Weekly Briefing: AI, fintech and biotech drive £417M in UK startup funding (17–21 Nov 2025)
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It's Friday, 21 November, and this is your Startupmag Weekly Briefing.
This week saw major rounds across fintech, biotech and AI as UK startups attracted significant capital to scale products and clinical programs. Highlights include a £130m PropCo for rent-to-own homes, a large Series D for oncology drug developer Artios, and multiple AI rounds supporting industrial and field-work automation.
AI moves into frontline and industrial workflows
This week’s AI coverage centres on startups building agentic, AI-native platforms for frontline and industrial users. Investors are prioritising scalable, productivity-led tools that promise to reduce site visits, speed operations and embed simulation into engineering workflows — a shift from general-purpose models towards domain-specific systems that deliver measurable efficiencies.
Several rounds illustrate that shift. Vyntelligence, trading as Vyn, raised about £23 million in a Series B co-led by Blume Equity and Morgan Stanley’s 1GT to accelerate US expansion and enhance its agentic video AI for frontline work. PhysicsX added roughly £15.21 million in a Series B extension with new backing from NVentures to develop an AI-native physics simulation platform and deepen ties with the NVIDIA Industrial AI Cloud. Valliance launched with £11 million from Siguler Guff to scale a value-based AI consultancy that charges on outcomes and delivers enterprise projects focused on measurable impact.
Taken together, the rounds underline a regional trend towards funding AI that integrates directly with operational workflows rather than standalone research. The next moves to watch are follow-on capital and sector partnerships as these companies expand into the US and broader industrial markets.
This week's AI deals:
Vyntelligence (Vyn) raised about £23m in Series B funding co‑led by Blume Equity and Morgan Stanley’s 1GT to accelerate US expansion and enhance its agentic video AI for frontline work. The funding will support product development that reduces site visits and speeds field operations for utilities and telecoms.
PhysicsX announced a Series B extension with new backing from NVentures, adding about £15.2m to support its AI‑native physics simulation platform. The funds will help deliver industrial AI tooling for engineering and manufacturing customers and deepen partnerships such as the NVIDIA Industrial AI Cloud collaboration.
Valliance launched with £11m from Siguler Guff to build a value‑based AI consultancy that charges based on outcomes rather than hours. The firm will use the capital to scale its team and deliver enterprise AI projects focused on measurable business impact.
Fintech targets embedded finance and automation
Funding activity in fintech this week highlights embedded finance and automation for payments and compliance. Investors are backing products that stitch lending into payments, automate KYB and address consumer finance pain points, reflecting incumbents’ drive to cut manual processes and reach underserved customers through platform integrations.
The week’s deals span scale and seed plays. SAPI raised about £60.85 million in mixed debt and equity, led by Hudson Cove, to scale repayment-at-source, payment-linked financing for small businesses and embed lending into payment platforms. Condukt secured £7.5 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed and MMC Ventures to commercialise an agentic, real-time KYB platform that automates continuous business checks. Sencillo closed a £350,000 pre-seed led by Fuel Ventures to build a finance and planning platform for families ahead of a planned 2026 launch, while Zuto announced a majority investment from Bridgepoint to accelerate its car finance platform, with terms undisclosed.
Collectively, these rounds point to investor interest across the spectrum, from large capital for embedded lending to seed bets on automation and consumer finance. The key question is which firms move fastest to integrate with payment rails and major banking partners.
This week's Fintech deals:
SAPI raised around £60.9m in a mix of debt and equity, led by Hudson Cove, to scale its repayment‑at‑source payment‑linked financing for small businesses. The capital will back international growth and the embedding of lending into payment platforms to reach underserved merchants.
Condukt raised £7.5m in seed funding led by Lightspeed and MMC Ventures to commercialise an agentic, real‑time KYB platform for fintechs. The product aims to automate continuous business checks and reduce manual compliance costs for payments and banking customers.
Sencillo raised a £350k pre‑seed led by Fuel Ventures to build a finance and planning platform for families facing rising education costs. The capital will be used to develop product features and prepare for a planned 2026 launch.
Zuto announced a majority investment from Bridgepoint as part of a growth partnership to accelerate its car finance platform, with financial terms undisclosed. The deal will support product development and expanded market share in the UK car finance market.
Biotech & healthtech: therapeutics and enabling platforms
Clinical-stage drug developers and health device startups continue to attract sizeable and targeted capital. This week’s activity ranges from late-stage oncology programmes to diagnostics, process modelling tools and women’s health devices, showing that investors remain willing to back both therapeutics and the platforms that speed development and manufacturing.
Notable rounds include Artios, which closed the GBP equivalent of about £87.39 million in an oversubscribed Series D led by SV Health with participation from RA Capital to advance DDR-targeting drugs including alnodesertib and ART6043 and expand Phase 2 programmes. Biocentis raised about £14.45 million to develop programmable biology solutions for controlling disease-carrying and invasive insects, supported by a Wellcome award for field trials and AI-driven digital twin work. PolyModels Hub secured £7 million in a Series A led by Molten Ventures to expand its ModelFlow platform for biopharma process development, and Emm raised £6.8 million in seed funding led by Lunar Ventures to bring a smart menstrual cup and connected app to market while supporting clinical development for objective flow metrics.
