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The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) is modernising how music played in public is tracked, reported and used for royalty distributions through its expanded partnership with technology provider , leader of our latest MediaTech 50 ranking.

Following the successful launch of the collaboration in May 2024, IMRO and Audoo have strengthened their work together to bring greater transparency, accuracy and ease to how background music usage is reported across Ireland.

Live music reporting was also deployed across a number of music festivals in Ireland throughout 2025. IMRO is an early adopter of music recognition technology, integrating anonymised data collected through Audoo鈥檚 systems directly into its royalty processing operations.

At the centre of this innovation is the Audoo Audio Meter, a discreet, plug-in device that automatically identifies and securely reports music played in public environments. This real-world data helps ensure that royalties are distributed accurately and fairly to rightsholders.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Australian scaleup AutoGrab has raised 拢40 million, co-led by UK investor Octopus Ventures, to expand into the UK and across Europe.

The Melbourne-founded automotive data intelligence platform said the Series B capital raise values the company at around 拢116m and follows co-founder Chris Gardner’s relocation to London.

The funding will accelerate AutoGrab’s expansion across the UK and Europe while deepening its position in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.

UK FinTech Vennre has raised 拢7 million pre-Series A funding to expand in the MENA region.

The wealth creation platform aims to enable HENRYs – High Earners, Not Rich Yet – to access private market opportunities.

The round, a hybrid of equity and debt structure, was co-led by Vision Ventures and anb seed Fund, with participation from Sanabil 500, Ace & Co, Plus VC, and strategic individual investors from the private banking, technology and entrepreneurship ecosystems.

Raylo, developer of subscription infrastructure for electronics brands, has announced a partnership with LG alongside a 拢30m fundraise which will accelerate its expansion across device categories and international markets.

The partnership enables UK customers to access LG鈥檚 premium TV and audio products on a subscription, offering lower monthly prices and the flexibility to upgrade as new technology comes to market.

Building on collaborations with Dyson, PlayStation and Apple, Raylo enables major brands like LG to launch and scale their own subscription offerings on its proprietary infrastructure, spanning AI-based credit underwriting, financing and device lifecycle management.聽

Author: Jonathan Symcox

Partners at YFM Equity Partners have completed a management buyout of the private equity firm.

Managing partner Jamie Roberts led the MBO alongside Eamon Nolan, head of fundraising and investor relations, and COO Marcus Karia.

The trio have bought Dave Hall and David Bell, the leaders of a previous MBO 13 years ago, out of the business.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Manchester FinTech Powdr has partnered with managed IT services and technology solutions specialist Red Rock, as the business looks to help scaling companies make better decisions backed by stronger systems.

The collaboration brings together two companies on GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub鈥檚 ASCEND scaleup programme.

The partnership will see Powdr provide financial clarity and forecasting, while Red Rock ensures the technology underpinning it is secure, scalable and well supported.

This is in an attempt to reduce friction for growing teams and free up time to focus on running the business.

Author: Jonathan Symcox

A new report from the Invest in Women Taskforce has found that the number of women angel investors has risen 60% in three years.

However the rise from 5,000 in 2022 to more than 8,000 today only equates to 14.1% of the 50,000 total angel population – just 0.1% higher than three years ago.

The Women Angel Investors report was compiled in collaboration with Beauhurst and the UK 老九品茶 Angels Association.

ElevenLabs has launched The Eleven Album, a new AI-powered musical release created in collaboration with a roster of high-profile artists.

The company has used its Eleven Music model to generate fully original, studio-quality compositions.聽

Spanning genres including rap, pop, R&B, EDM and cinematic scoring, the project brings together established names such as Liza Minnelli, Art Garfunkel and Michael Feinstein, alongside producers and next-generation creators exploring new ways to make music with AI.

The London unicorn said artists used the technology in different ways, from generating compositions to write over, to experimenting with new genres or speeding up production, with every track described as fully original.

Zenith Energy has strengthened the legal team supporting its claimant subsidiaries in ongoing arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Tunisia.

