Lingokids talks up £29m Series C round

Lingokids, the early learning platform, has raised $40m (£29m) Series C led by an undisclosed investor with support from London-based VC Ravensburger, among others. The company plans to recruit an additional 60 employees, some of them in Britain. Lingokids, which is an app to help two to eight-year-olds to expand their vocabulary, has raised $65m to date.

OCR Labs identifies £11m in Series A

OCR Labs has raised €12.5m (£10.7m) Series A to launch its digital ID verification solution in the UK. Turkey’s Oyak Group led the investment. The Australian company’s technology allows for any ID document to be scanned and verified using a fully automated and secure solution. Its clients already include recruitment business Reed. The company plans to double its headcount at its international headquarters in London. The ID verification market is expected to be worth $15.8Bn by 2025, according to MarketsandMarkets.

Connection connects £7m to MatOrtho

MatOrtho, the orthopaedic device designer, has raised £6.75m through wealth management company Connection Capital. The Leatherhead, Surrey-based company manufactures knee, hip and finger orthopaedic implants for use in surgery.

Hertility fertilises £4.2m seed round

Hertility Health, the women’s fertility health start-up, has raised £4.2m in a seed funding round led by LocalGlobe alongside Venrex and angel investors including former CEO of Bupa Evelyn Bourke and Matt Robinson, CEO of Nested and the unicorn company GoCardless. Hertility will use the seed funding to provide easy-to-understand fertility diagnostics and at-home testing for women, as well as expand its current clinical trials aiming to reduce diagnosis time for some of the most common conditions. The disruptive impact of Covid-19 has left six out of 10 women feeling anxious about their chances of having a family, while one in seven couples will experience infertility.

Out of this world £3m Series A for Otherworld

Otherworld, the live VR experience, has raised £2.9m Series A with £1.7m of it coming from Edge Investments alongside Imbiba and angel investors, games industry veterans Chris Lee and Rupert Loman. Otherworld’s East London site has had over 50,000 visitors, including Adele, Skepta and Jonathan Ross. By 2023, location-based entertainment will make up around 11 per cent of the VR industry, with the market expected to range from $1.5bn to $3bn globally.

Coupay books £200,000 in pre-seed funding

Coupay, the tech small business payments platform, has raised £200,000 in pre-seed funding from early stage venture capital firm SFC Capital alongside angel investors. The start-up helps small businesses, freelancers and sole traders get paid faster through its smart invoicing and payments platform.

More Deals of the Week

Deals of the week June 7 to June 11 – a GrowthBusiness roundup