Jean-Philippe DOUMENG

💡 Investment Announcement At the Conduit EIS Impact Fund, our 100-Year Life thesis drives us to back ventures that help people healthier, and more fulfilling lives for longer. We are thrilled to announce Conduit Connect's latest investment in Gladys, an AI-powered home care platform on a mission to fix Britain’s broken care system. Founded by George Robinson and Alex Sorisi, Gladys combines smart technology, logistics know-how, and a relentless focus on better outcomes for both families and carers. The platform matches people in need of support with the UK’s best local carers — offering 5-star care at fairer prices, while helping carers earn up to 65% more than traditional agencies. As George Robinson puts it: “We all know that Britain’s care system is broken. Re-arranging deck-chairs on a sinking ship will not cut it. People are dying unnecessarily, and brilliant carers are undervalued and underpaid. Gladys is using this investment to supercharge its technology, and deliver the service that we would want for our loved ones.” Gladys has already supported tens of thousands of hours of independent living across a 20,000 km area. With this new funding — part of a £1.5m Seed round led by Cornerstone VC — Gladys aims to expand nationwide, delivering hundreds of thousands of hours of quality care by 2026. We believe technology can help rebuild trust and dignity in care — creating meaningful, well-paid work and ensuring that people receive the support they deserve long before they get sick. Rodney Appiah Paolo Pio Exceptional Ventures Gabrielle Morgan Gemma Lakin Conduit Connect The Conduit EIS Impact Fund The Conduit Adam Lawrence #ImpactInvesting #EIS #HealthTech #AIforGood #CareInnovation #ConduitImpactFund #FutureOfCare #StartupInvestment

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👀 Hopefully, you've heard by now that we run free fundraising accelerators for seed founders... 👉 What makes this next programme particularly unique is that we teamed up with 4 other organisations - GC Angels, Stronger Stories, Foundervine and Firstport to deliver a brand new initiative called Venture Forward. It combines our decade of experience of running programmes with partners from across the UK to deliver a new initiative, fully funded by Innovate UK, to support a whopping 160 companies in the next 15 months. 🇬🇧 We will deliver these workshops to companies all over the UK, including London, Birminghman, Manchester, & Edinburgh. 🚀 We will also be focusing on under-represented founders (more details in the application form). The programme will consist of fundraising workshops, 1-on-1 mentoring, regional meet-ups, national investor days, centralised resources and an active alumni community. ✅ Applications are now open via ventureforward.co.uk

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Calling all #healthtech investors! This #FemaleFounder pitch event in October, features 14 startups working in precision medicine, cancer diagnostics, cell therapy etc. All have previously received significant grant funding from SBRI Healthcare & NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) Angel Academe - increasing female investment investors, THENA Capital Chantal Cox Robert Mollen Helen Jones Jo Pisani Rowena Ironside Yee Mun Thum

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🔔Today, as part of #HealthtechoftheWeek, we’re looking at iYoni App – a femtech platform that combines medical data and AI to support women in taking care of their hormonal health and fertility. The idea behind iYoni is simple: to speed up recognition of health issues, provide education, and give women tools that truly impact their everyday health decisions. Why does it stand out? ✨ harnesses massive datasets to predict ovulation and flag potential risks, ✨ empowers users with knowledge and a sense of control over their cycles, ✨ grows together with its community – many features were created based on user feedback, ✨ supports not only women trying to conceive but also those focused on prevention, ✨ has already helped bring about 30,000 pregnancies. A clear sign that femtech isn’t just a trend – it’s a real shift in women’s healthcare. 📌 Read the full story here: 👉 EN: https://lnkd.in/dE9cYSdH 👉 PL: https://lnkd.in/dgPXByPe #Healthtech #Femtech #DigitalHealth #AIinHealthcare #WomensHealth #Innovation #PatientCenteredCare #iYoni #HormonalHealth #FutureOfHealth

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🏥Tech for good - we are proud to announce a new partnership with Birdie, the intelligent healthcare invoicing platform, with whom we will help homecare providers optimise their cashflow and serve more patients 🩺

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Delighted to announce our investment in elyndra. Marcus W. has made it his mission to address one of the UK's most acute societal problems - social care. elyndra is re-inventing how care providers document and deliver support - improving safeguarding, reducing burnout and giving carers more time to actually care. With limited resource and significant hustle, he has already secured commercial contracts and brought on Tristone Group as a strategic partner. This isn't yet another AI platform. This is Vertical AI with a real societal purpose. My colleague Sanchit Dhote has posted a detailed piece on #Whyweinvested below. Worth a read! https://lnkd.in/e8Bz7vX4

