Weekly Briefing: AI, fintech and biotech drive £340m in UK startup funding (8–12 Dec 2025)
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It's Friday, 12 December, and this is your Startupmag Weekly Briefing.
UK startups raised a combined £340m this week, led by large financings in fintech, healthtech and quantum. The week saw a mix of strategic corporate partnerships, early clinical and deep‑tech grants, and several AI‑driven growth rounds.
AI verticalisation gains momentum
Startups are accelerating the integration of AI into vertical software this week, targeting legal workflows, media production, transport logistics and factory floors. The latest rounds suggest founders are shifting from pilot projects to products built for scale and international roll‑out — a change that matters because these teams are trying to turn specialist workflows into defensible platforms that cut cost and time for complex tasks.
Among the deals, Solve Intelligence raised £35 million to expand its AI platform for patent workflows and to launch a Charts product for claim analysis; the Series B’s lead investor was not disclosed. Runware secured £38 million in a Series A led by Dawn Capital to build a single API for media AI and to develop a Sonic Inference Engine aimed at lowering inference costs and latency. Qargo attracted £24.6 million from Sofina to grow its AI transport management system across Europe and reduce empty running and administrative overheads. Matta closed an £11 million seed round led by Lakestar to deploy camera‑based industrial AI for real‑time quality control on busy factory lines.
Taken together, the rounds show investors favouring verticalisation over horizontal tooling alone. London remains a hotspot for these deals, but the companies are preparing international expansion. Expect further capital to follow teams that combine domain expertise with scalable AI infrastructure.
This week's AI & Automation deals:
Solve Intelligence raised a £35m Series B to broaden its AI platform for patent workflows and launch a new Charts product for claim analysis. The funding will fuel product expansion and new offices as the company scales its IP automation offering globally.
Runware raised £38m in a Series A led by Dawn Capital to build a single API for media AI and its Sonic Inference Engine®. The round will back hardware and software development to cut inference costs and latency for media‑generation at scale.
Qargo raised £24.6m in a Series B led by Sofina to grow its AI transport management system across Europe. The round will fund team expansion, new markets and product development to cut empty running and administrative overheads for transport operators.
Matta raised an £11m seed round led by Lakestar to roll out camera‑based industrial AI for real‑time quality control. The tech aims to detect defects, trace root causes and enable faster corrective action on busy factory lines.
Fintech plumbing attracts strategic capital
Investors are backing tooling that smooths payments, compliance and private markets workflows, with this week’s deals emphasising embedded finance, tax automation and institutional analytics. The pattern points to demand from retailers and institutional clients for cleaner, faster financial plumbing.
CapRelease secured about £26.9 million — a £24.9 million senior debt facility plus equity — to scale logistics‑embedded finance for e‑commerce retailers; lead investor details were not disclosed. Coremont received a £30 million strategic growth investment from funds managed by Blue Owl Capital to accelerate product development, add AI natural‑language interfaces and broaden real‑time multi‑asset analytics. Yonda Tax raised £11.2 million in a round led by Kennet Partners to scale cross‑border VAT and sales tax automation and expand jurisdiction coverage. DataWollet closed a £1 million pre‑seed led by 1818 VC to build an instant gateway for consumer financial data, initially focused on mortgage underwriting; the round also highlights targeted support for female founders via the Angel Academe EIS fund.
Overall, the capital reflects interest from large asset managers and specialist VCs, and banks are deepening ties with platform providers. Several firms are explicitly preparing to expand beyond the UK, signalling a push for international growth.
This week's Fintech & Financial Infrastructure deals:
CapRelease secured £26.9m comprising a £24.9m senior debt facility and equity to scale its logistics‑embedded finance for eCommerce retailers. The funding will support UK expansion and prepare the business for a US launch in 2026.
Coremont received a £30m strategic growth investment from funds managed by Blue Owl Capital. The investment will speed product development, add AI natural‑language interfaces and broaden real‑time multi‑asset analytics for institutional clients.
Yonda Tax raised £11.2m in its first institutional round, led by Kennet Partners, to scale its cross‑border VAT and sales tax automation platform. The funds will expand jurisdiction coverage and support international growth.
DataWollet raised a £1m pre‑seed round led by 1818 VC to build an instant gateway for consumer financial data, with initial focus on mortgage underwriting. The round also highlights targeted support for female founders via the Angel Academe EIS fund.
Biotech and care platforms attract mixed bets
Funding continues across clinical biotech and AI‑enabled care platforms, reflecting appetite for both long‑lead therapeutics and faster commercial care tools. This week’s activity ranges from strategic collaborations with big pharma to seed rounds for early detection and veterinary services, showing investors balance long‑term R&D plays with nearer‑term roll‑outs.
Relation secured about £41.06 million from Novartis as part of a multi‑program strategic collaboration to discover targets for atopic diseases, including upfront funding, equity and R&D support. EpilepsyGTx closed roughly £24.79 million in a Series A to advance EPY201, a locally delivered AAV gene therapy, into first‑in‑human Phase 1/2a trials for focal refractory epilepsy. Hello Vet raised £15 million in a Series A led by Addition to scale transparent veterinary clinics across the UK and to invest in clinic openings, hiring and AI tools that reduce administrative time. Punto Health secured £2 million to scale speech‑based AI for early dementia detection and to expand clinical pilots in the UK and Spain.
