Will Donnelly

trumpet 🎺, the platform putting buyers at the heart of the sales journey, has secured $6.35 million in seed funding, led by us at AlbionVC, with participation from existing investors such as Lightbird Ventures, Anamcara Capital, and Triple Point Ventures to fuel its expansion in the US market and the development of AI-driven revenue intelligence tools. Trumpet's innovative approach centralises the entire sales process into collaborative digital sales rooms called 'Pods,' which replace outdated tools like emails and PDFs. This allows sales teams to create personalised microsites for each prospect, streamlining sales, increasing conversion rates, and shortening deal cycles. “Rory, Nick and Andrew have built one of the most exciting B2B platforms we have seen recently. Trumpet is elegantly designed and extremely easy to use and it’s already proving its effectiveness with global teams. There is so much potential for Pods to not only own the conversations between buyers and sellers but also other areas of B2B communications and I’m looking forward to working with the team as they expand and grow.” said Paul Lehair, Partner AlbionVC. Paul has more on why we invested in trumpet here: https://lnkd.in/eiRmwPbd Congratulations to co-founders 🎺 Rory Sadler, Nick Telson-Sillett and Andrew Webster and the whole team at trumpet 🎺! Read more on City AM here: https://lnkd.in/dWG3XTyN Robert Whitby-Smith, Kibriya Rahman. #StartupFunding #SalesTech #BuyerEnablement #Trumpet #B2B #SalesInnovation #digitalsalesrooms #founders #vc #venturecapital #software #ai #entrepreneurs

58

4 Comments

Doccla Secures £35m Series B to Revolutionize Virtual Healthcare London-based health tech startup Doccla has raised £35m in a Series B funding round led by Lakestar. Founded in 2019 by Martin Ratz after a personal health experience, Doccla offers constant virtual monitoring for patients, allowing medical staff to track real-time updates on their conditions. Initially launched in Sweden, Doccla expanded to the UK in 2020, with a pilot ward during the Covid-19 pandemic. The company now partners with the NHS and international healthcare providers, delivering tech-enabled virtual wards that enhance patient recovery at home while freeing up hospital resources. Ratz expressed excitement about scaling operations across Europe and expanding into the Life Sciences sector. Lakestar’s Oliver Heimes praised Doccla's rapid growth and potential to reshape global healthcare standards. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eH5Z7H8c #HealthTech #Startup #Innovation #RemoteHealthcare #Doccla

6

The NHS: A Unique Playground for Scaling Startups 🏥 With the UK healthtech sector valued at over £24 billion in 2021 and London leading the charge as Europe’s top healthtech hub, you’d think scaling a startup in the NHS would be straightforward. Yet, this journey has humbled even the boldest founders. Why? The NHS isn’t just a healthcare system—it’s a labyrinth. From navigating endless trusts and untangling procurement webs to earning clinical validation, the path to success often feels more like a test of endurance than innovation 🌀 So, how can founders thrive in this intricate ecosystem? The key lies in shifting focus. Forget “time to exit”—it’s all about “time to integration.” Only by embedding solutions seamlessly into the NHS can startups unlock their true potential and impact. 📖 Dive into our full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/ervyGmGz Written by: Andrew M. #HealthTech #Startups #Innovation #NHS #VentureCapital #ScalingStartups #HealthcareEcosystem #Entrepreneurship #HealthInnovation #LondonStartups

13

🚀 The B Word: New Episode Alert! 🚀 In this episode Jesse Swash is joined by Stephen Millard from Notion Capital to explore the decision-making process of venture capitalists (VCs) when investing in Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses. 💡 🔍 Discover the specific triggers and criteria VCs look for in potential investments, especially those in the build or scaling stages. Our discussion dives deep into: ✨ The value VCs bring to the table ✨ The qualities they seek in entrepreneurs ✨ The key elements that influence their investment decisions Don't miss these invaluable insights! Tune in now to understand what makes a SaaS business stand out to VCs. 📈💼 #VentureCapital #SaaS #Investment #TheBWord #NotionCapital #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth #Podcast #branding #brand 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eqR3Tags

