Welcome back to United Kingdom Tech Weekly Deals Roundup, a weekly podcast by Tracxn for key startup deals in the United Kingdom from last week.
In this edition, we will cover funding rounds of SumUp, Gearset, Playter, and more. In exits, we will cover the acquisition of F-star by Sino Biopharmaceutical Group Company, among others.
Starting with our deep dive into funding rounds, tech companies in the United Kingdom raised over $1.5 billion of funding across 31 funding rounds during this week.
In a major funding event, London-based FinTech startup, SumUp, raised $623 million in a funding round led by Bain Capital with participation from Centerbridge Partners, Crestline, and BlackRock. SumUp offers an mPoS suite to merchants which includes an app and a card reader for payment acceptance. The merchant enters the order details in the app which are transferred to the card reader. The consumer enters the PIN for the payment cards and completes the transaction. Founded in 2012 by Stanford University alumni and Stanford Business School alumni, SumUp has raised over $1 billion till date.
Enterprise Infrastructure startup, Gearset, raised $55 million in a funding round led by Silversmith. Gearset provides a platform for release management of applications based on Salesforce technology. The platform's features include automation of releases, testing, scheduling automatic deployments, automated identification of pre-deployment issues, issues management, and more. Gearset's platform can integrate with multiple source code controlling platforms such as GitHub, compare and display the differences in the codes in a particular file, and allow users to select the version they want to keep in the production. Founded in 2014, Cambridge-based Gearset has raised $55 million till date.
Playter, an Enterprise Applications startup, raised $55 million in a funding round led by Adit Ventures, and Fasanara, with participation from Act Venture Capital, Fin Capital, and 1818 Venture Capital. Playter is an online recruitment financing platform for enterprises. It offers a platform on a subscription basis to fund SME recruitment agencies for the recruitment process. Founded in 2020, London-based Playter has raised around $58 million till date.
London-based InsurTech startup, Instanda, raised $45 million in a Series B funding round led by Toscafund Asset Management with participation from Dale Ventures. Instanda provides a SaaS-based software suite for the insurance industry. Its solution includes product lifecycle management, digital engagement, risk management, premiums calculation, insurance distribution, and more. Instanda also offers solutions for product development, insurance underwriting, customer acquisition, and more. Founded in 2015, Instanda has raised close to $72 million till date.
Enterprise Applications startup, CloudNC, raised $45 million in a Series B funding round led by Autodesk with participation from QVentures, Atomico, British Patient Capital, and others. CloudNC is a provider of cloud-based CNC machine controlling and optimizing solutions. CloudNC provides artificially intelligent solutions to control and optimize the performance of CNC machines automatically. It offers CAM assist - an optimal planning system, and AI-based cutting tools technologies for automating the manufacturing processes. Founded in 2015, London-based CloudNC has raised around $57 million till date.
Hokodo, an InsurTech startup, raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by Notion with participation from Mosaic Ventures, Korelya Capital, Mundi Ventures, and others. Hokodo provides API for invoicing platforms & marketplaces. It offers customer-centric insurance and financing solutions to e-invoicing platforms, marketplaces, and cloud accounting platforms. It offers invoice protection for transactional risk management and secure freight to protect customers' goods in transit. Founded in 2018 by University of Oxford alumni, London-based Hokodo has raised close to $55 million till date.
This was all from the funding updates, moving on to the exits. United Kingdom Tech observed 14 exits during the week of 26 Jun 2022.
Cambridge-based Life Sciences startup, F-star, was acquired by Sino Biopharmaceutical Group Company for $161 million. F-star is a developer of bispecific antibodies to improve cancer treatment. It is developing antibody products with a focus on immuno-oncology and inflammation. F-star's lead program is FS118, which targets immune checkpoints for treating head and neck cancer. Founded in 2006, F-star has raised close to $48 million till date from SR One, Aescap Venture, Mp-Healthcare, and others.
KnownOrigin, a Wilmslow-based FinTech startup, was acquired by eBay. KnownOrigin is an online marketplace for digital art and NFT crypto art. KnownOrigin is built on the Ethereum blockchain and enables users to discover, collect, and invest in limited edition digital artworks from various artists and creatives. Users can access the marketplace by connecting wallets such as MetaMask, WalletConnect, Fortmatic, and more. Founded in 2020 by University of Manchester alumni, KnownOrigin has raised over $4 million till date from D1 Ventures, GBV Capital, LD Capital, and others.
London-based EdTech startup, Boclips, was acquired by Achieve Partners. Boclips is a learning resource provider for teachers. Boclips provides solutions for publishers and teachers. It enables users to find, license, and use videos from producers and broadcasters for teaching. Founded in 2014 by University of Manchester alumni, Boclips has raised over $4 million till date from Nexus Group, NVM Private Equity, Nex.D, and others.
This was all for today, we will be back next Monday with more updates. You can subscribe to our podcast on Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Apple Podcast 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.
