Bite-size news and insight from UK business and tech – including funding, deals and appointments
Published: October 10, 2025 at 10:50 am
Liverpool-based startup Harker has launched its platform which aims to transform how homelessness charities support vulnerable individuals.
James Barber, a recent University of Liverpool graduate, founded the business with Matt Gaynor and Alfie Jones. They discovered the problem they are now trying to solve whilst consulting for a homelessness charity in the South East of England, where they saw first-hand the challenges bad software was causing them.
They say Harker is the first CRM Case Management system built from the ground up to support homelessness charities, featuring an intuitive data collection system and a powerful reporting engine.
The software aims to empower charities to provide a personalised, data-led approach to solving each person鈥檚 homelessness at its root cause, and also help them to effectively demonstrate their social value to funders.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 10:22 am
Sisters Amelia and Lydia Miller secured investment from Dragons鈥� Den star Steven Bartlett 鈥� and the offer of his London penthouse office suite 鈥� for their one-week-old startup ivee.
The tech platform is aimed at getting people back to work and is already valued at 拢6.5m after signing clients including Red Bull, Deliveroo, TransPennine Express and OVO Energy.
The siblings were given less than 12 hours鈥� notice before appearing on the show but received offers from four different Dragons after their polished pitch.
They were inspired to set up ivee after seeing how difficult their own mother found it to return to work after taking time out from her career to have children.
More than 70,000 users have joined ivee鈥檚 platform since filming for the show took place in July 2024.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 9:32 am
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has accepted paid advisory positions with tech giants Microsoft and Anthropic, just over a year after leaving 10 Downing Street.
The move has been approved by the Advisory Committee on 老九品茶 Appointments (Acoba) 鈥� the watchdog overseeing post-government employment 鈥� which ruled that Sunak must not lobby ministers or officials on behalf of the companies for two years following his time in office.
Sunak, who remains MP for Richmond and Northallerton, will donate all proceeds from the roles to The Richmond Project 鈥� a charity he founded with his wife to boost numeracy across the UK.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 9:12 am
West Midlands-based SecureCloud+ has received a 拢5 million follow-on investment from Gresham House Ventures to accelerate development of its secure collaboration platform for the UK defence and government sectors.
The Stoke-on-Trent company has tripled its headcount since Gresham House鈥檚 first investment in 2018 and will use the new funding to enhance automation and user capabilities.
It has also made leadership changes, with Greg Clarke appointed executive chair and founder Peter Williamson becoming a non-executive director.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 9:08 am
Valereum Plc has announced a 拢600,000 fundraise through the issue of 12 million new shares at 拢0.05 each 鈥� a 33% premium to the market price.
The raise includes 拢225,000 investments from both chairman James Bannon and group CEO Gary Cottle, alongside 拢150,000 from an unconnected party.
The funds will support the scale-up of VLRM Markets, strengthening its regulated footprint, partnerships and GATE Token utility.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 8:00 am
A groundbreaking mental health platform from Psyomics is now available to nearly one in ten Britons to speed up access to mental health care.
beseen, the new platform from Psyomics, has been taken up by five NHS mental health trusts and the UK鈥檚 largest private mental health provider the Priory Group, famous for treating celebrities such as Kate Moss and Robbie Williams.
Psyomics is now raising 拢7.5 million in pre series A funding. The funding round comes on the back of rapid growth since the commercial launch of the platform in 2023 to continue to scale operations to support mental health services worldwide.
Published: October 10, 2025 at 7:49 am
Princes Group has confirmed that it will float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
The 拢2.1 billion revenue food and drinks firm includes the brands Princes, Napolina, ‘Branston, Batchelors, Flora, Crisp ‘N Dry, Delverde, Naked Noodle and Vier Diamanten.
The Liverpool-headquartered group exports its products to more than 60 countries and has more than 8,000 customers globally across large food retailers, B2B partners and the foodservice industry.