18

4 Comments

Want a demo of Deal Lite? Happy to give a personal demo https://lnkd.in/erspFMm9 At Deal Lite, we capture data on funding rounds. We focus on UK technology businesses only. Here’s a snapshot of what we have captured over Monday and Tuesday of this week. Our data includes: - 4,346 venture-backed UK tech companies. - 3,920 venture capitalists who have funded them. - 1,859 business angels who have funded them. - 6,512 funding rounds We focus on giving you timely information so you can do something about it. In most cases, our customers use us as a lead generation service. We are not attempting to replace expensive databases you already subscribe to, e.g. Pitchbooks. We sit alongside them, offering you bite-sized leads and information you can act on today. Accordingly, we have priced both Deal Lite News and Deal Lite Web App to be affordable to everyone. Book demo: https://lnkd.in/erspFMm9 Deal Lite website: https://deallite.uk Deal Lite weekly deal news: https://lnkd.in/efmz5xBP #UKtech #UKTechInvestments #TechInvestments #Investments

12

Excited to be featured in Maddyness this week, where our CEO Thuria Wenbar shares Evaro's journey from an ambitious idea to healthcare innovation! 🏥✨     From our humble beginnings in 2018, we've grown from: • An initial offering of 18 treatments to 400 medications across 80 conditions  • A 2,000 sq ft warehouse to a 12,000 sq ft pharmacy operation  • 3 employees and 9 first-day orders to supporting 600,000+ patients  • And recently secured a groundbreaking 10M patient contract.    In the interview, Dr. Wenbar shares candid insights about our early challenges, including our "valley of death" moment in December 2019, and how determination and resilience kept us going. As she puts it, "Healthcare, ultimately, with all of its data is just a really massive decision tree supported by a lot of human emotion and warmth."     Today, we're proud to be moving beyond transactional healthcare to build lasting patient relationships through our AI-powered platform. Our mission remains clear: making healthcare as accessible as online banking.     Read the full interview to learn more about our journey and vision for the future of healthcare: https://lnkd.in/erRfbsks    #HealthTech #Startup #Innovation #Healthcare #FutureOfHealth #DigitalHealth #UKTech 

6

If your healthtech or biotech company is looking to raise, listen up – this one’s for you 👇 Almost half of the UK's 8,000+ healthtech startups are expected to seek funding in 2024, competing for a share of overall investment that, in 2023, fell to its lowest level in five years. Given this intense competition for capital, crafting a communications strategy that clearly articulates your mission and enhances the credibility of your founding team is crucial for successful fundraising. On Thursday 11th July, from 12noon -1pm, we’re running our second free virtual workshop. This time, you'll learn the essentials for your fundraising communications strategy. Belle Taylor, Huw Penson, and Hollie Ruda will guide you through how to: ➡️ Strengthen your founder and company story to cut through with investors. ➡️ Develop impactful messaging and value propositions, reinforced by standout metrics. ➡️ Build credibility, through content and PR, with a focus on metrics investors actually care about. This workshop is suitable for everyone wanting to learn the essentials of comms to support their fundraising efforts. If you attended Comms 101 in April, don’t worry, you can still come! This workshop will build upon the themes introduced, and focus on how to use those strategies in your investor comms. 🔗 Register now - limited spaces available ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eT3Ywhw8 #Healthtech #Biotech #HealthcareCommunications #DigitalHealth

15

As part of Manchester City Council's strategy around investment in Digital and Technology, I'm working with Manchester Digital to get input from founders, investors and accelerators in Greater Manchester (or those supporting businesses in Great Manchester). This piece of work is intended to document where each of the major pieces within the eco-system sit, identify any gaps and make recommendations to public sector stakeholders as to how they can support Manchester in its ambition to becoming a major force for UK startups. Your views are key to getting this right, so we would highly appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete the short Founder survey whether you have received investment or not, and ensure we get the best outcomes for the tech startup scene. 🔥 Founders - https://lnkd.in/ewGHbxPM 💰 Investors - https://lnkd.in/e7yadFH8 🚀 Accelerators - https://lnkd.in/eTpGUsKf

30

1 Comment

Being CEO of a startup means constant change. Quentin 'Q' Scrimshire recently joined David Hunt on the Leaders in Cleantech #podcast to discuss how his role has developed over time. In the episode, Quentin shares his experience of growing as a CEO, the challenges of pivoting direction, fundraising, and building a high-growth company. Check out the full episode - Link in comments Leaders in Cleantech is a bi-monthly podcast with host David Hunt speaking to Cleantech CEOs and industry leaders about their trials, tribulations, successes, failures and future predictions for #cleantech #emobility #energystorage #renewables #smartcities #circulareconomy