Taken together, the rounds indicate continued investor willingness to fund both clinical‑stage assets backed by strategic partners and consumer‑facing care platforms. Expect further interest where AI can demonstrably speed diagnosis or reduce administrative burden in care settings.
This week's Healthtech & Biotech deals:
Relation secured £41.1m from Novartis as part of a multi‑program strategic collaboration to discover targets for atopic diseases. The deal includes upfront funding, equity and R&D support, plus potential milestone and royalty upside if programmes progress to the clinic.
EpilepsyGTx closed a £24.8m Series A to advance EPY201, a locally delivered AAV gene therapy, into first‑in‑human Phase 1/2a trials for focal refractory epilepsy. The capital will support clinical development and further pipeline progress.
Hello Vet closed a £15m Series A led by Addition and Future Positive to scale its transparent veterinary clinics across the UK. The capital will fund clinic openings, hiring and proprietary technology including AI to cut administrative time.
Punto Health raised a £2m seed round to scale its speech‑based AI for early dementia detection and to expand clinical pilots in the UK and Spain. The funds will speed product development and commercial roll‑out of its multilingual care platform.
Practical decarbonisation draws project and engineering bets
Climate tech deals this week cover tidal power, battery materials and circular consumer products. Investors appear to favour projects that combine hardware deployment with manufacturing and retail process improvements, reflecting a practical focus on near‑term decarbonisation opportunities and scalable product models.
Orbital Marine Power raised £7 million from PXN Ventures and existing shareholders to advance commercial tidal‑stream projects and to capitalise on new licences, including awards in Canada. Anaphite secured £1.4 million to adapt a dry roll‑to‑roll coating for LFP and graphite electrodes, aiming to reduce energy use and emissions in EV battery manufacturing. Cycle Exchange closed £2.4 million from Beringea to scale its refurbishment hub and expand the UK footprint for premium pre‑owned bikes. Kodiaq Technologies raised £850,000 from a group of angel investors to progress organic, metal‑free electrolytes for long‑duration flow batteries toward pilot projects.
The mix of project finance and early engineering bets underlines growing investor interest in manufacturing‑adjacent climate tech. Expect more capital for companies that pair pilot customers with clear pathways to scale.
This week's Greentech & Energy deals:
Orbital Marine Power raised £7m from PXN Ventures and existing shareholders to advance commercial tidal‑stream projects. The funds will help scale turbine deployments and capitalise on new licences including recent awards in Canada.
Anaphite secured £1.4m to adapt its dry roll‑to‑roll coating for LFP and graphite electrodes, aiming to cut energy use and emissions in EV battery manufacturing. The funds support process development and validation ahead of OEM partnerships.
Cycle Exchange secured £2.4m from Beringea to scale its refurbishment hub and expand the UK footprint for premium pre‑owned bikes. The capital will boost operations, refurbishment capacity and the firm’s ecommerce platform.
Kodiaq raised £850k from a group of angel investors to advance organic, metal‑free electrolytes for long‑duration flow batteries. The funds will move development towards pilot projects and scale‑up discussions with integrators.
Deep tech needs patient capital; consumer apps chase traction
Quantum and probabilistic computing continue to attract a mixture of grant funding and venture capital, while consumer and HR apps secure smaller, founder‑led rounds aimed at product launches and user growth. The week illustrates how publicly funded support sits alongside private capital for both platform and consumer plays.
Nu Quantum closed an oversubscribed Series A of about £45.08 million led by National Grid Partners to accelerate its Entanglement Fabric roadmap and to expand photonic networking for linking quantum processors. Quantum Dice won a £1.75 million EIC grant to commercialise its ORBIT probabilistic computing platform for optimisation and probabilistic AI. Footium closed a £450,000 angel round led by Dimitar Berbatov to support the hard launch of its multiplayer football‑management game and to scale community seasons. UrFuture received five‑figure angel backing from the Fhunded Angels network to support its Gen Z recruitment app as it prepares a larger round next year.
The combination of large strategic rounds and small, community‑driven raises highlights that deep tech requires patient capital and grant support, while early traction and engaged communities remain the clearest paths to follow‑on funding for consumer and HR platforms.
This week's Deep Tech & Consumer Platforms deals:
Nu Quantum closed an oversubscribed Series A of £45.1m led by National Grid Partners with participation from several specialist investors. The cash will accelerate its Entanglement Fabric roadmap, expand the team and support international growth as it builds photonic networking to link quantum processors.
Quantum Dice won a £1.8m EIC grant to accelerate its ORBIT probabilistic computing platform for optimisation and probabilistic AI. The grant will support commercialisation of its quantum‑enabled probabilistic processor for industrial use cases.
Footium closed a £450k angel round led by Dimitar Berbatov to support the hard launch of its multiplayer football‑management game. The funding will help scale the community and monthly competitive seasons.
UrFuture received angel backing from the Fhunded Angels network to support its Gen Z recruitment app, which is already in heavy use by employers and has tens of thousands of downloads. The syndicate investment was a five‑figure contribution as the startup prepares a larger round next year.
🎧 That's this week's Startupmag Weekly Briefing.
See you next Friday for another look at the UK startup scene.