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Who said summer was quiet? Over 340 VC funds backed UK start-ups in Q3... ...but 5 investors came out on top as the most active in the period 🏆 each announcing 5 new investments. Here are some of those rounds ⤵️ 🤝 Foresight Group backed MyWay Digital Health Ltd with £3m to help people manage diabetes and chronic disease, turning data into better health 🤝 Haatch backed Inntelo AI in their £500k pre-seed to build an AI concierge for hotels, personalising guest experiences and streamlining ops 🤝 Parkwalk Advisors followed on as part of Phasecraft's £25m Series B to bring quantum computing out of theory and into the real world 🤝 Maven Capital Partners invested £2.6m in PowerPhotonic to push the limits of precision optics to power next-gen lasers for space 🤝 The FSE Group supported Inyanga Marine Energy Group in their £3.7m round to advance tidal-energy tech to capture the power of the sea Find all these funding rounds and more on the Soapbox platform. Hit 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 ⬆️ to scroll and search.

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Yesterday my co-founders & I had the pleasure of meeting the Valyu team, who are also focused on emerging agentic AI. We spoke about how, in the UK, startups and individuals can sometimes be overly reserved, which limits collaboration across the ecosystem. There was a strong view that founders should actively support those coming up behind them — not only because it strengthens the community, but because every founder eventually needs support themselves. Very few businesses begin fully formed. Amazon started by selling books. YouTube began as a dating site. My venture 7EulerianStrategies first started off as a quant solutions provider for trading firms. Iteration is part of the process. Yet in the UK, tall poppy syndrome and a cultural discomfort with self-promotion can discourage people from putting themselves forward. In contrast, the US tends to reward visibility and ambition — something we could learn from. Even if you’re building a B2B company, you still need to be visible. People need to know who you are and what you stand for. If we want meaningful progress, we need to shift these dynamics — encourage openness, back each other early, and build a culture where ambition and collaboration aren’t at odds. That’s how we create an ecosystem that works not just for today’s founders, but for the generations coming next. A huge thanks to Alexander Ng for this and many more realisations. #AgenticAI #ArtificialIntelligence #UKStartups #StartupEcosystem #TechFounders #Entrepreneurship #StartupCommunity #Innovation #Collaboration #B2B #FounderSupport #StartupGrowth #Scaleups #Leadership

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Four years ago, Clerkenwell Health was just an idea - born from a frustration with the status quo in mental health research and a belief that the UK could do better.    Today, I’m incredibly proud to share that we’ve launched our third clinical trial site, in partnership with @RDaSH NHS Foundation Trust. This new site in Doncaster represents more than just bricks and mortar. It’s a first-of-its-kind NHS-private model for delivering commercial mental health and CNS trials - built around patient access, NHS infrastructure, and commercial execution.    From the beginning, our vision was to transform how neuro and psychiatric research is done in the UK. Not just for sponsors, but for patients who need better treatment options, and for an NHS system rich with potential to contribute more directly to innovation.    This partnership delivers on that vision - and does so in a way that’s scalable, sustainable, and rooted in real-world care. It shows what’s possible when the public and private sectors work together, and it benefits everyone involved:    - Patients get access to novel treatments  - NHS builds research capacity  - Sponsors can run efficient trials in trusted settings  - Communities benefit through local investment and revitalisation    And we’re just getting started. Clerkenwell is growing. We’re already working to bring more partnerships like this into the ecosystem - across more regions, more sites and more trials.    Thank you to everyone at RDaSH, @Business Doncaster and Clerkenwell, and our broader network who helped bring this vision to life. Onwards. Huge shout out to Heather Rice, Bridie Rowbotham, Mehul Vaghani, Alexander Dochery, Arda Ozcubukcu and everyone else without whom we couldn't have launched this.   #MentalHealth #CNSResearch #ClinicalTrials #NHS #Innovation #PublicPrivatePartnership #UKLifeSciences #Doncaster #ClerkenwellHealth #ClinicalResearch 

