British oral care brand Waken (www.wakencare.com) is shaking up the industry with a major new signing: much loved TV and radio broadcaster, podcaster and number one bestselling author, Rylan.

UK-based startup Matoha, manufacturers of AI-powered material identification scanners, have completed a first phase of Seed funding which will enable them to solve the problem of textiles sorting for recycling. The round was led by Archipelago Ventures and the Circular Plastics Accelerator with additional investment from Conduit Connect, British Design Fund, Fashion for Good and others.

Returnal Ltd, a tech-driven platform enabling retailers to take ownership of their secondary markets through seamless trade-in solutions, has successfully closed a £300,000 funding round. The round was led by SFC Capital with additional backing from British Business Investments and three angel investors.

CRESS, a pioneering pre-loved school uniform platform, has successfully raised £234,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by GC Angels, alongside One Planet Capital and a group of angel investors.

Cult Mia, the London-based online fashion marketplace that is redefining luxury retail, has announced a significant milestone following its latest Seed Funding investment round, led by Fuel Ventures, H&M Group Ventures, and other backers. This commitment comes off the back of a year of exceptional growth, with the company's topline tripling as Net Revenue rose by 191% year-over-year, exceeding annual forecasts by 4%.

Waken Mouthcare, a next generation oral care brand creating innovative, award-winning mouthcare products, has closed its latest funding on Republic (formerly Seedrs), raising more than £950,500 from 215 investors in 36 days.

Seneca Partners, the North West-based private equity and investment manager, has successfully exited its investment in 23.5 Degrees, the UK’s largest Starbucks franchise, generating a 7.5x return for their investors from the transaction.

Black & Beech, a Cardiff-based online sustainable fashion retailer is expanding with new ranges of ethically sourced clothing and eco-friendly accessories following an investment by the Development Bank of Wales.

Aura Life, a provider of funeral services and funeral plan sales, has secured a £350,000 equity investment from the Coast to Capital Growth Fund via appointed fund manager, The FSE Group. The £2+million funding round, which also includes investments from the Oxford Innovation Fund and the FSE Investor Network, will support business growth including the creation of 16 new jobs.

Polish pet sitting and pet care startup Petsy has raised more than €1.1 million in funding from business angels.

Heidi, a fast-growing online tour operator specialising in flexible ski holidays, has raised £5.6m in a funding round led by Mercia Ventures with participation from Active Partners and private investors.

Heidi’s technology allows customers complete flexibility to create their own bespoke package. They can choose from over 6,000 accommodation options in over 400 resorts, select the date of departure and length of stay and sort by features such as quantity of snow or proximity to slope. Customers can also book group holidays that allow members to fly from different locations, and extras such as lift passes and ski hire.

Angel-backed fine wine investment platform WineFi has appointed Oliver Thorpe as their Operations Director.

Thorpe, who previously led operations at Sequoia-backed start-up Nomio, previously worked alongside WineFi's Callum Woodcock.