In this episode of United Kingdom Tech - Weekly Deals Roundup: United Kingdom Tech saw 20 companies including Starling Bank, OMass Therapeutics, Argent and others raised close to $416 million from investors such as Goldman Sachs, NorthPond Ventures, Fabric Ventures, among others.
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 Starling Bank, OMass Therapeutics, Argent, and more. In exits, we will cover the acquisition of Zeelo by Swvl and the IPO by Benevolent, among others.
Starting with our deep dive into funding rounds, tech companies in the United Kingdom raised close to $416 million of funding across 20 funding rounds during this week.
In a major funding round event, London-based FinTech startup, Starling Bank, raised over $166 million in a Series D funding round led by Goldman Sachs with participation from Qatar Investment Authority, Railpen, Fidelity Investments, and others. Starling Bank achieved unicorn status on 8th March 2021 when it raised $376 million from Fidelity Investments, RPMI Railpen, Qatar Investment Authority, and others. Starling Bank is a digital bank for consumers and businesses. Its services include deposit accounts, money transfers, consumer and business loans, prepaid and corporate cards for online or offline purchases, bill payments, and more. Founded in 2014 by the University of Cambridge alumni, Starling Bank has raised around $1 billion till date.
Life Sciences startup, OMass Therapeutics, raised $100 million in a Series B funding round led by GV, NorthPond Ventures, and Sanofi Ventures, with participation from the University of Oxford, Syncona, and Oxford Science Enterprises. OMass Therapeutics is a developer of mass spectrometry-based protein assembly analysis solutions. OMass Therapeutics detects drug leads that bind to the target complex and also exert a functional effect through modulation of complex formation. Founded in 2016, Oxford-based OMass Therapeutics has raised $154 million till date.
London-based FinTech startup, Argent, raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by Fabric Ventures, and Metaplanet, with participation from Animocabrands, Creandum, Index Ventures, and others. Argent is a provider of mobile wallets for cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens. Its features include readable address names, biometric authentication, integrated decentralized exchange of tokens, daily limit tracker, and money transfer. Founded in 2017 by an ex-Amazon employee, Argent has raised $56 million till date.
Rooser, an Online Grocery startup, raised close to $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Index Ventures with participation from GV, Point Nine, Dylan Field, and others. Rooser is an online platform that connects seafood buyers and suppliers. The platform provides suppliers with tools to trade efficiently, negotiate prices, and process deliveries. Founded in 2019 by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business alumni, Edinburgh-based Rooser has raised close to $28 million till date.
FinTech startup, Outfund, raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Force Over Mass Capital with participation from PostFinance, 1818 Venture Capital, and Tribe Capital. Outfund is an alternative investment platform focused on venture capital funds and bank loans. Outfund enables users to invest in e-commerce, SaaS companies, retail companies, and more. It also provides loans to businesses for working capital or inventory. Founded in 2020, London-based Outfund has raised $20 million till date.
This was all from the funding updates, moving on to the exits. United Kingdom Tech observed 9 exits during the week of 01 May 2022.
London-based Auto Tech startup, Zeelo, was acquired by Swvl for $100 million. Zeelo offers an internet first autonomous coach ride-sharing platform. Zeelo facilitates direct coach travel by intelligently pooling travelers together and matching them with a flexible supply network of buses or executive coaches. Founded in 2016, Zeelo has raised around $21 million till date from InMotion Ventures, Mobility Ventures, ETF Partners, and others.
Consumer Services startup, Laundrapp, was acquired by Laundryheap. Laundrapp is an online-based dry cleaning services provider. The platform offers on-demand laundry, ironing, and dry cleaning services, with free doorstep delivery and collection of the clothes. Founded in 2014, London-based Laundrapp has raised over $16 million till date from Timezone Ventures, Hambro Perks, Atami Capital, and others.
In another major development this week, Benevolent, a London-based HealthTech startup, went public. The IPO pegs the valuation of the company at nearly $2 billion. Benevolent is a provider of an AI-based platform for drug discovery and development. The platform provides machine-curated relationships and proprietary insights on diseases, machine learning models for target identification, and identification of patient genotypes for precision medicine. Benevolent was founded in 2013 and has raised close to $282 million across several funding rounds. Major investors who backed the company in its early stages include enterprises like Temasek, Woodford Investment Management, and Tech Nation.
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.