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What I’m reading: Gilion & Beauhurst’s latest research on tech-debt ✍ A few key takeaways from this new report on alternative financing for UK tech startups 💡 The total debt held by UK tech companies with <£100m revenue has more than doubled since 2015, now exceeding £240bn. Growth capital debt alone accounts for over a third of this. What was once a niche is now a core pillar of the funding landscape 🤓 Alternative financing options (like revenue-based loans and IP-backed debt) allow founders to scale on their own terms, without diluting equity or ceding control. Especially in today’s market, this flexibility is invaluable for ambitious teams with strong fundamental. 🤔 Traditional debt is still mostly reserved for companies with prior equity rounds. But new lenders, leveraging data and cashflow-based underwriting, are opening up funding to a much broader group of tech founders. This is a huge opportunity for both startups and investors The last two take-aways underpin why with Capital Mills we are providing non - dilutive growth loans since 2019. More founders tend to recognize the value of scaling with flexible capital - without giving up ownership. Check out the report in the comments below:

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Episode 392 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Damien Lewke, Founder & CEO of Nebulock: https://lnkd.in/e7xadHYf - Damien is purpose built for this company, which is a statement he’s heard from one of his investors that being Will Lehmann Lehman. When you hear about Damien’s background story, it’s hard to argue. Damien’s path to where he is today has been very thoughtful, methodical, and intentional. It’s a path that allowed him to learn and understand as much as possible about cybersecurity. In addition, he has worn several different hats throughout his career (I’m talking Solutions Architecture… Product Marketing… Product Management… and other roles) that have all put him in a strong position to lead a venture backed startup. Nebulock is an autonomous threat hunting platform designed from scratch for behavior-based detection. By connecting directly to identity, endpoint, and cloud telemetry, Nebulock continuously hunts threats, surfaces hidden anomalies, and automatically increases your detection coverage. The company announced $8.5M in funding, including their seed round led by Bain Capital Ventures alongside Decibel Partners, Zetta Venture Partners, IQT, and several angel investors. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A conversation about being a solo-founder. * Damien’s background story including his experience playing professional soccer in Germany, how he relates athletics to building startups, and why Mario Götze is on the cap table. * Getting his career started in systems engineering & cyber operations, then his move into the solution side of things at companies like CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, and Arctic Wolf. * The idea of how Nebulock came to fruition, which he recognized as a problem over a decade ago, yet it still hasn’t been solved. * An explanation of what Threat Hunting is. * The current state of Nebulock, its platform, and what’s ahead. * Damien’s 3 biggest lessons learned since starting a company. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

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A few weeks ago, we announced our plans to launch PXN Group. Subject to FCA approval, Par Equity and Praetura Ventures will merge to create PXN. PXN is about scale. Scale to help us do more for the North of England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. We want to build world-class investment programmes that match this region’s ambitions. Whether it’s delivering groceries more sustainably or getting pharmaceuticals to those who need them, we’re here to help founders build the best businesses they can. We’re bringing together the best of both investors to power the North. From pre-seed to scale-up, PXN will be able to support more founders across more sectors and stages. We can’t wait to get started! You can find out more via our new site: https://www.pxngroup.com/ The merger is subject to FCA approval.

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Great to chat with TechRound about how startups can use AI in a more grounded, sustainable way — and when it’s better not to. We’re seeing more founders think carefully about where AI actually moves the needle versus where it just adds noise. It’s less about using AI everywhere, and more about using it where it actually matters. Thanks Gina Marrs, Zee Yende for this opportunity! Link to a full article in comments👇

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Proud of Jenny Crinion and the incredible work being done at NeuroSpeechAI. NeuroSpeechAI is building a platform of 7 #AI-driven, #gamified apps for #homebased neuro- #rehabilitation, offering #clinically #validated therapy for people recovering from #stroke, #braininjury or living with #dementia. Jenny will be speaking at #GIANT2025 next week, sharing how this approach can help close the #therapy gap and make #rehabilitation more accessible, scalable and evidence-based. #healthtech #neurorehabilitation #AI #digitalhealth #innovation #NeuroSpeechAI #strokerecovery #braininjury #dementia #rehabilitation #GIANT2025

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Intelligent, data-driven Patient Activation has the power to transform chronic disease management, shifting patients from passive recipients of care to experts in their own health #aihealth

