UCLTF makes smart £100,000 investment in AI centre

Humanloop, University College London (UCL)’s AI Centre, has attracted a £100,000 investment from UCL’s Technology Fund (UCLTF).

The UCLTF has invested in Humanloop as it strives to improve AI performance with 10 times less human training than other existing systems.

The UCLTF is managed by AlbionVC in collaboration with UCL Business (UCLB), the university’s commercial arm, part of UCL Innovation & Enterprise.

The Albion technology team invests from Seed through to Series B in companies, predominantly in the UK, with a particular focus on B2B software and technology-enabled services.

Investors collaborate to provide app with £4.5m Series A funding

Tandem, a language exchange app, has raised £4.5m in a Series A round of financing.

Brighteye Ventures led the round along with Trind Ventures, Rubylight Limited and GPS Ventures. This latest investment round means Tandem has raised a total of £6.8m.

The funds will help the Berlin-based company accelerate software and product development while supporting a customer base that has doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brighteye Ventures is a European education technology fund that invests at Seed and Series A stages in the tech, education, and media sectors.

ComplyAdvantage spies £38m funding round

ComplyAdvantage, a financial crime detection technology company, has closed a $50m (£38m) Series C funding round led by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, and supported by previous investors Index Ventures and Balderton Capital, bringing total funds raised to $88m.

The investment will go towards rapidly expanding ComplyAdvantage’s AI-driven technology into new markets across the US, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, manages C$207.4bn  (£119.3m) in net assets through its Teachers’ Innovation Platform (TIP) focusing on late-stage venture and growth equity investments in companies using disruptive technology.

Spotta zaps over $1m in seed funding

Smart pest monitoring company Spotta has raised $1.18m (£909,000) in a seed funding round led by Cambridge Angels and REMUS, with Martlet Capital, Wren Capital, and the Angel CoFund co-investing.

REMUS chief executive Krishna K. Gupta, as well as representatives from Cambridge Angels, will join Spotta’s board as part of the deal.

Spotta will use the new funding to add to its workforce, launch new products and enter into new international markets.

REMUS is a US-based venture capital firm that makes early investments in B2B tech companies in large traditional industries.

Withings glides through Series B round with £46m investment

Withings, a healthtech company specialising in communicating patient data to healthcare professionals, has closed a $60m (£46m) Series B funding round co-led by Gilde Healthcare and long-term Withings partners and investors, Idinvest Partners and Bpifrance.

The investment will help scale up the company’s B2B division Withings MED PRO and Withings also plans to add 100 new positions in R&D, sales, and marketing departments in the US and France.

Withings has a newly appointed global medical advisory board, whose members include Craig Lipset, former head of clinical innovation at Pfizer.

Gilde Healthcare is a healthcare investor that operates predominantly in Europe and North America managing over €1.4bn (£1.3bn) in venture capital and later stage private equity.

K3 credits Anson solicitors for smooth acquisition

K3 Capital Group has bought R&D tax credit claims business RANDD UK Limited, for up to £16.8m. Ansons Solicitors advised K3 to make its first acquisition in the company’s 12-year history.

IQONIQ lux toward a successful launch with £90m investment

IQONIQ, a new fan engagement platform targeting the world of sports and entertainment, has closed a €100m (£90m) investment from Lux Media Investments.

The investment will enable IQONIQ, which launches in September 2020, to grow its platform and create new partnerships.

Lux Media Investments is a Luxembourg-based private investment company headed by investment bankers, media entrepreneurs, and retired sports professionals.

Deals of the week July 16-23 – Growth Business roundup