Institutional Infrastructure
for Venture Capital
Syndication & Co-Investment

Insurtech startup Eleos Life has secured $3 million in a media-for-equity investment from Mercurius Media Capital, marking a strategic move to accelerate its expansion across the United States through large-scale brand building.Unlike traditional funding rounds, the investment leverages a media-for-equity model, where capital is provided in the form of advertising inventory rather than cash. This enables Eleos Life to access premium media channels across television, digital platforms, and cinema, significantly boosting brand visibility without impacting its cash reserves.Founded to modernize life insurance, Eleos Life offers fully digital term life and disability coverage with simplified applications that can be completed in minutes without requiring medical exams. The company aims to make insurance more accessible and user-friendly, addressing a market where many consumers remain underinsured due to complexity and lack of awareness.The partnership with Mercurius Media Capital provides Eleos with access to a broad advertising network that includes major media partners such as Sinclair Broadcast Group, TelevisaUnivision, and Atmosphere TV. This will allow the company to scale customer acquisition efforts and build nationwide brand recognition in a highly competitive U.S. insurance market.Eleos Life launched its U.S. operations in 2025 and already operates in the UK, where it integrates insurance products into digital journeys offered by banking and fintech platforms. Through these integrations, the company currently reaches millions of users, positioning itself as a growing player in embedded insurance solutions.The newly secured investment will also provide operational support, including access to creative production, AI-driven content, and go-to-market expertise, enabling Eleos to scale efficiently while strengthening its presence in the U.S. market.As the insurtech sector continues to evolve, innovative funding models like media-for-equity are emerging as powerful tools for startups looking to scale brand awareness and customer acquisition without diluting capital or increasing burn rates.

London-based fintech platform MillTech has secured a $60 million investment from Apax Digital Funds, valuing the company at $325 million and marking a major milestone in its growth within the global treasury and FX risk management space.The investment comes from Apax Partners’ growth equity arm, with the firm also transitioning from an existing client of MillTech to a strategic investor. This reflects strong confidence in the company’s platform and its potential to scale globally.Founded in 2019, MillTech provides an integrated platform for institutional foreign exchange and treasury management, enabling fund managers and corporates to automate the entire FX lifecycle—from trade execution and hedging to reporting and transaction cost analysis.The platform connects users directly to multi-bank liquidity networks, offering improved pricing transparency and efficiency compared to traditional banking and brokerage models. By automating workflows and aggregating liquidity, MillTech aims to reduce costs and enhance execution quality in one of the world’s largest financial markets.MillTech has demonstrated strong growth momentum, reporting over 70% revenue growth in recent years and handling approximately $500 billion in annual trading volume, supporting client hedging programs worth more than $35 billion.The newly secured capital will be used to accelerate expansion into North America and further develop its AI-powered treasury and risk management capabilities. As currency volatility and global financial complexity increase, demand for automated and data-driven FX solutions is rising rapidly.With this investment, MillTech is positioning itself as a next-generation fintech infrastructure provider, combining automation, AI, and institutional-grade execution to transform how organizations manage foreign exchange and treasury operations.

US-based fintech startup Pipe has raised $16 million in a new funding round led by Fin Capital and MaC Venture Capital, reinforcing investor confidence in embedded finance solutions designed for small and medium-sized businesses.The funding marks Pipe’s first equity raise since relaunching its embedded financing product in 2024, as the company sharpens its focus on profitability, operational efficiency, and scalable growth.Founded to transform how businesses access capital, Pipe offers embedded financial solutions that allow companies to secure funding directly within the software platforms they already use. By leveraging real-time business data, the platform enables faster and more flexible access to working capital compared to traditional lending models.Since relaunching its core product, Pipe Capital, the company has originated over 15,000 advances globally, exceeding $300 million in total funding volume. Its growth has been driven by partnerships with platforms such as Boulevard, GoCardless, Housecall Pro, and Uber, enabling seamless capital access for businesses across industries.The newly raised capital will be used to accelerate strategic growth, expand partnerships, and enhance its embedded finance infrastructure. Pipe is also increasing its international footprint, with around 20% of its capital originations now coming from outside the United States - a figure expected to grow further.As embedded finance continues to reshape the fintech landscape, Pipe is positioning itself as a key player in enabling frictionless capital access for underserved small businesses, aligning with a broader shift toward data-driven and platform-integrated financial services.

