Customer engagement platform cashes in £93m

Manchester-based Connex One has raised £93m in Series C funding. London-based GP Bullhound made an undisclosed investment into the round.

Connex One’s customer engagement platform allows businesses to call customers, create online forms, view reports and organise shift schedules. It also incorporates AI to divert customers to the most relevant person in a business.

Children’s money app banks nearly £50m

A money app for children and teenagers has raised $55m (£49.4m) in Series B funding. Existing backers Edison Partners and Ravaia were joined by new investor Nexi in the round.

GoHenry, named after the app’s first child customer, teaches under-18s financial independence with pre-paid debit cards and a money management and education app. Parents get a “companion” app for setting goals and to track spending.

Threat modelling platform spots £25.8m

IriusRisk, a cyber-attack threat modelling platform, has secured £25.8m in Series B funding. Cyber and deep tech investor Paladin Capital Group led the round with participation from existing investors SwanLaab Venture Factory, BrightPixel Capital, 360 Capital and Inveready.

Threat modelling means identifying and managing security threats, in particular addressing application design flaws at the start of a project. IriusRisk helps developers, architects and security engineers find flaws and fixes in their software and advises where to invest in security.

Zen Educate gets a £19.3m gold star

Zen Educate, a platform which connects schools with temporary and full-time teachers and teaching assistants, has secured £19.3m in Series A funding. Brighteye Ventures and Adjuvo co-led the round alongside participation from Ascension Ventures, several private investors and family offices.

The platform gives schools and teachers an alternative to recruitment agencies. It provides teachers with all the information they need to work at each location and the software to perform an extensive series of checks during the teacher sign-up process for recruiters.

Construction procurement start-up raises £15m

Digital procurement start-up, YardLink, has secured $17.5m (£15.7m) in a Series A funding round to digitise the construction industry. Beringea led the round with participation from Amplifier, and existing investors Speedinvest and FJ Labs.

YardLink’s construction procurement solution allows contractors to gain instant access to over 500 vetted suppliers of tools, equipment, bulk materials, fuel and waste management. These suppliers can then be booked and paid for directly through the platform.

Student finance platform granted £2.5m

Edtech Blackbullion has raised £2.5m to help university students get a better hold on their money. Calyx Venture Fund led the round with participation from existing investors Lord Stanley Fink and MPA Education.

Blackbullion partners with universities to provide students with financial skills training and resources they can benefit from, such as grants, scholarships and bursaries.

Psychedelic start-up high on £2.1m seed funding

Clerkenwell Health, a psychedelic-specialist clinical research organisation, has raised £2.1m in seed funding. Lionheart Ventures, Convergence Partners and Exceptional Ventures are among its backers.

Clerkenwell Health’s clinical trial will use psilocybin-assisted therapy to support terminal cancer patients through their end-of-life care. The start-up is working with a range of developers and trialling drugs in combination with talking therapy.

Side hustle website builder pockets £1.3m

A start-up helping side-hustlers to establish an online brand via easy-to-build and multi-functional websites has raised $1.5m (£1.3m) in pre-seed funding. Notion Capital and Credo Ventures led the round.

Munch gives its users the ability to create personalised websites using a drag and drop editor. These websites, the company says, are easy to create, monetise and maintain. Munch is free to use and makes money when its users do.

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Deals of the Week October 3 to October 7 – a Growth Business round-up

Deals of the Week Sept 26 to Sept 30 – a Growth Business round-up