Nuke From Orbit, a fintech startup based in the UK, has raised £500,000 in a pre-seed round to take its product to market. The startup, which aims to revolutionise mobile security, attracted leading investors with its innovative approach to protecting financial accounts and personal identifiable information (PII).

The funding comes from several UK-based companies and investors, including Oliver Bridgen, Co-Founder & COO of specialist FX broker Ballinger Group, and Jordan Hallows, founder of Wey Bridging Finance.

Mobile phone theft is increasing, with one reported stolen every six minutes in London. With smartphones increasingly used to run people’s lives, having a phone stolen is no longer just about replacing a handset; there is critical, valuable data stored on it. If criminals access it, the potential financial and reputational damage can be significant. Nuke From Orbit was founded to tackle this rising problem by providing the instant invalidation of stolen data. It cancels bank cards, secures digital accounts (banking apps, email, digital wallets, social media, etc.), and blocks the device SIM in a single action.

‘‘We are thrilled for the support from our investors who believe in our mission to safeguard mobile data. This investment is not just a financial boost, but a propelling force that will catapult us towards expanding our partner base as we gear up to launch our dynamic partner portal.

Our focus is clear: we’re on a mission to halt cybercriminals in their tracks, ensuring that people’s invaluable data remains secure and out of reach from prying eyes. While this monumental task has only been partially tackled before, with the backing of our investors, we’re now in a power-packed position to turn this ambition into reality.

We’re not just aiming to disrupt the mobile security market, but we’re on a journey to redefine it. A huge thank you to our investors for believing in us and supporting us as we embark on this exciting adventure,” said James O’Sullivan, CEO and founder of Nuke From Orbit.”

Lead investor Bridgen added, ”The knock-on effects of mobile phone theft is a huge problem that no one has adequately got to grips with. After analysing the size of the addressable market, I was confident to support Nuke From Orbit’s mission to combat the growing threat of cyber and financial crimes.”

Nuke From Orbit will partner with financial, telecommunications, social media, De-Fi and other technology providers who give users access to platforms through mobile applications and interfaces.

The company will use the funding to prepare the technology for public beta testing in the UK market in late 2024 and expand the team to bring partners on board. Subsequently, Nuke From Orbit plans to take the service global, prioritising countries with high smartphone adoption, higher crime rates and strong traction in modern financial services such as Open Banking.

Zama, an open source cryptography company building state-of-the-art FHE solutions to protect privacy in blockchain and AI, today announced a $73M Series A round led by Multicoin Capital and Protocol Labs, with participation from Metaplanet, Blockchange Ventures, VSquared, and Stake Capital, as well as blockchain pioneers Juan Benet (founder of Filecoin), Anatoly Yakovenko (co-founder of Solana), and Gavin Wood (co-founder of Ethereum and co-creator of Polkadot). The funds will be used to hire talented engineers, software developers, and researchers in cryptography to maintain its open-source libraries, and collaborate with strategic partners to develop a new class of Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) applications.

As demand for robust data protection grows internationally, businesses and organizations need a way to protect consumer data without compromising its utility. FHE provides a novel encryption technique that makes it possible to compute over encrypted data for the first time, revolutionizing what’s possible with data privacy for organizations, governments and consumers alike. Over the course of four years, Zama has built a suite of open source cryptographic libraries and solutions that make FHE readily available to developers to build privacy-preserving applications.

“We envision a world where data privacy isn’t an afterthought, but rather guaranteed by design. With the support of our investors, our talented team, and over 3,000 developers in our community, we can make FHE and privacy synonymous and ubiquitous,” said Rand Hindi, CEO of Zama. “This funding gives us the resources to add to the best and brightest cryptography minds we already have on the team, while also continuing to advance the state of the art of what’s possible in data privacy. Our investors, Multicoin and Protocol Labs in particular, lend valuable experience as we bring FHE to market in the blockchain sector.”

Zama has been at the vanguard of FHE innovation since its inception in 2020. To date, the company has secured multi-million dollar deals in the blockchain and AI space, and has successfully released four cutting-edge FHE solutions. The company’s most recent solution, fhEVM, is the first confidential smart contract protocol for EVM blockchains. Using FHE, the fhEVM enables on-chain state and transaction data to remain end-to-end encrypted during processing, addressing the core data privacy challenge in blockchain.

“FHE is the most important foundational cryptographic primitive for the next decade of computing. Zama’s technology is the key to build multiplayer, privacy-preserving applications,” said Kyle Samani, Managing Partner of Multicoin Capital. “Zama’s groundbreaking work on open source FHE tooling is only the beginning. We are proud to help them build the next generation of crypto-enabled, privacy-first applications.”

In addition to addressing data privacy challenges in the blockchain industry, Zama is also building bespoke solutions in the artificial intelligence, healthcare, financial services, and governmental security industries.

“The potential for FHE in both blockchain confidentiality and AI privacy is massive,” says Pascal Paillier, CTO of Zama. “Being able to share our tools with people who are passionate about the same mission is an incredible privilege, something that has only been possible thanks to continuous support, resources and knowledge provided by our investors and community.”

Zama’s team is made up of over 75 individuals from 22 different nationalities, drawn from the fields of cryptography, machine learning, and blockchain technology. Half of the team hold PhDs in their respective fields and are passionate about ensuring data privacy.

To learn more about Zama, please visit https://www.zama.ai/.

Data released from Reposit, the FCA-regulated deposit alternative, reveals a concerning surge in rent arrears during the final quarter of last year as the economic climate took its toll on tenants.

The data reveals a significant uptick in the value of rent arrears claims, soaring from October’s £1,344 to  £2,108 in November, and maintaining high levels at £1,954 in December. Concurrently, the percentage of tenancies concluding with arrears rose from 13.7% in September and October to 15.8% in the subsequent two months.

Rent arrears claims were also 50% higher in December 2023 when compared to 2022, despite there being just a 4% increase in rental price between the same time period.

This spike in rent arrears corresponds with broader economic trends, including increases observed in defaults on mortgages and credit cards during the same period. Evidently, the escalating cost of living is taking a toll on tenants, impacting their ability to meet financial obligations.

According to Rightmove’s trend tracker, tenant affordability is now at a critical juncture, with 23% of rental properties experiencing a reduction in advertised rent. This underscores the financial strain faced by tenants and the urgency for viable solutions.

Commenting on the findings, Reposit CEO Ben Grech remarked, “The increase in rent arrears is obviously reflective of tough times for tenants, but this naturally has a knock-on effect for landlords, who are facing their own challenges with Renters Reform and higher mortgage rates. It’s clear that tenants need a better option to relieve their cashflow burden, while landlords need greater cover in the event of arrears – we already know that a 5-week cash deposit is insufficient in 14% of cases.”

Grech continued, “Furthermore, it naturally increases the strain on letting agents. With increased arrears comes increased paperwork, disputes, and delays.”

Reposit is committed to addressing these challenges head-on and aims to provide a robust solution that not only supports tenants in managing their cashflow but also offers landlords the protection they need in the face of rising arrears.

Reposit’s insurance-backed product structure means that landlords are guaranteed payment and receive up to eight weeks’ worth of cover against rent arrears and dilapidations. Reposit is independently authorised and regulated by the FCA.

Today marks the launch of VentureCEO – a business support programme, curated specifically for early-stage CEOs at no cost by the Tech & High Growth team at Cooper Parry and supported by industry partners Amazon Web Services (AWS), ​​Mischon De Reya and Capsule Insurance among others. Part of the collaboration will be one of the UK’s most prolific investors in e-health startups, AlbionVC.

VentureCEO is the first collaboration of its kind in the UK. Each 10-week cohort provides a series of initiatives, curated by Cooper Parry and its extended network to focus on a different sector, with the first being the ‘Future of Health’.

The cohort will see ten health sector CEOs based across the UK participating. These are: Ufonia, BlueSkyeye AI, Flok Health, MediShout, BEa Fertility, Amilis, Peachy, MyMynd, Ellescope and Hibi.

Steve Leith, Partner and Head of Tech & High Growth at Cooper Parry – the UK’s leading startup and scaleup partner in the accounting and tax space – comments on the aim behind the initiative:

“The CEO journey for a scaling business is undoubtedly challenging, both physically and mentally – especially in the current business climate. Thanks to the support of our industry partners including AWS, VentureCEO is here to bridge the gap, offering a personal support network where CEOs can connect, learn and share with a community that truly understands. By creating sector-specific cohorts, we also aim to highlight and support verticals often overlooked by other programmes.”

The collaboration has garnered support from a dynamic array of experts with the initial e-health delivery partners including AlbionVC, CharlieHR, Health Foundry, Luminous PR, Cavenagh Health, SomX, Adopt-A-Doc, Simon Alexander Ong, Daleth, Mishcon De Reya, Capsule, and Remap. Each brings a unique set of resources and expertise to further enrich the experience for participating CEOs.

Additional support will be led by later-stage e-health CEOs who have successfully scaled to Series B and beyond, including Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram CEO of Proximie, Meri Beckwith CEO of Lindus Health, Robbie Hughes CEO of Lumeon and Mark Jenkins, previously MD of Oviva.

Alongside addressing the needs of a rapidly scaling business, the programme will also prioritise personal wellbeing; MotivatePT will be rolling out group online fitness sessions, building community and encouraging participants to make time for movement to power up the mind-body connection.

Despite socio-economic obstacles and the UK tech sector facing funding challenges, many are still founding companies. There are currently 48,000 active, high-growth companies in the UK at different stages of their lifecycle; an 85.3% increase in the past decade.

In December 2023, the UK also secured its position as a leading European country in seed funding, raising a total of €94m. And despite a downturn in previous years, health tech emerged as the second-largest seed funding sector in Europe during the same period, attracting €59m.