49

5 Comments

Announcing South Yorkshire and Sheffield's UKBAA Angel Hub! Investors and Angels can access start-up and scale-up opportunities filtered by Venture.Community members, as well as being supported with acceleration, long term mentorship, training and co-operation with other founders. Join here: https://lnkd.in/eEC29S42 We're gearing up for a huge investors day (penciled for 20th-21st February 2025), with visits from national and international investors in co-operation with the Charles Harrewyn UKBAA Stuart Brown, Martin Avison, angelgroups and Cris Auditore Zimmermann Medici Global Ventures - watch this space! There are big tax benefits available with SEIS and EIS, as well as being able to support and invest in the success of some amazing founders trying to make a global impact. Venture.Community in South Yorkshire is operated under license by the Co-operative Venture Society of South Yorkshire Limited; Registered with the FCA as a mutual co-operative society. Capital is at risk. #startups #angels #sheffield #southyorkshire

81

14 Comments

The UK has a new #unicorn. Women’s health app Flo Health Inc. has raised more than £156m ($200m) in a Series C investment from General Atlantic, a leading global growth investor. The minority investment propels Flo’s valuation beyond $1 billion, making it the first purely digital consumer women’s health app to achieve unicorn status. Dmitry Gurski, co-founder and CEO of Flo Health, said: “Reaching unicorn status is a significant milestone for Flo and the entire FemTech industry. “When we started Flo, we identified a huge gap in women’s health services. Now, we’re a leader in a global movement to make women’s health a priority everywhere." Jessie Cai, principal at General Atlantic, commented: “We believe Flo is a category leader and look forward to leveraging our deep expertise across disruptive consumer technology and subscription platforms to support the company’s continued growth.” Anna Klepchukova, chief medical officer of Flo Health, said: “This investment accelerates Flo’s mission to revolutionise women’s health. With women spending 25 per cent more of their lives in poor health compared to men, we’re committed to changing this unacceptable status quo." Flo Health was advised by GP Bullhound on their capital raise. Eric Crowley, partner at GP Bullhound, said: “This landmark deal underscores the tremendous potential within the FemTech sector and highlights Flo Health’s unique position as a pioneer in digital women’s health." https://lnkd.in/e33JwM53

4

🩺🩻 Cambridge-based health-tech startup PocDoc has secured £5 million in a pre-A funding round. This is the largest pre-A raise for a UK digital diagnostics business. With this round, the total funding raised by PocDoc accounts for over £10 million. This new investment will support the company’s continued rapid growth, fuelled by its growing list of pharmacy, retail, and corporate partnerships, as well as its deepening relationships with the NHS across the UK. 📈 The investment came from MMC Ventures, Molten Ventures, and Simplyhealth Ventures. Another major investor joining in this round is KHP Ventures, the first NHS-anchored venture fund, which invests in health tech innovators and supports the adoption of transformative solutions at scale across digital health and MedTech. 🤖 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e7UZ6UGN Steve Roest Kiran Roest Vladimir Gubala #tech #funding #news #medtech #startup #VC #UKtech #UKstartup #technology #investment #innovation

128

25 Comments

There’s a tense atmosphere as we wait for the UK budget announcement this Wednesday. With rumors of higher CGT, increased employer NI, and even the potential end of Entrepreneurs' Relief, I have to say—I’m not optimistic about the future of UK innovation. At Roome, we’ve spent four years finding true innovation, achieving PMF, and paving our route to profitability. But it’s tough not to wonder: will the years of grit, sacrifice, and hard work still be worth it for founders starting out today? Losing incentives risks discouraging the very R&D, job creation, and economic contributions the country needs. And if the UK becomes less attractive to HNWIs and Angel investors, start-up funding will only get tougher. To me, this feels like punishing risk-taking—just when we need it most. Where’s the incentive to keep pushing forward? I already know several successful entrepreneurs considering moving their businesses abroad, and investors who’ve sold shares ahead of the budget announcement. It’s concerning to see this shift even before any changes are official. I guess we’ll have to wait until Wednesday. Please share any thoughts below!

