Expense management provider Rydoo has launched the Rydoo MCP, a governed connector that lets its customers check, approve and question employee expenses from inside Claude, ChatGPT and other AI tools they already use, rather than logging into another piece of software.
Flower Labs Endeavor, a frontier AI model from the Cambridge University spinout, is claimed to complete tasks at a similar level to OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol and Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5, and can be deployed on an organisation’s own IT systems rather than accessed through a US provider’s interface.
Soul Padel raises £3.6 million from three family offices at a £30 million valuation, with six new clubs already through planning and the operator saying its schools, women’s and over-50s programmes and a 12,000-member loyalty platform give it the foundations to scale.
The first competitions under the £100 million Sovereign AI procurement scheme invite British AI companies to build solutions for the NHS, defence, compute and cyber security, with upfront payments on offer and winners keeping their intellectual property.
The Octopus Energy acquisition of Danish startup BD Energy hands its power trading arm a 31-strong team whose algorithms execute around 99 per cent of trades across 15 countries.
A $220 million Scan.com funding round backed by Aviva will bankroll a bigger push into the American market, as Britain’s largest private medical imaging company prepares to meet London Stock Exchange officials this week over a potential flotation.
Applied Nutrition, the sports supplement maker founded by former Liverpool scaffolder Tom Ryder, has upgraded its sales and profit guidance for the third time this year, with revenue expected to jump 50 per cent to £160 million and the group closing in on a £1 billion stock market valuation.
OnlyFans owner dividends ran past $700 million before Leonid Radvinsky died in March, with accounts at Fenix International, the London company behind the adult subscription site, showing pre-tax profit of $715 million on revenue of close to $1.6 billion and an average headcount of 47.
The taxpayer-backed National Wealth Fund is putting up to £71 million into Tungsten West, the Aim-listed company reviving the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine in Devon, less than two years after the business warned it might not survive. In return the state takes a 7 per cent stake and an option over half the mine’s tungsten.
The eDreams Prime Poland rollout has moved into full scale expansion, with the Barcelona listed travel group pointing to strong take up among Polish travellers. It is the latest market in a subscription push that is meant to deliver more than 13 million members by March 2030.
A west London start-up has signed a first of its kind agreement with the US Maritime Administration to help build a fleet of nuclear-powered cargo ships. Core Power has raised 200 million dollars from Japanese backers and is targeting first construction of its propulsion systems in 2028.
The Start Up Loans London total for female-founded businesses has passed £100m across 10,853 loans, with Hackney, Lewisham and Tottenham the capital’s busiest constituencies, and eligibility now widened to firms trading for up to five years.
TOSS, the Great Taste Award-winning dressing brand founded by sisters Grace and Sophie Devlin, has closed a £660,500 funding round backed by SFC Capital, SyndicateRoom and a group of food-industry angels, with the money earmarked for brand awareness, retail distribution and new product formats.
Frasers Group’s Hugo Boss stake has risen to almost 48 per cent after 17.6 per cent of investors accepted its £1.7 billion takeover offer — short of the majority needed to control the German fashion house.
Y1 Group has acquired Redbird Apparel in a seven-figure deal, creating a combined UK branded apparel business with more than £7.5m in annual revenue.
