The Rundown: Edition 8
Edition 8: 8 Aug 2025
Welcome to The Rundown, a snapshot of news, views and intel from the fast-growth tech and investment scene.
Andreessen Horowitz co-leads $70m Fintech Series B
Rillet, a New York-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, raises new round just 10 weeks after its Series A, taking total funding to $100m+. Other investors include ICONIQ, Sequoia and Oak HC/FT. Fintech Futures
Tether buys into Bit2me in €30m round
Crypto giant Tether’s minority stake – placing it alongside existing investors Telefónica, Unicaja, BBVA, and Cecabank – will support the Spanish exchange’s growth in Europe and Latin America. CoinDesk
British crypto startup BOB raises €8.1m
London-based decentralised finance startup raises latest round from strategic investors including Anchorage, Amber Group, and Sats Ventures. EU-Startups
Scottish Cyber firm Approov secures £5m Series A
Edinburgh-based security business attracts funding from Investment Fund for Scotland, managed by Maven Capital Partners, with participation from Souter Investments, Lanza techVentures and Scottish Enterprise. UKTN
Bank of England cuts interest rates to 4%
UK interest rates are slashed to their lowest level in more than two years following a split vote – a controversial move with projections that inflation will rise to a three-year high in September. Times
Lift off for Scottish rocket maker Skyrora
Scotland-based rocket and spacetech company, Skyrora, is the first British company to be granted a UK launch licence by the Civil Aviation Authority. Next stop? Lift-off. BBC, FT, Times (honestly, just give Skyrora a Google)
Director exodus adds pressure to Labour business relations
Following Labour’s changes to non-dom policy and tax exceptions for private equity executives, a wave of directors have left the UK, adding to concerns about an exodus. FT, Times
OpenAI targets $500bn valuation
Against the backdrop of aggressive talent poaching in the tech industry, OpenAI is in talks about an employee share sale that would value the business at $500bn – a huge leap from their current $300bn valuation. Reuters
New VC plots golden triangle for the north
Newly created £670m PXN Group – formed through the merger of Praetura Ventures and Par Equity – wants to take on the dominance of London, Oxford and Cambridge. Sifted
Australian protection for the MoD
Ministry of Defence signs deal with cyber scaleup Castlepoint Systems to help reduce its reliance on manual data classification and minimise the risk of human error – which is a large chink in national security’s armour. Computer Weekly
Trump’s trade policy is redefining European VC
The US-EU trade deal is shifting economies. Thomas Adcock, Tax Partner at Gravita, discusses the impact this is having on hardware startups, which are facing more difficulties than software companies. Forbes
The UK’s procurement pathway for Ukrainian DefenceTech
Andriy Dovbenko, Founder and Principal of UK-Ukraine TechExchange, explores the opportunity the UK has to onshore the world’s most battle-proven innovations from Ukraine into its defence capabilities. Sifted
FOAK + CVC = a match made in heaven
First-of-a-kind climate tech requires a vast amount of capital to get it off the ground. Louis Fearn, Principal at InMotion Ventures, and David Delfassy, Investment Director at TDK Ventures, spoke to Freya Pratty about the role of corporate venture capital in FOAK. Sifted
So, your boss knows you want to leave
In the latest edition of ‘Square Mile and Me’, Nnamdi Emelifeonwu, CEO and Co-Founder of Definely, shares his career history: from a petrol station sales assistant to a lawyer at Freshfields to an entrepreneur at a leading LegalTech. City AM
Early-stage investors wish upon a star
Johnathan Matlock, Co-Founder of Empirical Ventures; Puja Balachander, Director of Venture at Carbon13; and Chris Smith, Managing Partner at Playfair, spoke to Martin SFP Bryant about what kind of startups they want to invest in and why. PreSeed Now
The NHS App needs a new look
Jamie Whysall, Principal and Head of Health at Netcompany, discusses the NHS 10 Year Health Plan for England and how the NHS App can be improved, if only we look to Europe. Health Tech World
Google is dead, and AI might have killed it. The website has become so synonymous with searching for something online that it’s an official verb in the dictionary. However, Google’s new AI Mode might forever change the way we look for things online. We’ve already seen the rise of “zero-click” searches and how SEO is evolving, but what does this mean for the rest of us?
Whose energies wouldn’t be kept focused if they were given $30bn? The Tesla board has approved the award of 96 million shares for the CEO and Co-Founder, Elon Musk, following a period of high drama, most of it connected to Musk’s tempestuous relationship with Donald Trump. The package is part of an “interim” plan to retain Musk after he threatened to quit. Is it still classed as “throwing your toys out of the pram” if it works?
According to the former Tory Chancellor, George Osborne (and surely others), the UK is being “left behind” on crypto. Osborne believes that the UK is on the verge of missing out on stablecoins, the latest next big thing in the crypto universe. This is in stark contrast to the US, where Trump is pushing for 401(k)s to open up to crypto investments. Will the UK’s deference for regulators and inherent risk-averse nature mean we miss out?