The AIM-listed international energy production and development company has appointed Andrea Pinna, a partner at international disputes firm Pinna Goldberg, to support its case being brought before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the UK-Tunisia Bilateral Investment Treaty.

Pinna, who is based across Paris, London, Washington and Dubai, specialises in international commercial and investment arbitration and has acted in more than 50 arbitration proceedings across sectors including oil and gas, joint ventures and M&A disputes.

The wider legal team is being led by Professor Thomas Clay alongside other counsel from Charles Russell Speechlys Paris and Essex Court Chambers.

Hargreave Hale AIM VCT has launched a new fundraising offer of up to 拢30 million, made up of a 拢20m raise and a 拢10m overallotment.

The VCT currently has 拢129.5m in net assets and a portfolio of more than 54 companies, but said the prolonged decline in AIM valuations has pushed it into a more diversified mix of holdings including Marlborough-managed equity funds and blue chip bonds.

Over the five years to December 2025, the VCT delivered a NAV (net asset value) total return of -39.5%, while continuing to target an annual dividend equivalent to 5% of NAV.

Wealth Club鈥檚 Nicholas Hyett said the sell-off in AIM has damaged most AIM-focused VCTs, but argued it has also left Hargreave Hale with a lower-risk portfolio, with 17.6% in main market listed companies and 16.4% in blue chip bonds.

MyARC has launched a next-generation platform designed to help fitness creators scale, monetise and grow their businesses, while also confirming a $2 million funding round backed by Araya Ventures, Morgan Stanley, Techstars and G Fund.聽

Founded by Peter Monteza, alongside co-founders Nikhil Shah and Arohan Subramonia, the platform aims to solve a long-standing challenge in online fitness by enabling creators to deliver personalised training and nutrition plans at scale.

The new platform includes tools for automated personalisation, no-code app creation, subscription-based monetisation and always-on community engagement, helping creators grow revenue and serve more users globally.聽

The London-headquartered startup has already supported creators generating millions in platform earnings and attracted thousands of daily active users worldwide.聽

The company said the new funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand creator tools and support international growth.

Formula E has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud, naming the tech giant as its new principal artificial intelligence partner in a multi-year agreement designed to accelerate innovation across the championship.

Building on an official partnership first signed in January 2025, the deal will see Formula E integrate more Google Cloud technologies, including Gemini models, to improve performance, streamline operations and enhance the fan experience globally.

Formula E has already used Google鈥檚 AI tools to support projects such as the 鈥淢ountain Recharge鈥� initiative and has rolled out a new strategy agent in live broadcasts to deliver real-time insights and predictions for viewers.

Ceryx Medical has appointed Mark Strong, a medical devices executive with decades of global leadership experience in heart failure therapy development, to its board of directors.

Strong has held senior roles including VP of R&D at Abbott, Boston Scientific and HeartWare, and was most recently CEO of Heart Failure Solutions, bringing expertise in developing and commercialising cardiovascular technologies.

The appointment comes after the business completed a successful first-in-human trial of its cardiac rhythm management device, which is designed to improve the efficiency of the failing heart and activate the body鈥檚 own repair mechanisms.聽

Heart failure affects more than 20 million people across Europe and the US and remains the leading cause of hospitalisation in those over 65, with around half of patients dying within five years of diagnosis.

Ceryx, which is headquartered in Cardiff, has attracted backing from MedTech investors including BGF, ParkWalk and the Development Bank of Wales.

It works to develop bioelectronic devices that restore the body鈥檚 natural pacing rhythms and improve outcomes for patients worldwide.

The UK Government is investing 拢36 million to boost the computing power of the University of Cambridge鈥檚 DAWN supercomputer by six times, in a move aimed at helping researchers and tech startups develop the next generation of AI tools.聽

The upgrade will support the national AI Research Resource (AIRR) programme, which provides free access to high-performance compute for UK innovators and is expected to go live from Spring 2026.聽

The expanded system will also give researchers access to AMD鈥檚 latest MI355X AI chips, integrated by Dell Technologies, enabling larger models, bigger datasets and more ambitious projects

Altrincham-based marketing agency The Genius Group has made a string of new hires following a period of rapid growth and expansion.

