Ireland's population of angel investors is on the rise with 290 new members joining the Halo Business Angel Network.

More than €25m was invested in Irish start-ups by angel investors between April 2023 and December 2024, according to new data from Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN).

England men's football captain and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane has become a shareholder in Seat Unique, the premium ticketing platform on a mission to give fans official access to unforgettable live experiences.

Phlux Technology, a Sheffield-based infrared sensor startup, has raised £9 million in a Series A funding round led by BGF, to enable the next generation of fibre broadband connectivity. Existing investors Octopus Ventures, Northern Gritstone, and Foresight also participated.

AI-native AML compliance platform Flagright has closed a £3.3m seed round to further develop Flagright solutions and fund international expansion. The raise was led by Frontline Ventures, with contributions from a series of notable angel investors.

AI-powered financial crime can take many shapes. In one particular case, an employee at a Hong Kong-based institution was tricked into sending a fraudster some £20m, after a video call with what seemed to be their colleagues and CFO. Some experts estimate that today, around half of all bank scams involve AI in one shape or another. One report suggests that in 2023, deepfake instances in fintech increased by 700%.

HSBC Innovation Banking has today published its latest annual term sheet guide. These agreements outline the basic terms and conditions of a proposed investment, and the provisions included provide a unique window into the startup investment landscape.

In partnership with 27 leading law firms that advise on UK venture capital (VC) deals, the report analyses 588 completed term sheets with a combined value of £7.6 billion, comprising a third (33%) of UK VC deal volume, and 40% of total deal value in 2024.

MarTech startup POCKLA has raised £1.6 million to scale its proprietary AI-powered content strategy and creation platform in a seed funding round led by Venrex. Other high-profile investors and advisors joining the round include The Sidemen's VC arm Upside Ventures, Love Ventures, Shuttle, and Syndicate Room, plus a wealth of industry heavyweights including Rich Waterworth, formerly at TikTok, Dan Cobley, previously Head of Google UK/Ireland, and Michael Chock and Ryan Quinn, formerly at MiQ.

Castlemere (DK) Limited is a fast-growing Private Residential Real Estate Developer already responsible for several successful projects.

It creates aspirational and affordable modular penthouse living environments for the private residential market across London and the Southeast.

Its Current project is Vision House in Wimbledon, SW London, a collection of 1,2 and 3 bed residences.

Click here to find out more and how to invest. 

Bioniq, which is renowned for its personalized nutritional supplements based on blood biomarker data, has signed up football star Diogo Dalot, right-back for Manchester United and the Portugal national team, as an investor, contributing over €1 million.

Dalot joins the global football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, who became a major investor in 2024, and brought Bioniq's total valuation to $82 million. Dalot's investment marks another milestone in Bioniq's mission to make personalized health accessible to athletes and everyday individuals worldwide.

Qlarifi, a fintech start-up transforming credit reporting for Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), has completed a pre-seed funding round backed by a combination of HoneyComb Asset Management, Carthona Capital and a selection of angel investors including Australian rugby legend John Eales, raised $1.8m USD to accelerate the company's mission of bringing repayment transparency to the BNPL industry.

UK agritech startup Elaniti has closed its recent funding round with participation from early-stage biotech investor biotope by VIB, Planetary Impact Ventures and Paulig Group's CVC arm, PINC.

Komodo Energy, the Cambridge based software company tackling the energy grid challenge of electrifying heat, has raised £340,000 from investors who deeply understand energy flexibility markets and have backed other critical energy flexibility players at their earliest stages such as Electron, Piclo and Ev Energy.

Bolt Cover, a pioneering insurtech company, has successfully raised £380,000 through FundMyPitch (FMP), marking 19% of its current funding round.  The company, founded by Jamie Hamer, is transforming the insurance industry with a scalable and transparent approach to asset protection.