London-based venture capital firm Eka Ventures has closed its £80 million Fund II, marking a significant step in scaling early-stage impact investing across the UK startup ecosystem.The fund is backed by a strong group of institutional and impact-focused investors, including a £40 million cornerstone commitment from the British Business Bank, alongside Better Society Capital, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, The Health Foundation, WRAP, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, John Ellerman Foundation, and Vivensa Foundation.Eka Ventures plans to deploy the fund across up to 30 UK-based startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, with a focus on companies operating at the intersection of technology, health, wellbeing, and sustainability. The firm typically invests between £1 million and £3 million per company, aiming to support category-defining startups from the earliest stages.Founded in 2018, Eka Ventures has positioned itself as one of the UK’s leading early-stage impact investors, targeting sectors where commercial growth aligns with measurable societal outcomes. Its investment thesis centers on structural shifts such as preventative healthcare, sustainable consumption, and inclusive access to essential services.The new fund builds on the success of its first fund, which has backed startups including Runna, Urban Jungle, and Hived, several of which have gone on to raise follow-on funding from top-tier venture firms.As the venture ecosystem evolves, the rise of impact-focused funds like Eka Ventures reflects a broader shift toward investing in startups that combine financial returns with long-term societal value. With this fund, Eka is positioning itself at the forefront of a new generation of venture capital that prioritizes both performance and purpose.

UK-based AI analytics startup WholeSum has secured an additional $335,000 in pre-seed funding, bringing its total pre-seed round to approximately $1.3 million, as demand rises for reliable and auditable AI-driven insights.The latest funding round includes participation from Love Ventures, Beamline, and strategic angel investors, following an earlier $965,000 raise led by Twin Path Ventures.Founded by Emily Kucharski and Dr. Adam Kucharski, WholeSum is building a hybrid AI and statistical inference platform designed to convert unstructured text data into reproducible and trustworthy insights. The platform addresses a critical challenge in enterprise AI adoption, where traditional large language models often struggle with inconsistencies, hallucinations, and lack of auditability—particularly in high-stakes industries.WholeSum’s solution is built as an API-first infrastructure layer that integrates directly into existing analytics workflows, enabling organizations to extract meaningful signals from qualitative data with the same rigor as numerical analysis. This approach is especially relevant for sectors such as healthcare, financial services, and pharmaceuticals, where decision-making requires defensible and verifiable outputs.The company has already gained early traction with enterprise clients and research institutions, demonstrating the growing need for tools that can process large-scale unstructured datasets without compromising reliability. As organizations continue to experiment with AI, the demand for systems that deliver consistent and explainable results is becoming increasingly critical.The newly raised capital will be used to accelerate research and development, expand its scientific and engineering teams, and scale enterprise deployments. With this funding, WholeSum is positioning itself as a key infrastructure provider in the emerging category of trustworthy AI and data analytics.

US-based electric vehicle startup Slate has raised $650 million in a Series C funding round, marking a major step toward scaling its affordable EV manufacturing ambitions and strengthening its position in the next-generation mobility ecosystem.The funding round attracted a mix of institutional investors and strategic backers, reflecting strong confidence in Slate’s vision to build cost-efficient electric vehicles for mass adoption. The company has been gaining attention for its focus on affordability, a segment increasingly seen as critical for accelerating global EV penetration.Slate is developing electric vehicles with a strong emphasis on simplifying design, reducing production costs, and optimizing supply chains. By focusing on affordability rather than premium segments, the company aims to tap into a broader consumer base and address one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption price accessibility.The newly raised capital will be used to scale manufacturing capabilities, expand production infrastructure, and accelerate the development of its EV lineup. As competition intensifies in the global electric vehicle market, companies that can combine cost efficiency with scalability are expected to gain a significant advantage.Slate’s growth comes at a time when the EV industry is undergoing rapid transformation, with increasing investments flowing into battery technology, manufacturing innovation, and supply chain localization. The company’s approach aligns with a broader shift toward making electric mobility more accessible to mainstream consumers rather than limiting it to premium segments.With this Series C round, Slate is positioning itself as a key player in the evolving EV landscape, aiming to bridge the gap between affordability and performance while contributing to the global transition toward sustainable transportation.