Sam Wedge, Head of Industry and Emerging Technologies, Startups and Venture Capital at AWS, adds:

“The challenges facing new founders today are no small feat and we continue to see VCs take a more measured approach to deploying capital. However, the UK continues to be an excellent place to start and grow a tech company and I’m especially encouraged by the strength in health tech and the innovation we see coming through in this critical sector. It’s for this reason that we have opted to focus on health tech for our inaugural VentureCEO cohort, as we look to support the next generation of top startups in the UK scale and succeed.”

VentureCEO is the first collaboration of its kind in the UK, catering to the unique needs of new founders and offering:

• A curated peer group of CEOs at the same stage and in the same sector.
• Access to later-stage CEOs and their valuable insights.
• Laser-focused content designed specifically to enable highly relevant support to founders on both their personal and scaling journeys.
• Immediate commitment of support from best-in-class experts across legal, accounting, tax, HR, PR, digital marketing, growth and fundraising strategy, founder finance, founder wellbeing and more.
• The opportunity to connect with vertical-specific domain experts and investors.

For more information about VentureCEO or to express your interest in being part of a future cohort, visit:  https://www.cooperparry.com/venture-ceo

Property and built environment students at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) were faced with a ‘real-world’ challenge last week. As part of a Sustainable Development Challenge – sponsored by property industry leaders, Jansons Property – students in their second year at the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment (ADBE) were given the task of developing sustainable solutions.

Professor Richard Bull, Deputy Dean of the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment at NTU said; “As a university we thrive on providing real-life work experiences like this to support our teaching and help make our students industry-ready for when they graduate from NTU. We are grateful to Jansons for investing their time and sharing their expertise with our students. Collaborative experiences, especially those with a focus on sustainability, are vital in providing the next generation with a solid understanding of the challenges they will soon face as young professionals in their built environment careers.”

By bringing together students from the Departments of Property Management, Architecture, Engineering and Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, the aim of the challenge was to encourage industry-like conditions of teamwork and realistic addressing of sustainability issues. It was designed to encourage collaborative working between different departments – an industry imperative– and help students look at real-world solutions, alongside individuals from other disciplines.

“The property industry relies on collaboration – buildings aren’t built by individuals, they come together from a lot of different disciplines joining forces. We felt it was important to create a project where NTU students could engage in the same way professionals do and solve a real problem,” explained Paul Nash, Construction Consultant at Jansons Property.

Following a design brief, the students used their individual and group skills to consider and create sustainable approaches. This culminated in pitching their proposals to a judging panel at the end of the day.

The event was attended by industry specialists and staff who offered mentor support and judged the competition. It concluded with a dinner at NTU where the winners were announced, and prizes awarded by Andy Jansons, Managing Director of Jansons Property and a former NTU student himself, who commended the students for “their commitment to the challenge and the high quality of the work that they produced and presented”.

Students Krishna Bhat, Milo Connelly and Dishav Vasudev made up the winning team, and walked away with a cash prize and recognition of their collaborative working across disciplines.

A WELSH language partnership is celebrating its second anniversary under new leadership.

Coleg Cambria’s branch of Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol – Cangen Cymraeg Cambria – has been a huge success over the last two years.

With over 600 learners across the college’s sites in Wrexham, Northop, Deeside and Llysfasi speaking the language fluently, the support for bilingual students is growing all the time.

Branch officer Owain Williams, from Mold, joined the team in past weeks and is busy building on the foundations laid by predecessor Haf Everiss, including the launch of a new Welsh Society in the coming months.

Having previously worked at Coleg Gwent and Urdd Gobaith Cymru, he plans to continue offering support and guidance, organising events, and helping to meet the Welsh Government’s target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

“Cangen Cymraeg Cambria has received a lot of positive feedback and is especially popular with students joining from Welsh language and bilingual schools as we can signpost them to the information they need, and bilingual services at the college,” said Owain, a former pupil at Ysgol Maes Garmon and student of Sports Science at Bangor University.

“It’s not just about the academic side of things, we are there for their health and wellbeing, bringing people together, hosting drop-in sessions and organising social activities for those who prefer to speak in their first language.

“In my previous roles with Coleg Gwent and the Urdd I held similar positions so I’m delighted to now be here at Cambria, doing what I can with the Branch to promote and preserve the Welsh language for generations to come.”

He added: “The Welsh Society is just one new activity we plan to introduce this year, and working even closer with communities in north east Wales to promote the language and reinforce its identity in this region.”

Demand for Welsh-medium education has grown significantly as many employers are now experiencing the benefits of having a bilingual workforce.

Llinos Roberts, Head of Corporate Communications and Welsh Language, said: “The college is committed to championing the Welsh language, providing opportunities, and delivering a first-class bilingual education for our learners.

“Post-pandemic we will do even more to support students and staff, promoting the use of Welsh in the classroom, informally and in the workplace, and creating a welcoming environment for all, notably after the challenges of the past few years.”

For more information, visit www.cambria.ac.uk and follow @Cangen_Cambria on social media.

Visit www.colegcymraeg.ac.uk for more on Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, or email help.cymraeg@cambria.ac.uk.