Welcome to The Week in Tech, your round up of the week’s top technology news. This week, we have over £29m in UK tech investment, the $490m acquisition of a London startup, a creepy Amazon Echo makeover and more.
Investment
In UK tech investment news, Liverpool-based LivingLens has raised £1.3m in funding. The software provider offers video-based insight tools to help companies turn consumer insight films into market research.
PropTech startup Goodlord has raised £7.2m. The Series A funding round included Ribbit Capital, LocalGlobe and Global Founders Capital.
Smart device management platform Evrythng closed a $24.8m Series B round led by Sway Ventures. The London-based firm also drew support from Generation Ventures and Bloc Ventures.
HealthTech startup Active Needle Technology raised over £350,000 on online investment platform SyndicateRoom. The firm far exceeded its £250,000 target.
British tech headlines
Simply Business, an online insurance platform for SMEs, is being sold to US giant The Travelers Companies for $490m. Founded in 2005, Simply Business was acquired by private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners in a £120m deal last year.
A report from the National Cyber Security Centre and National Crime Agency claims the cyber threat to UK businesses is “significant and growing”. This is, in part, due to the rise of internet-connected devices, which will increasingly become the target of ransomware attacks.
International
Overseas, Google Ventures founder Bill Maris is reportedly creating a new $100m health and biotech-focused venture capital fund.
The fund is set to be called Section 32, which is a nod to Star Trek’s Section 31 security forces.
Download of the Week
Our Download of the Week is Engie. The car maintenance app can diagnose over 10,000 vehicle faults and source real-time quotes from nearby mechanics.
Available on Android and iOS, it can also connect with your car to track your fuel consumption and costs, and can even help you remember where you left your vehicle in that busy car park!
And finally
If you think your Amazon Echo is a little aesthetically boring, take a leaf out of tech enthusiast Mike McGurrin’s book and give it a makeover. McGurrin turned his Echo into a creepy talking skull using an old Halloween decoration and now its mouth and eyes move when Alexa provides answers to questions.
That’s all for this episode of The Week in Tech, for more technology news, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter.