The Rundown: Edition 11
Edition 11: 29 Aug 2025
Welcome to The Rundown, a snapshot of news, views and intel from the fast-growth tech and investment scene.
Filtronic secures £47.3m contract with Musk’s SpaceX
Radio frequency technology specialist Filtronic has signed its biggest contract to date for SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, extending a partnership which was established in 2024. BBC
AI CRM firm Attio raises £40m Series B
London-based Attio, which is developing a CRM service which fully integrates AI and moves beyond legacy system constraints, has raised a £40m Series B round led by Google Ventures, bringing its total funding raised to £86m. UKTN
Autonomous vehicle company Aurrigo raises £14m
Coventry’s Aurrigo International has raised almost £14m through a partnership with a new strategic investor, Next Gen Mobility, to fund expansion, including relocating to larger facilities. Insider Media
Bristol biotech EnsiliTech secures £4.5m
Biotechnology startup EnsiliTech, which develops technology that improves the storage and transportation of medication and vaccines, has raised £4.5m in a Seed funding round led by Eos Advisory with participation from Empirical Ventures, Fink Family Office and Angel Investors Bristol (AIB). TechEU
AI superforecaster emerges from stealth with £3m funding
Mantic, an AI startup that ‘predicts’ world events from supply chain disruptions to geopolitical shocks, has emerged from stealth with a £3m investment led by Episode 1 Ventures. UKTN
Nvidia earnings beat expectations
Despite uncertainty about its China business, Nvidia reported second-quarter revenue of $46.74bn, a 56% increase on the same period last year, suggesting the AI boom is far from over. Times
Facing up to the threat of ‘Google Zero’
There has been a sharp fall in web traffic due to AI Overviews supplying users with information and removing the need to click through directly to web pages – so online publishers are turning to other means to drive revenue. FT
India hit with 50% tariffs
President Trump’s punishing 50% tariff on goods from India came into effect on Wednesday. In response, Prime Minister Modi urged citizens to make in India and spend in India. BBC
Private equity fundraising in a slump
Private equity firms raised just $592bn in the 12 months to June, the lowest tally for seven years, as companies struggle to raise cash despite offering unprecedented discounts to attract new investors. FT
UK tech leaders bullish about Britain
Strong market opportunities, access to a skilled and diverse talent pool and fast-growing consumer take-up of tech products all make the UK an attractive market for building a tech business, according to data from Barclays. UKTN
Ciao, Milan!
Milan is quickly becoming the home of choice for the wealthy. Italy’s welcoming tax regime has led to an ‘explosion’ of expats in Milan. John Nery, Managing Partner at Squircle Capital, made the move from Qatar to Milan and describes his new city as “great to live in” with “amazing connectivity”. FT
Tick tock on the pensions clock
With the Autumn Budget just around the corner, Tom Adcock, Tax Partner at Gravita, identifies three tax changes Chancellor Rachel Reeves could make to “fill the multibillion-pound fiscal gap”, with a focus on how and why pensions are “ripe for reform”. FTAdviser
Rogue AI agents could run wild without proper checks
Calum Chase, Co-Founder of Conscium, asks an important question when it comes to AI agents in business: are they being supervised? As the use of AI in the workplace grows, so does the imbalance between well- and poorly-trained AI agents, which could lead to systemic risks. The Next Web
Smells like leather
UNCAGED Innovations, which recently announced a partnership with Jaguar Land Rover, is also working with Hyundai to create a durable, animal and climate-friendly material that can replace traditional leather in cars and trucks. TechCrunch
Increasing minimum wage leads to maximum mediocrity
“In our pursuit of social justice, we risk incentivising mediocrity and low aspiration while undermining Britain’s competitive advantage.” Steve Rigby, Co-CEO of Rigby Group, believes that hiking the minimum wage as graduate salaries stagnate will be detrimental to the UK economy – and our work ethic. City AM
Nice new digs
Accountancy firm Gravita has moved its Exeter-based team to a new office in the heart of Devon’s smaller city, as it plans to support its growing team. Exeter Today
The tech community was out in force in beautiful Copenhagen this week for TechBBQ. A general consensus emerged that the Nordics is a hub of innovation, but one that risks falling behind without greater collaboration, faster adoption, and boldness. One area where the region is a world leader is in AI protection and identifying deepfakes. Earlier this year, Denmark announced it was changing its copyright law so that everybody has the right to own their body, facial features and voice.
Continuing our Nordics theme, the Swedish fintech, Klarna, is set to restart its plans for an IPO in the US next month. This was supposed to have taken place in April, but was derailed by the turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s trade war. However, Klarna’s valuation is now between $13bn and $14bn – a significant drop from its $46bn valuation in 2021 when the company first looked to list.
On the inescapable subject of Trump, the President has removed the tariff waiver that allowed goods worth under $800 to enter the US duty-free. Now that all packages entering the US are subject to tariffs, postal service shippers can choose to pay a flat fee – of $80-$200 – per package, depending on its country of origin, during a six-month transition period. Or they could, like Royal Mail, halt shipments to the US altogether. (Note: this was a temporary decision by Royal Mail and it has since resumed its US postal service.) The tariff saga continues…