Needi Secures £1.4 Million to Revolutionise Corporate Gifting

Manchester-based startup needi has raised £1.4 million in seed funding to scale its innovative corporate gifting platform. Founded in 2021 by Louise Doyle and Steph Scholes, the female-led company connects businesses to unique, sustainable products from local suppliers, offering an eco-conscious alternative to traditional corporate gifts.

Driven by a mission to support local businesses and promote sustainability, needi has already generated over £1 million in sales for its partners. Its AI-powered platform curates bespoke gifts and branded merchandise tailored to clients’ sustainability goals. Major names like Meta, Spotify, Intuit QuickBooks, and Amazon are among the startup's growing client base.

The funding, secured from investors including Clarendon Fund Managers and Techstart Ventures, will enable needi to expand rapidly, particularly during peak gifting seasons. Reflecting on their journey, co-founder Louise Doyle said: “We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far given the barriers that female founders face when fundraising. This investment will not only enable us to grow but also to continue our support of local, independent businesses and sourcing sustainable corporate gifts and branded merchandise.”

Needi’s rise is a testament to perseverance in a male-dominated venture capital landscape, with angel investors—many of whom are exited tech founders and senior executives—playing a key role in their success.

Claudine Owens, investment manager at Clarendon Fund Managers, praised the company’s approach: “Needi’s seamless, tech-driven solution to sourcing high-quality, unique gifts has the potential to revolutionise corporate gifting strategies. I am delighted to be working with both Louise and Steph on the exciting journey ahead.”

With its founders’ vision and focus on sustainability, needi is redefining the corporate gifting space, empowering businesses to make socially conscious choices.

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Manchester's Silveray Secures £4 Million to Evolve X-Ray Technology

Manchester-based X-ray technology company, Silveray, has raised a £4 million seed investment round led by Northern Gritstone. The funding will accelerate the development of Silveray’s innovative digital X-ray technology, aiming for a 2025 product launch.

Founded by Prof Ravi Silva CBE in 2018, Silveray's investment round also saw participation from renowned deep tech investors such as Empirical Ventures, Deeptech Labs, Hamamatsu Ventures, and ACF Investors. This influx of capital will enable Silveray to finalise its first DXF product, designed to digitise radiographic film for industrial users.

Silveray’s CEO, Dan Cathie, highlighted the company’s mission to modernise the traditional X-ray process. By converting X-rays into digital images at the point of use, Silveray aims to eliminate the need for film development and storage.

Founded at the University of Surrey and now based in Greater Manchester, Silveray has leveraged the region’s strong talent pool and resources to develop its cutting-edge technology. The company has collaborated closely with X-ray specialists at the University of Manchester and other leading institutions to refine its direct conversion detectors.

Northern Gritstone, a key investor in Silveray, has been instrumental in supporting the company’s growth. Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, expressed confidence in Silveray’s potential to disrupt the analog X-ray market and praised the team’s entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approach.

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Little Journey Raises £6M Series A for Paediatric Healthtech Expansion

Healthtech company Little Journey has announced the closure of a £6 million Series A funding round, led by venture capital firm Par Equity. Other contributors included Mercia Ventures, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, Octopus Ventures, Calm/Storm Ventures, and angel investors with healthcare and life sciences expertise.

The funding is aimed at supporting Little Journey’s global expansion, particularly in the US healthcare market, as well as enhancing its platform's capabilities. Planned developments include scalable content, data interoperability, and robust infrastructure, with the goal of enabling healthcare organisations to adopt more patient-focused, data-driven approaches in paediatric care.

Founded in 2018, Little Journey offers personalised psychological support to children undergoing medical procedures and has partnerships with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies across 11 countries. The platform currently supports 12 procedures, including MRI scans and mental health assessments, with plans to expand its offerings.

Chris Evans, Co-Founder and CEO, stated that the investment would help address challenges in paediatric clinical trials, such as low recruitment and completion rates, by providing targeted support for families.

Par Equity’s Investment Manager, Elizabeth Young, emphasised the need for tailored technologies in paediatric care and highlighted Little Journey’s potential to meet this demand.

In addition to the Series A funding, Little Journey has secured grant funding of £2.09 million from the LEGO Foundation and £493,000 from SBRI Healthcare. These grants will be used to improve accessibility for children with disabilities and develop solutions for neurodivergent children.

The company plans to continue its expansion efforts while advancing its technology to support both healthcare providers and families.

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Snowplow Expands Leadership Team with Key Appointments to Drive AI Innovation and Customer Success

Snowplow, a global leader in customer data infrastructure (CDI) Founded by Alex Dean and Yali Sassoon, has announced the addition of two senior executives at its Boston headquarters: Todd Boes as Chief Product Officer (CPO) and Larry Simmons as Senior Vice President of Technical Services. The appointments aim to accelerate AI-driven product innovation and enhance technical services for Snowplow’s growing enterprise customer base.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Todd Boes and Larry Simmons to Snowplow’s leadership team,” said Alex Dean, CEO of Snowplow. “Todd’s extensive expertise in adtech, martech, and data platforms will bolster product innovation that unlocks exponential business value for our customers, while Larry’s deep knowledge of AI and cloud technology strengthens our ability to deliver world-class technical services to customers integrating Snowplow into their strategic AI roadmaps.”

