5D mapping, plant-based food and recruitment software in this week’s MaddyMoney

Hibob bags $150M for growth of HR managing software

HR startup Hibob has raised $150M in a Series C round led by General Atlantic. The London based startup offers a cloud based HR managing software, which can carry out various human resources functions on one platform.

The investment, which takes the company’s total valuation to around $1.65B, will be used to drive international growth and develop the existing base.

Existing investors, including Bessemer Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, Eight Roads and Entrée Capital also participated in the round.

Gigged AI secures £600K investment to scale growth in $2.7T talent platform industry

Tech startup Gigged.AI has closed a £600K round to drive growth within the global AI talent marketplace.

The round, which was led by early-stage venture capital firm Techstart Ventures, will be used to expand the company’s team to 14 colleagues, with a focus on building its sales and customer success teams. The startup will also invest in developing the innovative technologies necessary for future product launches and growth within the talent platform industry, a market expected to be worth $2.7T by 2025.

CEO of Gigged.AI, Rich Wilson said: “Since our launch in July 2021, the response to our product has surpassed our expectations and confirmed there is a substantial market for our proposition at a time when how we work is changing.”

Occuity bags almost £3M investment to develop new medtech for diabetics

Occuity has raised £2.85M in a crowdfunding round to drive development of a non-contact, optical glucode meter. The Occuity Indigo will allow the nearly 5M people in the UK with diabetes to monitor their blood sugar levels through a simple eye scan.

The round, which was carried out on crowdfunding platform Seedrs is the largest MedTech financing deal led on the platform. The company’s original £1.8M target was smashed within 24 hours.

CEO and Cofounder Dr. Dan Daly said: “Diabetes is a growing, global problem and we believe our technology will enable health services throughout the world to monitor and screen for diabetes, improving the clinical outcomes for the hundreds of millions of people who are unaware they have pre-diabetes or diabetes.”

He added: “We’re delighted to have become the largest ever MedTech raise on Seedrs with over 850 investors from 37 countries, sharing our vision.”

Belfast-based company behind 5D mapping system bags £750K to create 20 new jobs 

3DEO, the startup developing interactive 5D mapping platforms, has raised £750K from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF).

The company makes it easier to monitor complex infrastructure. It was initially used by the Port of Belfast to monitor and manage dredging of the seabed, but has now been used by the ports of Dublin, Warrenpoint and Cork and by Forth Ports at seven of its ports in Scotland. BT has also adopted the technology for 5G projects.

The funding will be used to drive develop the product, take on new client projects and create 20 new jobs in the North East in the next three years.

The Belfast-based CEO, Andrew MacPherson says the system has the potential to be used across the marine, utilities and environmental sectors.

“3DEO integrates data from different sources in a way that is easy to understand. By creating a model that everyone can use – even non-technical staff such as operations managers or finance directors – it enables them to assess their options and make better decisions,” he said.

The Craftory invests in plant-based, chef-to-customer delivery service allplants

Plant-based food delivery service, allplants, has secured £38M from The Craftory, the global investment house attracted to mission-driven consumer brands. The startup will use the funding to drive growth and product development, as well as expand the team and develop new distribution networks. The investment will also be used to increase the size of the plant-based kitchen in London.

Founder and CEO of allplants, Jonathan Petrides, said: “With demand for plant-based food exploding, partnering with The Craftory will help bring the movement to more plant-curious kitchens, and accelerate the impact it will have on the future of our planet.”

Cofounder of The Craftory, Elio Leoni Sceti, added: “Here at The Craftory we aim to amplify brands and products that offer regular people a better choice, which is why we are thrilled that allplants will be joining our portfolio of purpose driven brands. JP and the allplants team have created a brilliant product that makes eating vegan food fun, easy and fuss-free. We’re so excited to help develop their brand further.”

Tech platform designed to make booking business events easy bags £2M

Event technology platform HeadBox has raised £2M in a round led by Deepbridge Capital. The funding, which takes the total funding to £13.2M, will be used to drive post-pandemic growth and international expansion, particularly in the United States.

The startup allows business leaders to plan meetings and events easily by booking and managing everything on one platform.

Andrew Needham, CEO and founder, said: “HeadBox is on a mission to reinvent the global events industry through technology. The global pandemic has accelerated the need for digital transformation and with it, the need for our software has become a ‘must’, not just a ‘nice to have.’”

He added: “Covid has brought additional complexities and considerations to the events sector, resulting in major corporations now having to do more than ever before but potentially with fewer people and less budget.”

Satellite scale-up raises £15M to launch new satellites into space

UK satellite scale-up Satellite Vu has raised £15M ($20.7 million) to drive the development of satellite technology which will tackle real global challenges. The round was led by spacetech fund Seraphim Space Investment Trust Plc, alongside leading venture capital firm, Draper Esprit.

It will be used to drive plans to launch seven thermal and infrared imaging satellites into space. The satellites will be able to provide real-time data on how green our buildings are.

London-based property fintech raises $105M to get families on the property ladder

London-based Proportunity has raised £105M through debt and equity funding to help more families get on the property ladder. The fintech helps buyers to afford homes with only a 5% deposit.

The round, which was led by VentureFriends and Kibo Ventures, alongside existing investors, will also be used to expand the team.

Vadim Toader, Proportunity CEO and co-founder said: “We’re delighted with the success of this latest investment round which will enable us to help thousands of people in the UK own their first home or progress up the property ladder. In the UK there is a £100-200K gap between what buyers want and what they can afford, mainly caused by maximum income/mortgage ratio restrictions and high deposit requirements.”

In other international news

People analytics platform Orgnostic has raised $5M in a seed round led by Earlybird Digital East.

The platform helps fast-growing companies to “democratise” people analytics, integrating disparate HR tools and ingesting data quickly to connect this operational data with employee experience.

The company will use the investment funding to develop its platform, with the goals of launching a self-service platform.

Founder Luka Babic said: “The Seed fund will allow us to make a flawless onboarding experience for our customers, making the prospect of integrating disparate platforms more manageable and appealing to a vast number of businesses.”