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£250B in unrealized economic value is not simply a “women’s issue.” It’s a capital misallocation problem. For most of modern UK history, women were legally barred from owning property, signing contracts, or accessing credit independently. Even into the 1980s, many banks required male guarantors for business loans. That legacy didn’t disappear — it compounded. Today, we still see it in who gets backed early, who gets conviction capital, and who is allowed to scale fast. The result is a structurally underpriced cohort of founders operating in the world’s most sophisticated markets. Women have had ~50 years or less of theoretical capital access versus centuries of compounding advantage for men. In the United States, until 1974 it was perfectly legal and routine for banks to deny women credit based on sex or marital status — a practice that changed only with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Lenders routinely required husbands or fathers to co-sign loans and denied credit for being pregnant or of “childbearing age.” Markets today absolutely reflect that delta. We’re still playing catch-up. Markets do not self-correct historical exclusion. Capital allocation shapes outcomes. This is alpha-seeking capital, not symbolic allocation. Reallocating capital toward high-quality female founders isn’t below-market. It’s rational, return-seeking investing. Way to go HSBC Innovation Banking 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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🌟 Transforming Paediatric Healthcare with AI A Revolutionary Health-Tech Startup 🚀 We’re thrilled to be working with MyOr, a groundbreaking health-tech application transforming paediatric healthcare. This company is taking a proactive approach to child health by predicting disease occurrence before it happens, offering innovative solutions in food allergies, atopic dermatitis, and iron deficiency. Key Highlights: - World's Largest Allergy DatabaseAI & Deep Life Sciences for predictive healthcare - Operating in US, Spain, Mexico, Australia, with expansion into the EU How It Works: MyOr’s cutting-edge technology uses AI-driven insights to address disease risks in infants and toddlers, allowing for early, individualized interventions well before symptoms appear. With a unique go-to-market strategy that leverages a network of dieticians, this model not only provides families with access to healthcare services but also generates revenue through consultations and preventative products. 🔍 The Opportunity: MyOr is disrupting the healthcare landscape with its precision prevention model, making this an exciting opportunity for investors interested in AI-powered health-tech. If you’re a professional asset allocator or investment advisor looking for innovative, high-impact opportunities, let’s connect! 🌐 See https://www.myorthrive.com MYOR is a portfolio company of XSS Capital. If you are interested in joining us on this funding round please DM me for more info. Join our investment network to access high-growth, scalable business opportunities typically reserved for leading VCs. If this sounds interesting to you or your network, don’t hesitate to get in touch. #HealthTech #AI #PediatricHealthcare #FoodAllergies #Innovation #StartupFunding #XSSCapital #Investing #VentureCapital #MedicalTech #PrecisionMedicine

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I love life, seeing novel families arriving at a restaurant with prams, children climbing trees unsupervised, dreaming up, feeding off positive energy around them. How I grew up, like many. Enabled by parents with less reservations about the unplanned: savings, logistics, physical preservation. We lost that spirit, fear has taken over, the culture of self. Replacement birth rates are bringing us back to our senses. If we don't lose the fear of parenthood, the world will eventually loose a few great civilizations from Italy to Japan. So treasured yet so frail. A few years ago, at a time when the political narrative was all about the commoditization of abortion and euthanasia besides its "reasonable" use (good luck defining that!), we started looking at ways of reversing the numbers through science and worked with the great U-Ploid Biotechnologies team, amongst others. Science however is just a stop-gap when addressing fundamental problems. Social incentives still remain the long term definite solution. We need to be able to talk openly about the pains and beauty of procreation and the power of investing in the flourishing of life. If you are building in this space, I am all ears ale@wilbe.com

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In the past two weeks, hundreds of startups worked with experts from our ecosystem to address the BIGGEST challenges they face - head on. Here’s what I learned: US expansion is front of mind for UK startups at the moment - incorporating as a Delaware C-corp is becoming a really popular route for them to raise and expand into the biggest market in the world. I was also struck by how startups are using AI agents to go-to-market with lighting speed - emerging standards (MCP, knowledge graphs) are being leveraged to achieve scale without endless custom builds. And on the fundraising side, revenue growth is the no. 1 thing to show investors - and it has to be recurring and repeatable - not a one-off. The market may have shifted - but selling is the same. Now more than ever, framing sales around solving urgent business pain in cost, risk, and revenue terms is KEY. We've got one more session coming up in September and I'm super excited for it! Denys Prysukhin from Corewide LLP will be sharing how to build fast -without making expensive mistakes. If you’re looking to build your first production-ready cloud infrastructure, or you have a live product and are facing scaling and performance issues - this session is for you. Link to sign up in the comments. 👇

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