Newsletter: VC Breakfast Club

/deals

🚗 Wrisk raises €13.9M Series B to expand its embedded vehicle insurance platform across Europe. Backed by Mundi Ventures and Opera Tech Ventures, the UK startup powers insurance for major OEMs with data-driven, white-label solutions.

💡 Plexāā raises $4.5M to launch BLOOM, a wearable device reducing complications in breast cancer surgery. Backed by THENA Capital and TCP Health Ventures, the medtech startup aims to set a new standard in surgical preconditioning and prehabilitation.

🍹 Goodrays raises €5.7M to scale its CBD drinks brand and hires ex-Liquid Death exec Ben Dando as MD. Backed by Guinness Ventures and celebrity investors, the UK startup is doubling revenue, securing major retail wins, and preparing for UK CBD regulation reform.

✈️ Brighton-based 15below has acquired Airport AI to unify passenger communication across airlines and airports. The deal blends AI-driven service with automated alerts, aiming to streamline operations and enhance the travel experience.

🤖 Gradient Labs raises £9.6M to supercharge AI customer agents for regulated sectors. Backed by Monzo’s ex-CEO, the startup claims 90% query resolution with 98% accuracy—cutting support costs by 75% for fintechs under pressure.

🧪 Lab Thread, founded by OXGENE’s Ryan Cawood, raises £750K to reinvent lab data management. Backed by Mercia Ventures, the platform tackles messy research workflows with flexible, cost-effective software tailored for real-world lab complexity.

📊 Eventwise raises £525K led by Fuel Ventures to streamline event budgeting. Its platform replaces spreadsheets with real-time tracking, smart forecasting, and financial clarity for growing teams planning complex events.

🦵 Movetru raised $1.9M to prevent sports injuries with AI wearables. The startup’s kit gives real-time biomechanical feedback, bringing elite movement diagnostics to grassroots athletes and schools. Backers include Angel Academe and Two Magnolias.

🧪 Optibrium secures multi-million-pound growth financing from Shawbrook to scale its AI drug discovery tools. With backing from Kester Capital, the Cambridge startup will expand globally and enhance generative chemistry and 3D modelling tech.

🧠 London-based ScienceMachine lands $3.5M to scale its autonomous AI bioinformatician, Sam. The agent automates complex biotech data analysis, cutting discovery timelines from months to hours for pharma and research labs. Backed by Revent and Nucleus.

/funds

💰 The UK launches a £500M package to back diverse fund managers and underrepresented founders. With £50M earmarked for female-led VCs, the British Business Bank aims to shift capital access and talent pipelines as part of its 2026 growth strategy.

/tech

• 🤝 UK and France launch supercomputing pact to scale AI. The cross-Channel partnership links Bristol and Paris centres to boost compute capacity and AI research, renewing ties amid rising global tech competition.

/flywheel

• 🧠 UK launches $1M open-source AI fellowship to modernise public services. Backed by Meta and run by the Alan Turing Institute, the 12-month program will embed top AI engineers into government to build tools for planning, security, and service delivery.

• 📈 UK tech leaders predict M&A surge in 2025. A Browne Jacobson survey of 380 execs shows 59% expect deal activity to rise, driven by AI adoption and private equity appetite - even amid global uncertainty.

/breakfast

• -1 to 1: Are VCs moving earlier?

• How ElevenLabs took over AI Audio in a whisper

• 6 female VCs you need to know

📸 /techbrunch

Every week I use AI to reimagine a tech story from the week.

This week, Windsurf’s CEO goes to Google; OpenAI’s acquisition falls apart. I imagine the Windsurf team-members left out of the upside in this financial wrangling.

• Caption this in comments?