funding partly to accelerate research into the effects of Long Covid. Episode 1 Ventures led the funding round alongside Seedcamp, Cambridge Enterprise, January Ventures and several angel investors. This Seed round will fund free at-home DNA testing kits for 3,000 people affected by Long Covid. Half of clinical trials are delayed because they can’t find enough participants and 85 per cent fail because participants drop out.

VGC Partners pours £3.8m into Sproud

VGC Partners has invested £4.8m in plant-based milk brand Sproud, which uses split peas to create a cow’s milk-like vegan substitute. Sproud launched in Sweden in 2018 and has expanded to 15 markets within two years. London-based VGC Partners is an investor specialising in innovative early stage consumer, media and tech companies.

Adit schools Esme with $7.5m Series A round

Adit Ventures led a $7.5m Series A funding round for Esme Learning Solutions, the digital learning platform founded only one year ago. Esme currently works with Oxford university and is soon to add US college MIT to its list.

Further reading

Deals of the Week, January 18 to 22 – Growth Business roundup