The appointments come as the business settles into its new headquarters at Foundation on George Street, a move designed to support a growing team as the agency scales.

New joiners include Gemma Barlow, who arrived in November as head of people from LADbible Group, alongside January hires Ben Herbert as senior video producer and Ben Taylor as a Shopify and e-commerce developer.聽

Georgina Goldman has also joined the company鈥檚 Valid8 team as sales administration assistant, with further recruitment across office support, development/UX and marketing.

Founded in 2017 by Chris Niebel and Mark Shephard, the business has grown from six staff to more than 40 and is planning to build a team of more than 100 this year.聽

The agency has driven more than 拢2.3 billion in client sales over the past three years and has now surpassed 拢100,000 in charity donations, including a 拢42,000 gift to Prevent Breast Cancer at the opening of its new office.

Oxford BioDynamics has confirmed that Stephen Diggle has stepped down as a director of the AIM-listed precision diagnostics company.

Diggle, who has served as a non-executive director for nine years, had previously indicated his intention to leave the board ahead of the company鈥檚 AGM.

The company added that Vulpes Investment Management, which is controlled by Diggle, remains its largest shareholder through the Vulpes Testudo Fund and Vulpes Life Sciences Fund.

LendInvest鈥檚 funds under management (FuM) have risen to 拢5.44 billion.聽

The update comes shortly after a new 拢250 million bridging funding partnership with Castlelake, which the business said will support its bridging proposition and provide greater flexibility for UK property investors.

Assets under management stood at 拢3.61bn as of 31st December 2025, with total originations now exceeding 拢9bn since inception.聽

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the listed company originated 拢360 million of lending, including 拢150m in December alone.

S4 Capital鈥檚 full-year 2025 performance came in ahead of revised guidance and above market expectations, with results set to be published in March.聽

The digital advertising and marketing group expects like-for-like net revenue to fall by around 8.5%, while delivering an operational EBITDA margin of about 12%, ahead of consensus forecasts of 拢664 million net revenue and 拢75m EBITDA.聽

It also reported a sharp improvement in liquidity, with net debt expected to be below both the 拢133m consensus and its previously guided range of 拢100m-拢140m, helped by tighter treasury and working capital management.聽

Executive chair Sir Martin Sorrell said there is still more work to do on growth and margins in 2026, but confirmed the board intends to recommend a 1p dividend.

The London-based MarTech鈥檚 shares have risen by nearly 40% to 26.5p in the first two hours of trading today.

Venture Life has reported a sharp uplift in revenue for 2025, as the AIM-listed consumer healthcare group continued to focus on scaling its core portfolio of branded products.聽

The Berkshire-based company delivered revenues of 拢35.1 million, up 32% year-on-year, with proforma growth of 11.1% driven mainly by higher volumes sold.聽

Growth was led by its 鈥減ower brands鈥� range, including Balance Activ, Lift/Glucogel, Earol and Health & Her/Him, with the business performing strongly after increased investment in advertising and promotion.

Author: Patrick Killeen

London-based AI video creation platform Synthesia has raised $200 million (拢146m) in a new funding round led by Google Ventures (GV), pushing its valuation to $4 billion.

The investment makes the business one of the UK鈥檚 most valuable AI companies and follows a prior 拢146m Series D round in January 2025.

That round valued the company at $2.1bn and its latest deal highlights the rapid rise of the now-UK giant amid the AI boom.

The latest round also saw participation from Evantic, the venture fund founded by former Sequoia partner Matt Miller, and Hedosophia.

Other existing investors NVentures (NVIDIA鈥檚 venture capital arm), Accel, Kleiner Perkins, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), PSP Growth, Air Street Capital and MMC Ventures also participated.

As part of the transaction, the business will also facilitate an employee secondary sale in partnership with NASDAQ at a $4bn valuation.