18

3 Comments

Breakfast with Founders 🥐 Last week I met with Andreea Daly Andreea is the founder of Money Squirrel - a platform that links directly to your business current and savings accounts, automatically sorting your cash for VAT, taxes and savings. It's like having a clever little squirrel in your phone, tirelessly stashing away nuts for the winter. We spoke about: - The journey of obsessing over problems first before building. In other words, can you be a problem obsessor first before a founder? Being a founder is far less glamorous than it sounds, taking the steps to learn first can make the journey a little more directional. - Positioning yourself within the world of fintech. It's no surprise fintech has and continues to be an attractive space to build and invest in. However, given the saturation of neo-banks, credit cards, finance management tools and payment tools; the opportunity still remains for platforms like Money Squirrel to solve more specific problems really well at scale. - Understanding your go to market strategy and doubling down on it. Easily said, harder done. But sometimes your end user isn't your buyer. It's important to dig into this and find out how best to reach them. And no, the answer isn't send 1000 emails once and hope for the best. - Yoga and scuba diving! Ask Andreea about some of the coolest places she's dived - a great reminder that there is a world outside of raising investment, building startups and chasing customers..! ----- If you're a founder keen to meet, I'd love to have breakfast with you in London. Investors, sign up to Table for Ten dinners. Link to waitlists are in my featured section. Naturally, I can't meet with everyone, but I'll always try to make time to speak

48

4 Comments

Raising capital for UK Start-ups has never been harder. 💡 In today’s challenging funding landscape, navigating the investment maze can feel impossible. But at RoundRaise, we're flipping the script. We don't just connect startups with investors—we transform how you secure funding. By analysing your startup’s data, performance metrics, and unique strengths, we deliver a curated list of investors who are not just interested but are most likely to invest in your success. It’s not just about finding any investor; it’s about finding the right one. 🔍 📩 Be among the first to access our alpha-stage platform by signing up for our early-access newsletter! ⤵️ https://tally.so/r/w8eBqr #StartupFunding #VentureCapital #Entrepreneurship #AngelInvestors #Fundraising

2

🚀 April's early-stage funding wrapup reveals intriguing trends and triumphs! Healthtech shines bright while the UK maintains its crown! 💰💡 📊 In April, Europe saw €1.4bn invested across 312 pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds, a tad lower than March's figures. The UK led the pack in funding, with France and Germany following suit. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇩🇪 💼 B2B SaaS, Climate tech, and Healthtech stole the spotlight, reaping in €345m, €333m, and €315m respectively. Notably, Healthtech experienced a surge, with drug discovery and biotech at the forefront, attracting €138m and €135m respectively. 💉🧬 🤝 Y Combinator, Antler, and Bpifrance emerged as top investors, fueling the startup ecosystem's growth. 👏 🌟 Highlighting some remarkable rounds. In the UK, Biofidelity secured €22m, accelerating genomic technologies for faster test results. Meanwhile, Infinitopes in Oxford raised £12.8m, revolutionizing cancer vaccines through precision immunomics antigen discovery. In France, EXO Biologics secured €9m in equity and €7m in grants, pioneering exosome-based therapies for critical diseases. 🌱 🔍 Dive deeper into April's standout rounds and pivotal insights at Sifted.  #fundingtrends #healthtechadvancements #europeanstartups #healthcareinnovation #venturecapital #techinvestments 🌐

3

Lemon Raises £500K in Pre Seed Funding Round to Enable SMBs to Save Thousands on SaaS Spending Co-Founder and CEO of Lemon Matt Bird commented: “It’s clear that we’re going through a really interesting period for SMBs at the moment,. Taking into consideration the challenging economic landscape with funding drying up everywhere you turn, SMBs now need the tools and services to help them build better businesses as cost-efficiently as possible. With software being the third largest spend for an SMB, we really think Lemon can become a core part of how an SMB uses SaaS. https://lnkd.in/eHzkqN5v Koen Christiaens Edward Stevenson #fintech #finance #banking #paytech #payments #fintechnews #paymentsnews

25

There reaches a point in every scaling founders’ journey where they have to make the transition from founder to CEO. Here’s a recap from when Joe Knowles, Partner, Smedvig Ventures, joined us to give us a VC’s perspective on the importance of that role change and how to navigate it. GEN UK #GEW2024 #VentureInsights

10