Todd Boes: Chief Product Officer

Bringing over 30 years of experience, Boes has a proven track record as a strategic product leader in data technology, having held senior roles at Genscape, Swirl Networks, Yahoo, and Sybase. With a career spanning adtech, martech, IoT, and enterprise software, he has been instrumental in driving innovation across category-leading companies and holds eight awarded software patents. Boes shared his enthusiasm for joining Snowplow:

“I’m excited to contribute to Snowplow’s mission of empowering organisations to harness the full potential of their customer behavioural data. I look forward to expanding our product capabilities to deepen our customers’ competitive advantage in the age of AI.”

Larry Simmons: Senior Vice President of Technical Services

Simmons will lead Snowplow’s global technical services team, fostering a customer-centric culture and ensuring exceptional support for enterprise clients. With a strong technical background in AI, SaaS, PaaS, and digital transformation from roles at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, HqO, Tamr, and Acquia, Simmons is well-positioned to enhance Snowplow’s service offerings. Commenting on his new role, Simmons said:

“My focus will be on fostering a customer-centric culture that empowers our clients to achieve their goals through innovative solutions that drive value for their business.”

About Snowplow

Snowplow enables organisations to unlock the value of customer behavioral data to fuel AI-driven analytics and real-time experiences. Trusted by companies like Burberry, Strava, Auto Trader, and DPG Media, Snowplow provides a platform for collecting, managing, and operationalising real-time data in a governed cloud environment. Thousands of businesses rely on Snowplow to uncover customer insights, predict behaviours, personalise experiences, and detect fraud.

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iD Mobile Hits 2M Subscribers with Apadmi’s Digital Innovation

Digital product expert Apadmi has supported iD Mobile, Currys’ award-winning mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), in enhancing the digital experience for its rapidly expanding customer base, now exceeding 2 million subscribers. The collaboration has resulted in a new iOS and Android app, launched earlier this year, which has already surpassed 1 million customer registrations.

iD Mobile, recognised as a "great value" network by Which? for three consecutive evaluations, attributes its success to its blend of affordability, flexibility, and feature-rich services. Over the past year, the network has grown by 488,000 subscribers, reinforcing its position as a leading value-focused provider in the UK market.

Rohit Vedi, Managing Director of iD Mobile, commented: "Reaching 2 million subscribers is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team. Our partnership with Apadmi reflects our shared commitment to delivering seamless and innovative customer experiences.”

Apadmi, founded by mobile industry experts: Garry Partington, Nick Black , Adam Fleming and Howard Simms is known for creating transformative digital solutions for brands like Domino’s, Co-op, and the NHS, sees this collaboration as a pivotal opportunity. Nick Black, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Apadmi, said:"We’re thrilled to help iD Mobile enhance its digital offerings. Together, we’re pushing the boundaries of customer experience, and we’re excited about the possibilities ahead."

The partnership highlights how technology-driven innovation can fuel growth in the highly competitive telecom sector.

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Manchester PropTech Firm Street Group Secures £3.3m to Fuel AI-Powered Innovation

Manchester-based property technology company Street Group has secured a £3.3 million investment from Praetura Ventures. This funding, which includes support from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) – Praetura Equity Finance, will fuel further development of Street Group's AI-powered software solutions for estate agents.

Founded in 2015 by siblings Thomson and Heather Staff, Street Group provides two core offerings: Spectre, an all-in-one marketing platform, and Street.co.uk, a CRM system designed to streamline sales, lettings, property management, and client accounting.

Street Group's solutions leverage AI to automate tasks and improve agent efficiency. Notably, Spectre's "Propensity to Sell" model predicts when a property might enter the market, enhancing marketing campaign effectiveness. Similarly, Street.co.uk employs AI for tasks like property listing generation, image enhancement, and tenant maintenance triaging.

This latest funding will allow Street Group to accelerate product development, expand its team, and further integrate advanced AI functionalities into its suite of solutions. The company currently supports over 4,000 estate agents across the UK and aims to become the go-to choice for forward-thinking agents seeking to deliver exceptional customer service in a modern and efficient manner.

"Our family has deep roots in the property industry," said Heather Staff, co-founder of Street Group. "We see the manual processes that agents face firsthand. This investment from Praetura allows us to accelerate our agent-centric approach and ensure Street customers are the agents of choice for homebuyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants."

Praetura Ventures investment director Peter Carway echoed Staff's sentiment. "This deal exemplifies the strength of investment in the region," he said. "Street Group is using advanced AI to drive innovation in a sector-altering way.  We are excited to join the business and support their continued growth."

Street Group's success to date highlights the potential of AI to transform the estate agency sector. This latest investment paves the way for further innovation and market expansion, ultimately benefitting both estate agents and their clients.

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Hoseasons Breaks Records in 2024 with 'Holiday Snacking' Trend

Hoseasons has announced a record-breaking year, with 2.4 million holidaymakers projected to book stays by the end of 2024, marking the most successful year in the company's 80-year history.

Key to this success is the growing trend of 'holiday snacking,' where consumers opt for more frequent, shorter breaks. According to the self-catering specialist, the proportion of short stays (two to five nights) has risen from two-thirds to over three-quarters of bookings in the past decade.

Gemma Brown, Hoseasons’ general manager, highlighted that value for money is a driving factor: “Spreading out a series of shorter breaks is a fantastic way to manage costs while enjoying more throughout the year.”

Destinations like Devon have surged in popularity, surpassing Cornwall, with shorter travel times cited as a key factor for time-conscious travelers. Marketing efforts, including partnerships with influencers Paris Fury and Josie Gibson, have also contributed to a strong year, showcasing the benefits of staycations.

This performance underscores what Brown describes as the “enduring appeal of the Great British holiday” and the importance of evolving to meet consumer preferences.

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