London Brief #18: GV back in London, 18 EF’s startups and a restaurant in Swiss Alps.

Streetbees, a market research platform, has raised $5.1m seed round led by BGF Ventures. Read more in today’s issue.

People

David Krane brings Alphabet’s Google Ventures back to Europe investing £20m into a London fintech firm CurrencyCloud, which facilities cross-border payments for online companies. By the way, it seems that GV is no more HealthTech only.

The Chancellor Philip Hammond has delivered his Spring Budget with £270m for “disruptive technologies” such as biotech, robotics and AI. The government has also unveiled its 5G strategy.

In the news

USPAAH, a spa concierge service, has taken the Tube and Twitter with its adverts interpreted by some as sexist, and its hashtag #saveyourself has been hijacked by angry commuters. USPAAH surely saved themselves a lot of cash with additional awareness and national press coverage.

Entrepreneurs First’s Demo Day hosted 18 startups:

• Eyn, an advanced facial recognition software to transform smartphones into biometric ID devices
• Sentient, a machine learning technology to help call centre agents deal with customers
• Oilfront, a fuel marketplace for shipping companies
• Scalia, an e-commerce product data platform
• Observe, an AI solution for managing fish farms
• Transformative, an AI-based predictive healthcare solution
• Proportunity, a machine learning for real estate market forecast
• Multiply, an AI used to provide financial advice
• Optimal Labs, an AI for farming in greenhouses
• Scape, an AR 3D-mapping company
• Lendr, reverse-auctions for mortgages
• Plotist, a story-telling content production platform for writers
• Marble, a manufacturer of autonomous electric aircraft
• Creative, an AI platform to replace social media marketing teams
• ThinkSono, a PoC ultrasound based solution for diagnosing deep vein thrombosis
• Predina, an AI-powered risk-analysis system for autonomous vehicles
• Selerio a platform for video monetisation with real-time targeted product placement
• Phoelex, a manufacturer of better transceivers for data centres.

Eye Candies

The creative agency Mother Design lands in London’s Shoreditch with Christian Cervantes as creative director.

London Design Week, the best and biggest yet, is taking place at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.

Studio Seilern Architects are planning a new restaurant at the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps.

Business as usual

• Atom Bank, a mobile-first app-based UK bank, has received £83m from its shareholders including Spanish BBVA for further expansion; Will.i.am, a tech-enthusiastic Black Eyed Peas rapper is helping Atom Bank to further differentiate itself in the market
• Garrison Technology Limited, a cybersecurity company, has announced the closure of a £12m Series A round led by Touchstone Innovations
• LoopMe, an AI-driven mobile video advertising startup, has secured $10m in a continuation of its Series A funding round
• Cloud.IQ, a conversion rate optimisation platform, has closed £4m Series A round led by Nauta Capital

Number of the day

18: startups that pitched on EF’s Demo Day.

Idea

London Brief is a weekly selection of essential information about startups, technology and the business scene in London. Got news? Give us a shout at londonbrief@netguru.co.

Radek Zaleski

On behalf of the London Brief Team