Sifted - Making Wayves

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Since 2021, VC firm Future Planet Capital (FPC) has secured more than £100m in UK public funds, without any competitive bidding process. 

In the same period, business partners and government officials have raised questions over the company’s suitability for the project, sources tell Sifted. 

Last year a report into FPC's governance of the funds was commissioned and shared internally. FPC declined to comment on the contents of the report, and a request for its release under the Freedom of Information Act was denied.

A spokesperson for FPC says: “Accountability and responsibility are fundamental to what we do — as is backing the UK’s most ambitious innovators and helping them change the world for the better."

Elsewhere today:

• Six months after cofounder exodus, H Company investors in the dark
• Wayve plots global expansion with German launch
• Bolt partners with Forest as e-bike rivalry with Uber’s Lime heats up
• VCs see a vibe check towards defence tech as military stocks and geopolitical tensions rise 

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🌎 London-based VC firm Future Planet Capital is facing questions over its stewardship of more than £100m in public money.

🚙 Autonomous driving startup Wayve has announced plans for a new site in Germany in a bid to secure its first commercial deals.

🚲 UK startup Forest will rent its e-bikes out via ride hailing scaleup Bolt’s app from next week, as it looks to ramp up efforts to challenge Uber’s Lime in the race to dominate London’s streets.

🧙‍♂️ Builder.ai’s founder and self-proclaimed “chief wizard” Sachin Dev Duggal has quit as CEO. In a statement, Duggal said his departure marked an “exciting new chapter” for the company.

🤫 French AI startup H Company raised a monster $220m seed round before seemingly vanishing back into stealth mode. After losing three cofounders, investors tell Sifted they’re in the dark over the company’s future. 

👀 VCs report a recent "vibe shift" towards greater interest in defence as Europe wakes up to the reality of needing to boost security spending amid a potential US pullback from the continent. But some are worried there’s still too much talk and not enough action.  

Enabling startups to achieve their potential

Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures Lab (MSISVL) is an in-house accelerator that provides early-stage startups with access to capital, powerful networks and hand-picked mentors to help them develop and scale. Apply now through March 14 to join this year’s cohort and see how MSISVL can help accelerate your business.

Girls just wanna have funding

Female European founders raised just €5.76bn in 2024, according to the 2025 Female Innovation Index by Female Foundry, a venture platform of more than 7,000 investors and female founders across Europe. That represents 12% of all VC capital raised and a 12% decrease on the amount raised by female founding teams in 2023. 

Yet, there are a couple of bright spots in the report — as Sifted’s Steph Bailey explores.

Digital health: startups with a growth prescription 

• Europe’s digital health sector was on life support in 2023 before turning a corner in 2024. And there’s been some healthy growth in 2025, which includes raises for Daniel Ek’s Neko Health and London’s Level Zero Health, which bagged the largest pre-seed round ever raised by a European female-founded company. 
• What trends will dominate this year? Sifted Pro subscribers can find out in our full digital health briefing, which also includes every deal since the start of 2024 and a breakdown of the sector’s most active investors.

Pro subscribers also get access to Sifted’s entire catalogue of briefings.

Belfast-based Cloudsmith, a cloud-native artifact management platform for software supply chain security, raised $23m in Series B funding. TCV led the round and was joined by investors including Insight Partners, MMC, Frontline, Techstart, Sorenson, Tapestry and Shasta.

Stockholm-based Echandia, a maritime battery system supplier, raised $20.6m in funding. Klima led the round and was joined by investors including Industrifonden, SEB Greentech VC and EEI.

Vienna-based Quantum Industries, which provides cryptographic solutions for quantum technology, raised $10m in seed funding. Sparring Capital Partners and Findus Venture led the round and were joined by KGAL.

Helsinki-based Skyfora, which offers AI-powered weather forecasting tech, raised €4m in funding. Ugly Duckling Ventures and Lumo Labs led the round and were joined by investors including Voima Ventures and EIC Fund.

Oslo-based Installer, which matches companies and clients with to skilled installers of assets like EV chargers, solar panels and heat pumps, raised $4m in seed funding. Brighteye Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including PT1, Futurum and Sondo.

Paris-based Kleio, which is building a conversational AI product for enterprises, raised €3m in seed funding. Serena and Daphni led the round and were joined by investors including Houman Behzadi, Julien Bellanger, Raphael Simon and Dave Kellogg.

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