APLYiD checks out for Octopus Ventures

Octopus Ventures has invested NZ$7m (£3.6m) in New Zealand-based APLYiD to develop its digital onboarding solution for businesses. APLYiD is opening its first office outside of New Zealand in London. Verifying somebody’s identity is becoming increasingly important, whether it’s recruiting staff or dealing with customers, as anti-money laundering checks become every more stringent. APLYiD offers smaller businesses an off-the-shelf compliance solution.

Underwear brand JustWears pulls on £2.6m seed round

Men’s underwear brand JustWears has raised £2.6m in seed funding from UK and US investors including Pembroke VCT, US beauty tech seed fund Ignite XL, Sunshine Ventures and angel investors including Pasta Evangelists co-founder James McArthur. JustWears creates its men’s underwear lines using sustainable materials such as tree fibres, along with innovative product design.

Basket shopping app rings up £2m investment

Dragons’ Den winner Lex Deak has raised £2m for shopping app Basket from venture capital firm Lightbank and private investors including Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts and Darren Westlake from Crowdcube. Basket, which will launch in January, allows shoppers to create a wishlist of purchases from all over the internet, be notified of price drops, and earn commission by sharing their baskets with social media followers. Deak believes this more targeted approach will mean consumers are more likely to go ahead with their purchases. In turn, this will benefit retailers, who can face shopping basket abandonment rates of up to 75 per cent.

More Deals of the Week

Deals of the week October 18 to October 22 – a GrowthBusiness roundup