Weekly Briefing: AI, fintech and biotech drive £116.9m in UK startup funding (9–13 Feb 2026)
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It's Friday, 13 February, and this is your Startupmag Weekly Briefing.
A busy week for UK startups saw several large raises across AI, fintech and biotech. In total, companies announced £116.9M in funding between 9–13 Feb 2026.
AI funding backs edge models and generative tools
Startups building core and applied AI—ranging from generative and on-device models to automation for enterprise workflows—continued to attract seed-to-growth capital this week. The rounds underline investor interest across the stack, from infrastructure and model development to productised tools for creative and regulated use cases.
Several notable raises show the variety of bets being placed. Stanhope AI closed a £5.86 million seed to advance brain-inspired, on‑device intelligence for drones, robotics and defence systems and to accelerate field trials and deployments. Mozart AI raised £4.39 million in a seed round led by Balderton to expand its generative audio workstation and prepare a mobile launch for artist-focused tools. Seamflow secured £3.3 million to build AI that speeds testing, inspection and certification workflows, initially for medical-device approvals and enterprise TIC customers. Electric Twin landed £10 million in a seed round led by Atomico to develop synthetic audience models that predict customer responses and support international expansion.
Taken together, the deals suggest investors are backing both low‑level model work and higher‑level productisation for creative and regulatory markets. There is a clear thread for edge and defence‑grade intelligence alongside consumer‑facing generative experiments; which approach ultimately prevails remains to be seen, but VC appetite across the stack is evident.
This week's AI deals:
Stanhope AI closed a £5.9M seed to advance its brain‑inspired, on-device AI for drones, robotics and defence systems. The money will accelerate field trials and commercial deployments of its Real World Model for edge intelligence.
Mozart AI raised £4.4M in a seed round led by Balderton to grow its generative audio workstation and support a mobile launch. The platform aims to put artists in control of AI-assisted music creation and monetisation.
Seamflow raised £3.3M in a seed round to build AI tools that speed testing, inspection and certification workflows, with an initial focus on medical-device approvals. The capital will be used to grow the team and roll out the platform to enterprise TIC customers.
Electric Twin secured a £10M seed round led by Atomico to develop synthetic audience models that predict customer responses. The funding will support global expansion and further development of its prediction engine for market research and marketing teams.
Fintech focuses on savings and treasury infrastructure
Growth capital continued to flow to financial‑software and consumer finance platforms this week, particularly those that link customer‑facing savings tools to live mortgage data or that provide FX and treasury automation for mid‑market corporates. Investors appear to favour propositions that shorten the path to regulated products or simplify cross‑border flows.
Tembo raised £16 million to expand its digital savings and mortgage platform, using the funding to accelerate product development and growth aimed at helping first‑time buyers save and access mortgages more easily. Bracket secured £5 million in a seed round from Macquarie and Blackfinch Ventures to build an AI‑driven treasury and FX platform for mid‑market businesses, backing product build‑out and international expansion.
These rounds underline a pattern: capital is backing platforms that bridge retail needs and financial plumbing, alongside B2B tools that automate treasury and FX for growing companies. Expect investor attention to remain on firms that can integrate with regulated infrastructure and demonstrate clear routes to scale.
This week's Fintech deals:
Tembo raised £16M to expand its digital savings and mortgage platform that links saving products with live mortgage data. The funding will support product development and growth as it helps first-time buyers save and access mortgages more easily.
Bracket secured a £5M seed round from Macquarie and Blackfinch Ventures to build an AI-driven treasury and FX platform for mid-market businesses. The investment will fund product development and international expansion.
Energy and circular tech attract large, capital‑intensive rounds
Companies applying software, AI and chemical processing to energy markets and circular materials attracted significant funding this week, with capital aimed at scaling operations and supporting international expansion. Investors are backing both transaction infrastructure for energy markets and technical processes that reclaim high‑value materials.
tem closed a £55 million Series B led by Lightspeed to scale its AI‑native energy transaction infrastructure, further develop its Rosso transaction engine and accelerate international expansion of its RED neo‑utility. Uplift360 raised £6.43 million to scale a chemical regeneration process for high‑value composite waste used in aerospace and defence, using the funds to commission a pilot processing line and broaden partnerships across Europe.
