Silico completes a £3.4m seed round

Silico, an AI-powered decision-making platform which simulates outcomes before businesses make changes in the real world, has completed a £3.4m seed round. By creating a digital clone of a business, Silico combines data and human knowledge to predict the outcomes of decisions. Join Capital led the round with participation from existing investors Forward Partners and angel investors from the B2B and enterprise automation space.

The Luminaire books £2.8m for luxury travel concept

The Luminaire, a new type of luxury travel brand which offers cultural experiences to sophisticated travellers, has raised $3.7m (£2.8m) through US early-stage investors whose previous investments include Trip.com. With experiences starting at £118,000 per person, The Luminaire offers experiences with luminaries including explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and photographer Sir Don McCullin.

Developing the concept, The Luminaire surveyed wealthy travellers with a combined net worth of $4.4bn to discover what they wanted most from travel. “Enriching cultural experiences” was the surprising answer – while “room design” scored lowest.

Solivus wraps up £2.4m in backing

Solivus, a pioneer of “skin-like” solar panels, has raised £2.4m investment led by Founders Factory and G-Force and supported by Crowdcube investors.

With energy prices skyrocketing, Solivus is developing ground-breaking ultra-thin solar film that could be wrapped around the flat roofs of warehouses, stadiums and large offices, which it claims could generate half the UK’s electricity. Solivus is already being installed at Cotswold Airport, where its solar panels will power a new generation of hydrogen-electric aircraft.

To date, Solivus has raised £5m in funding.

BKwai receives £2.2m in seed funding

BKwai, a construction data company which helps engineers from the likes of Thames Tideway and Highways England develop sustainably built infrastructure, has received £2.2m in seed funding.

BKwai’s software platform combines data from multiple sources (like on-site sensors, environmental and satellite data) to provide a holistic view of a construction and its surrounding environment. The software helps engineers identify early warning signs from extreme weather events, for example, so they can make timely, cost-effective and safe decisions. Octopus Ventures led the round with participation from Deeptech Labs and Cambridge Enterprise.

Nosso banks £2.1m seed round for children’s savings

Family finance app Nosso has raised a $2.8m (£2.1m) seed round co-led by Octopus Ventures and Anthemis Group. Nosso offers children’s investment accounts that whole families can access. Additional investors included Entrepreneur First, Ventures Together and angel investors.

Detected spots £1.5m seed investment

Detected, a resource which finds and verifies any registered company in the world instantly, has raised an additional £1.5m in just three weeks. This follows a previous funding round that banked £2m. By using the business verification platform, companies can search and locate business credit, corporate and director information from around the globe in seconds. Love Ventures led the round with its fintech advisor John Lunn.

Praetura Ventures invests £1.5m into Sparkbox

Praetura Ventures has invested £1.5m into a Manchester-based start-up that uses AI to help big brand merchandising teams from the likes of River Island and matchesfashion.com make better stock buying and pricing decisions.

Sparkbox enables retailers to forecast demand, optimise pricing and reduce waste by preventing retailers from over ordering stock.

The deal was managed by Peter Carway and Louise Chapman from the Praetura Ventures investment team.

Vygo closes £1.5m in pre-seed funding

Edtech start-up Vygo has raised £1.5m in a pre-seed funding round led by Sparkmind and supported by Angel Investment Network. Vygo is a SaaS platform that offers student support in higher education worldwide. Other participants included edtech accelerator Supercharger Ventures and the Australian Catholic University. The funds will be used to develop and expand in the UK and Europe.

Glassette raises £1.2m in seed funding

London-based Glassette, an online platform curating homeware from independent UK-based designers, has raised £1.2m in seed funding. Co-founded by broadcaster Laura Jackson and Daniel Crow in November 2021, the digital global shopfront currently showcases the work of over 150 independent brands.

The investment was led by Nigel Wray and a consortium of angel investors including Stephanie Phair, Michelle Kennedy, Whitney Hawkings, Peter Hawkings, Adam Levine and Fred Kooij.

More Deals of the Week

Deals of the week Feb 21 to Feb 25 – a GrowthBusiness roundup