London’s startup scene stayed busy through the second half of July, led by two eye-catching rounds and a strong overall week for UK tech funding. Here is what founders and operators should note, with links to the reporting.
Humanoid becomes Europe’s first pure-play humanoid robotics unicorn
London robotics company Humanoid raised a $152m round, about £114m, that values it at $1.35bn, making it Europe’s first pure-play humanoid robotics unicorn. The Series A was led by Prime Movers Lab, with industrial backers including Schaeffler and Bosch, and takes total funding since its 2024 launch to roughly $270m. The company says it has lined up around $2.4bn in pre-orders despite not yet shipping robots. Tech.eu reported the raise on 21 July.
Arrakis leaves stealth with a $30m round for industrial AI
Arrakis, a London startup building autonomous AI agents for sectors such as aerospace, energy, logistics and manufacturing, came out of stealth with a $30m Series A led by Blossom Capital. Existing backer Accel returned, and Datadog chief executive Olivier Pomel and OpenAI’s Olivier Godement invested personally, a notable vote of confidence from operators rather than pure financial investors. The company plans to grow its team and open offices in New York and the Middle East. Tech.eu covered the launch on 22 July.
A £587m week shows UK AI funding still running hot
UK startups raised £587.3m in the week of 20 to 24 July across AI, health tech and cyber security, according to Startupmag’s weekly funding report. It caps a strong first half of the year in which UK companies pulled in well over $17bn. For founders raising now, the signal is that capital is there for a credible AI or deep-tech story, even as investors stay selective on valuation.