The offer price will be determined by a bookbuilding process. It is currently expected that trading will commence by the end of October.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 9:02 pm
See previous investments made by Meaden throughout her career in the Den here; and made by Bartlett here.
And with that the Symcox boys have arrived to watch Celebrity Traitors.
Send us your thoughts on tonight’s pitchers in the Den using the link at the top!
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:59 pm
“We did come in here with two Dragons in mind… Deborah and Steven.”
They want half of the money from each for 6% combined.
Bartlett is sticking with his original offer. Or 拢50k for 5%. He’s offering office space in his London HQ.
They do a combined deal.
“They’re a force!” says Jones.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:54 pm
Davies loves it. But she wants 2% for 拢25,000. “I’m best-placed to help you as an ambassador for .”
Meaden offers 拢75,000 for 5% of the business.
Bartlett offers 拢75,000 for 7.5% and says his tech background will have the difference for them.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:52 pm
Bartlett is “talking himself out of it” says Wicks. Steven stalls.
Wicks goes for it. He offers 拢75k for 5% of the business. “You probably don’t want me because I’m a fitness guy!”
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:50 pm
They aim to hit profitability within 4-5 years – Suleyman laughs at that timescale. “Too long… for a minute return,” he says. He’s OUT.
“The issue is scale over valuation,” says Jones. “You’re going to need more like 拢5-10m to make a success of this.” He’s OUT.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:48 pm
They recently quit their jobs – they have backgrounds in psychology, corporate finance and a health startup – and have now begun trading.
The Dragons are very complimentary of their pitch.
“But you have to chew glass,” says Bartlett.
They have raised at a valuation of 拢2m. They will raise again next year, maybe 拢1.5-2m. “You’ll need to raise a lot more than that,” says Bartlett.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:44 pm
The biggest problem women face when returning to work is confidence, they say. “We are not just a jobs board.”
They team up with companies who are signed up to providing the pathway back into careers.
“Music to my ears,” says Meaden.
They are still in the testing phase.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:42 pm
They are asking for 拢75,000 for 3% to grow their platform and help more women access flexible, meaningful employment.
They use “behavioural nudge theory” to encourage people to return to work on the platform, where returners can find jobs with flexibility and other similar factors.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:40 pm
Sisters Lydia and Amelia from London are last to enter the Den with Ivee Jobs, an app connecting women returning to work with flexible, pre-vetted employers.
Inspired by their mother鈥檚 struggle to re-enter the workforce, the pair have built a community-driven marketplace with a back-to-work bootcamp, online courses and upskilling resources.聽
Is this the one the Dragons will invest in?
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:39 pm
Jones says their business is “asking people to come out and play”.
Wicks loves the outdoors aspect, having run classes in local parks, but he – and all the other dragons – are OUT.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:37 pm
A bit of a weird obstacle course to start with Meaden dodging sticks held by Wicks.
The duo are asking for 拢40,000 for 5% equity to grow their reach and encourage people to rediscover the joy of natural movement.
The numbers are low and they are part-time in the business.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:35 pm
Married couple Andrew Telfer and Gill Erksine present Wildstrong next, an outdoor fitness movement that champions 鈥榬eal-world strength鈥� over gym-based workouts.
Born from a group of friends training outdoors, Wildstrong has evolved into a structured program focused on skill, adaptability and community.聽
It offers in-person and online classes.
Published: October 9, 2025 at 8:34 pm
Bartlett is OUT.
Wicks likes the Gen-Z style branding and likes the idea of investing from an emotional perspective, but can’t see a path forward to profitability. He’s OUT.
Jones says they will have learned a lot about their branding today and praises where they have got to so far. But he’s OUT.
Suleyman advises them: “Don’t give up your day job. This is not investable. I’m OUT.”
Davies “invests in the entrepreneur, not the business… the product is great, but I won’t be investing in you”. She’s OUT.
Meaden says the product is muddled. She’s also OUT.
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