The mix of deals suggests a balanced appetite for both higher-risk drug programmes and nearer-term product plays that improve R&D and manufacturing. Regional centres from Cambridge to Bristol continue to anchor these transactions, with investors focused on measurable clinical or process improvements.
This week's Biotech & Healthtech deals:
Artios closed an oversubscribed Series D raising the GBP equivalent of about £87.4m to accelerate clinical development of DDR-targeting drugs including alnodesertib and ART6043. The financing, led by SV Health with RA Capital and others, will expand Phase 2 programmes in high‑need cancers and support a randomized study for ART6043.
Biocentis raised about £14.5m to develop programmable biology solutions that reduce populations of disease‑carrying and invasive insects. The round includes seed equity and a Wellcome award and will fund field trials and AI‑driven digital twin work to accelerate safe, species‑specific control programmes.
PolyModels Hub raised £7m in a Series A led by Molten Ventures to expand its ModelFlow platform for biopharma process development. The funds will accelerate product development and help pharmaceutical customers reduce experimental burden and speed manufacturing workflows.
Emm raised £6.8m in seed funding led by Lunar Ventures to bring a smart menstrual cup and connected app to market. The capital will support product launch and clinical development to provide objective menstrual flow metrics and personalised health insights.
Greentech and agtech: early bets on materials, sensors and supply chains
Early-stage climate and sustainability startups are attracting catalytic pre-seed capital this week. Investors are backing projects that cut energy use, replace plastics in hygiene products and improve livestock data and supply chains; these small but focused raises are intended to fund proof points and commercial trials.
Cosysense raised £1.5 million in a pre-seed round led by Bethnal Green Ventures to scale sensor-driven solutions that reduce energy use in commercial buildings and to expand R&D and commercial trials for smarter building controls. Planet Smart secured £75,000 in pre-seed funding to develop a biodegradable superabsorbent polymer aimed at replacing plastics in nappies and pads and to accelerate lab R&D and trials with hygiene manufacturers. farmdrive closed a £1 million pre-seed led by TechStart Ventures and Ascension to scale its livestock data and supply-chain platform across the UK and Europe and to support product development and hires as the app grows its user base.
The pattern shows investors placing early bets on hardware and materials science alongside data platforms that improve agricultural supply chains. Capital is being used to de-risk technology through trials and regulatory steps that can unlock larger commercial deployments.
This week's Greentech & Agtech deals:
Cosysense raised £1.5m in a pre‑seed round led by Bethnal Green Ventures to scale sensor‑driven solutions that cut energy use in commercial buildings. The investment will expand R&D and commercial trials for smarter building controls.
Planet Smart raised £75k in pre‑seed funding to develop a biodegradable superabsorbent polymer aimed at replacing plastics in nappies and pads. The money will accelerate lab R&D and commercial trials with hygiene manufacturers.
farmdrive closed a £1m pre‑seed led by TechStart Ventures and Ascension to scale its livestock data and supply‑chain platform across the UK and Europe. The funds will support product development and team hires as the app expands its farm and processor user base.
Proptech, mobility, security and blockchain: active, diverse deals
This week’s miscellaneous rounds span proptech, cyber security, mobility and blockchain, underscoring breadth beyond the core verticals. Investors are supporting large asset-backed facilities, scale capital for fraud prevention, operational upgrades in mobility and community-led token models — a reminder that sector-specific capital remains active across the ecosystem.
Keyzy secured a £130 million PropCo facility from Crayon Partners to acquire more than 250 homes across Greater London and to scale its rent-to-own model while funding coaching and credit-building services. TMT ID landed £30 million from BGF to accelerate international expansion and product development for its mobile identity and fraud-prevention services. 1ST Airport Taxis raised £2.5 million to build real-time flight integration and predictive dispatch tools aimed at reducing delays and congestion around major UK airports. BOB completed a community token sale that brings its total funding above £18 million as it moves towards a token generation event and greater community ownership.
Collectively, these rounds point to investor appetite for both asset-backed and tech-first models and a willingness to fund operational upgrades that promise immediate improvements. Watch for partnerships between property capital and service operators, and for cyber firms to convert scale capital into new markets.
This week's Other (Proptech, Mobility, Security, Blockchain) deals:
Keyzy has secured a £130m PropCo facility from Crayon Partners to acquire more than 250 homes across Greater London and scale its rent‑to‑own model. The capital will fund property purchases and support the firm’s coaching and credit‑building services that help renters convert payments into deposits.
TMT ID secured a £30m investment from BGF to accelerate international expansion and product development for its mobile identity and fraud‑prevention services. The capital will help scale the company’s real‑time verification network used by hundreds of organisations to tackle fraud and meet regulatory requirements.
1ST Airport Taxis secured £2.5m to build real‑time flight integration and predictive dispatch tools aimed at reducing delays and congestion around major UK airports. The funding will help modernise operations as passenger volumes recover post‑pandemic.
BOB completed a community token sale that brings its total funding above £18m as it moves towards a token generation event and greater community ownership. The sale allocated $BOB tokens to thousands of participants and supports the protocol roadmap for Bitcoin DeFi infrastructure.
🎧 That's this week's Startupmag Weekly Briefing.
See you next Friday for another look at the UK startup scene.