Taken together, the rounds show appetite for energy‑market infrastructure and for circular‑economy technologies that serve regulated industrial customers. The size of the tem round, in particular, signals that investors will fund capital‑intensive scale when software unlocks new market structures.
This week's Greentech & Energy deals:
tem closed a £55M Series B led by Lightspeed to scale its AI-native energy transaction infrastructure. The funding will accelerate international expansion and further development of its Rosso transaction engine and RED neo-utility.
Uplift360 raised £6.43M to scale its chemical regeneration process for high-value composite waste used in aerospace and defence. The funding will help commission a pilot processing line and expand partnerships across Europe.
AI and sensors push early‑stage healthtech toward customers
Early‑stage companies are deploying AI and sensor technology to speed drug discovery, improve safety assessment and deliver health and wellbeing products for consumers and institutions. This week's rounds ranged from platform investments aimed at pharmaceutical partners to small commercial rollouts of sensor hardware in schools.
Sable Bio raised £2.7 million to scale its AI platform for early drug‑target safety assessment, with the aim of reducing unexpected toxicity and forging partnerships with pharma customers. AMPLY Discovery received a strategic investment from Keeps Biomed to advance its AI‑led oncology target discovery and appointed a new CSO to accelerate scientific and partnering readiness. Vape Guardian raised £350,000 to scale its vape‑detection sensors, already deployed in hundreds of schools, and to support further UK and international roll‑out. MOLO secured £250,000 in pre‑seed funding to develop a family support system designed to reduce parents' mental load and to grow its team.
The mix of strategic investments and smaller rounds highlights varied investor approaches, from targeted corporate partnerships to customer‑driven product scaling. Funders are likely to favour teams that combine scientific credibility with clear routes to regulated customers or large institutional deployments.
This week's Biotech & Healthtech deals:
Sable Bio raised £2.7M to scale its AI platform for early drug target safety assessment and reduce unexpected toxicity in drug discovery. The capital will fund product development and partnerships with pharma customers.
AMPLY Discovery received strategic investment from Keeps Biomed to advance its AI-led oncology target discovery and explore collaboration opportunities. The company also appointed a new CSO to accelerate scientific and partnering readiness.
Vape Guardian raised £350k to scale its vape-detection sensors, which are already deployed in hundreds of schools. The capital will support further UK and international roll-out and expansion into other sector use cases.
MOLO raised £250k in pre-seed funding to develop a family support system designed to reduce parents' mental load. The funds will be used for product development and to grow the team.
Autonomy, satellite data and niche gaming secure early backing
Deep‑tech and specialised consumer startups attracted early‑stage capital and strategic investment this week, with a clear focus on autonomy, satellite data processing and niche gaming. The funding rounds support firms moving from prototype work to operational deployments or platform launches.
Occam raised £2.6 million to roll out software‑only, GPS‑free drone autonomy and to accelerate adoption in Ukraine and with European defence partners, funding integration and operational deployments in challenging field conditions. The Compression Company secured £2.5 million to run selective data compression onboard satellites so more useful Earth‑observation imagery reaches the ground, with funds earmarked for engineering and new commercial deployments. TruePlayers raised £140,000 to continue development of FireHawk FPV, expand the game to additional platforms and pursue simulation and training partnerships.
These deals reflect investor appetite for applied autonomy and space‑enabled data optimisation, while smaller consumer gaming rounds continue to attract support for platform expansion and training tie‑ups. Expect more strategic, procurement‑oriented rounds as defence and satellite customers move from trials into formal buying processes.
This week's Other (Space, Defence, Drones & Gaming) deals:
Occam raised £2.6M to deploy software-only, GPS-free drone autonomy and accelerate adoption in Ukraine and with European defence partners. The funding will speed integration and operational rollouts under challenging field conditions.
The Compression Company raised £2.5M to run selective data compression onboard satellites so more useful Earth‑observation imagery reaches the ground. The funds will expand engineering and support new commercial deployments.
TruePlayers raised £140k to continue development of FireHawk FPV and expand the game to additional platforms. The investment will also support moves into simulation and training partnerships.
🎧 That's this week's Startupmag Weekly Briefing.
See you next Friday for another look at the UK startup scene.