Mid-Week Tech News Roundup – August 18th to August 22nd 2025
20 Aug, 20256 minutesMobysoft Appoints Gary Young as New CEOUK-based social housing technology provider Mobysoft&...
Mobysoft Appoints Gary Young as New CEO
UK-based social housing technology provider Mobysoft has appointed Gary Young as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 11 August 2025. Young brings over 35 years of experience in the global technology sector, including senior leadership roles at IBM, KCOM Group Plc, and most recently as CEO of Peppermint Technology, where he focused on driving innovation, customer success, and business growth.
Mobysoft, a leader in AI and data analytics for social housing founded by Derek Steele, aims to support landlords and housing providers in addressing rising demand, regulatory pressures, and increasing operational costs. Under Young’s leadership, the company plans to accelerate product innovation, improve services, and deliver measurable outcomes for both providers and tenants.
Mobysoft Chair Ken Briddon said: “Gary brings a wealth of experience leading high-growth, customer-focused technology businesses. His proven track record in driving innovation, fostering collaboration, and delivering sustainable results makes him ideally placed to lead Mobysoft through its next phase of growth. We are delighted to welcome him on board.”
Northern Gritstone Leads £4 Million Seed Round in University of Manchester Spinout PhovIR
Northern Gritstone, the life sciences and deeptech investment firm chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill, has co-led a £4 million seed funding round for PhovIR, an optical sensor startup spun out from the University of Manchester. Deeptech specialist SCVC also participated in the round.
Founded by Dr Tim Echtermeyer and chaired by Dr Steve Turley, PhovIR is developing portable Near Infra-Red (NIR) optical sensors capable of identifying the ‘optical fingerprint’ of solids, liquids, and gases. The technology, which leverages MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) to create low-cost, flexible sensors on silicon chips, could be integrated into devices such as smartwatches or smartphones. Applications range from drink spiking detection and industrial safety to pollution monitoring and agriculture.
Professor Duncan Ivison, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, said: “PhovIR is a fantastic example of the kind of innovation that defines The University of Manchester – world-class research brought to life through collaboration, with the potential to change lives. It’s exciting to see this deeptech breakthrough moving towards real-world application, supported by partners like Northern Gritstone.”
PhovIR recently completed Northern Gritstone’s NG Studios pre-seed venture building program, which supports startups in refining commercial strategy and preparing for growth. Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, added: “We are delighted to back Dr Tim Echtermeyer and Dr Steve Turley, knowing PhovIR’s technology has the potential to create a global company.”
The funding will enable PhovIR to launch its first commercial product, expand its team, and further develop its platform aimed at making the invisible visible to improve human and planetary health. Dr Echtermeyer commented: “I am exhilarated to enter the next part of PhovIR’s journey and turn our vision into reality.”
Foresight Backs Immersive Tech Specialist Aircards with £3 Million Investment
Foresight Group has invested £3.0 million in Newcastle-based immersive technology company Aircards Ltd, supporting the development of its hardware and software products and enabling the company to expand its commercial operations.
Founded in 2020, Aircards delivers end-to-end immersive experiences for enterprise clients and has developed two key products: Invisionary, an interactive digital signage platform, and Metalitix, a data analytics tool. The company currently employs 32 people and expects to increase headcount by around 30% over the coming years as a result of the investment.
Euan Jarvie, former CEO of Dentsu UK&I, will join Aircards as Executive Chair to work alongside management on scaling the business both domestically and internationally. Founder Michael Watson said: “We are delighted to have secured the investment from Foresight, which marks a significant milestone in Aircards’ journey. Their support will enable us to accelerate our growth strategy, broaden our capabilities, and unlock new opportunities in the rapidly expanding immersive technology market.”
Senior Investment Manager at Foresight Group, Jordan Lavender, added: “Aircards has demonstrated strong growth since inception, and Foresight is excited to support the highly talented team on their next phase of growth. The North East is home to many ambitious and innovative SMEs, and this investment marks a meaningful step in our ongoing commitment to the region.”
Teachmate Appoints Sophie Gornall as Head of Marketing
Teachmate, the AI-powered digital assistant helping over 351,000 teachers and school leaders save more than 10 hours per week, has appointed Sophie Gornall as Head of Marketing. The platform, created by education and tech experts Lee ‘Mr. P ICT’ Parkinson, Dr. Jon Chippindall (‘Dr. Chips’) (CEO), and Ian Cunningham (CTO), streamlines teaching tasks, from lesson planning to risk assessments, while enabling personalised and engaging learning content. Teachmate aims to improve teacher wellbeing by reducing workload and enhancing learning experiences for students.
Gornall brings a strong combination of marketing expertise and educational experience. She previously worked as Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs Lead at White Rose Education, held a freelance Head of Marketing role at Teachmate, and spent over five years as a secondary English teacher, delivering strong student outcomes and data-driven learning strategies.
In her new role, Gornall will lead Teachmate’s global marketing strategy, oversee social media and brand development, and drive awareness of the platform’s impact on teachers’ day-to-day work. Her appointment underscores Teachmate’s commitment to combining educational insight with technology to transform the teaching experience worldwide.
Phoebe Secures $17 Million to Launch AI-Powered ‘Immune System’ for Software
London-based AI startup Phoebe has raised $17 million (£12.6m) in a funding round co-led by Google Ventures and Cherry Ventures, coinciding with the public launch of its platform. Phoebe develops agentic AI that acts as an “immune system” for software, continuously monitoring live system data, diagnosing issues in real time, and generating code or infrastructure changes to prevent downtime.
Founded by former Stripe and Google executives Matt Henderson and James Summerfield, Phoebe aims to tackle the costly problem of software downtime, estimated at $400 billion annually by research from Splunk and Oxford Economics. Henderson explained that high-severity incidents can damage customer relationships and that existing monitoring tools lack the intelligence to proactively resolve issues.
Google Ventures partner Roni Hiranand said: “Phoebe is building a missing layer of contextual intelligence that can help both human and AI engineers avoid software failures. We love the boldness of the team’s vision for a software immune system that preemptively fixes problems.”
The platform is already in use with early access customers including Trainline. Jay Davies, Trainline’s head of engineering for reliability and operations, said: “Work that used to take us hours to piece together can now take minutes, and that matters when you’re running critical services at our scale. Phoebe has already had a real impact on how we investigate and remediate incidents.”
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