Jan 24, 2022 - Wayve raised $200 million, Universe Group got acquired by PDI Software
Welcome back to United Kingdom Tech Weekly Deals Roundup, a weekly podcast by Tracxn for key startup deals in United Kingdom from last week.
In this edition, we will cover funding rounds of Wayve, Personetics, and more. In exits, we will cover the acquisition of Polystream by Mythical among others.
Starting with our deep dive into funding rounds, tech companies in United Kingdom raised around $613 million of funding across 26 funding rounds during this week.
Cambridge-based Auto Tech startup, Wayve, raised $200 million in a Series B funding round led by Eclipse with participation from Virgin, Compound, Microsoft, and others. Wayve provides AI & cloud-enabled software for autonomous cars. Wayve's software suite leverages end-to-end machine learning algorithms, computer vision, and a reinforced learning approach to offer an adaptive and situation-based driving system. Founded in 2017 by University of Cambridge alumni, Wayve has raised $258 million till date.
London-based FinTech startup, Personetics, raised $85 million in a Series D funding round from Viola Group, Nyca, Sequoia Capital, and others. Personetics provides a platform for personalized financial advice. Personetics allows financial institutions to deliver a personalized customer experience across all service channels, especially online, mobile, and tablet. Personetics features a library of banking-specific predictions and leverages a real-time analytics engine to predict customer intent. Founded in 2011, Personetics has raised $178 million till date.
HealthTech startup, BigHealth, raised $75 million in a Series C funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund with participation from ArrowMark Partners, Kaiser Permanente Ventures, and others. BigHealth offers CBT therapy for insomnia patients. BigHealth's flagship product Sleepio is a digital sleep improvement program, clinically proven to help users overcome poor sleep. BigHealth's virtual sleep expert "The Prof" teaches users proven Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques, personalized to their problems and monitors their progress. Founded in 2010, London-based BigHealth has raised $129 million till date.
Life Sciences startup, ONI, raised $75 million in a Series B funding round led by Arch Venture Partners with participation from Vertical Venture Partners, Casdin Capital, Artis Ventures, and others. ONI is a Manufacturer of optical microscopy solutions for application in biological imaging. ONI offers a single emission channel microscope, which is a customizable optical microscope. ONI offers software for real-time rendering and quantitative single-molecule analysis. ONI's products have use cases in multiple applications, including quantitative cellular imaging, tracking single molecules and vesicles in cells, intensity measurements of protein complex assembly, single-molecule FRET, and other applications. Founded in 2010 by INSEAD alumni, Oxford-based ONI has raised $76 million till date.
London-based Life Sciences startup, Engitix, raised $54 million in a Series A funding round from Dompé. Engitix has developed a technology for in vitro drug discovery. Engitix proprietary technology includes human-derived biological scaffolds for the development of 3D spheroids and tissue engineering systems. Engitix technology applications include accelerating in vitro drug discovery and for helping patients with end-stage liver disease. Engitix has also designed BAL to address the unmet need for treatment of liver failure, providing bedside support. Founded in 2016, Engitix has raised $60 million till date.
Poole-based FinTech startup, Cushon, raised $47 million in a Series B funding round from Augmentum and Ashgrove. Cushon is an App-based employer-enabled savings and investment management platform. Cushon allows employees to plan retirement and pension funds through various investment plans and savings accounts. Cushon offers services such as Individual Savings Account, net-zero now, and CushonMe. Founded in 2014, Cushon has raised $83 million till date.
London-based Crop Tech startup, Vertical Future, raised $28 million in a Series A funding round from Dyfan, SFC Capital, Nickleby Capital, and others. Vertical Future is a Provider of hardware and software solutions for vertical farming. Vertical Future provides licensing, hardware, and software technologies. Vertical Future researches in the field of vertical farming and installs vertical farms in commercial spaces. Vertical Future offers solutions to sectors such as food brands, pharma companies, farmers, retailers, and indoor growers. Founded in 2016, Vertical Future has raised $28 million till date.
eCommerce startup, Mention Me, raised $25 million in a Series B funding round led by Octopus Ventures with participation from Eight Roads Ventures. Mention Me is a SaaS-based referral marketing solution for eCommerce companies. Mention Me helps its clients to acquire customers by using word-of-mouth marketing. Mention Me integrates with the existing store of the retailer and allows its customers to refer their friends using email and social media. Mention Me also offers AB testing to optimize offers and discounts provided to different customers. Founded in 2013 by INSEAD alumni and University of Cambridge alumni, London-based Mention Me has raised $32 million till date.
Legal Tech startup, Juro, raised $23 million in a Series B funding round led by Eight Roads Ventures with participation from Alibaba, Point Nine, and others. Juro provides contract management solutions. Juro offers features such as e-signature, machine learning-based contract analysis, and renewal tracking. Juro keeps track of contract activity and ensures users' systems are in sync. Founded in 2016 by INSEAD alumni, London-based Juro has raised $31 million till date.
This was all from the funding updates, moving on to the exits. United Kingdom Tech observed 7 exits during the week of 23 Jan 2022.
Guildford-based gaming tech startup, Polystream, was acquired by Mythical. Polystream is an application and 3D games streaming platform. Polystream provides a scale-on-demand streaming platform, enabling businesses to deliver unmodified 3D applications to instantly engage with their customers worldwide. Polystream content can be accessed from anywhere in the world using any server. Founded in 2015, Polystream has raised $13 million till date from Microsoft Accelerator, Wargaming, and others.
Bala-based legal tech startup, Prosperoware, was acquired by Litera. Prosperoware is a cloud-based legal practice management software provider. Prosperoware is an enterprise software company focused on law firms, corporate legal departments, and professional services firms. Prosperoware enables professionals to deliver better client service through business intelligence, process improvement, automated workflow, and security controls. Prosperoware offers productivity, document management, and information governance solutions for lawyers, IT, and other professionals. Founded in 2009, Prosperoware has raised $3 million till date from Rittenhouse Ventures.
This was all for today, we will be back next Monday with more updates. You can subscribe to our podcast on Google Podcasts to stay updated. If you have any feedback, please reachout to us at podcast@tracxn.com. Thank you for tuning in today, see you next week.
