VoCoVo Announces New CEO and Strengthens Tech Leadership Amid Global Growth Push

VoCoVo, the voice communication specialist serving major retailers, has unveiled a series of senior leadership changes as it gears up for further international expansion.

After two years as co-CEO, Beth Worrall has been appointed as the company’s sole CEO, while co-founder and outgoing co-CEO Rob Gamlin transitions into a new strategic advisor role. Worrall, who joined the business in 2022, brings more than 20 years of leadership experience from roles at EY, dunnhumby, and across a range of high-growth, customer-focused tech organisations. Her new mandate centres on scaling VoCoVo’s global operations and continuing to drive innovation in retail communications.

The company has seen growing adoption of its voice-enabled team communication solutions across the UK, US, and European retail sectors, working with brands including Iceland, Tesco, Currys, The Fresh Market, and Wakefern Shoprite. It was recently named in the 2025 RetailTech 50, recognising its momentum and impact in the sector.

As part of this next phase, VoCoVo has made two further leadership appointments to solidify its product and engineering function. Melanie D’Mellow, previously Head of Engineering, has been promoted to Director of Engineering, where she’ll oversee the scaling of the company’s technical capabilities. She’ll work closely with Siobhan Myles, newly appointed Global Product Director, who will lead the company’s product strategy and delivery alignment across markets.

The changes come at what VoCoVo describes as a “pivotal moment” in its journey, with Worrall commenting that the focus is on “setting new benchmarks for innovation, operational excellence, and customer experience,” while fostering a strong internal culture. Gamlin, reflecting on his new role, noted pride in the company's evolution and reiterated his commitment to supporting the team as it continues to grow.

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Definely Secures $30M Series B to Fuel Global Expansion and AI Product Growth

Legal tech scale-up Definely has raised $30 million in Series B funding as it accelerates its international growth and doubles down on AI innovation within legal workflows. The round was led by Revaia, marking the investor’s first UK deal since launching its London office, with participation from Alumni Ventures, Beacon Capital, Clio, and returning backers such as Octopus Ventures and The Raine Group.

Founded by former Freshfields lawyers Nnamdi Emelifeonwu and Feargus MacDaeid, Definely was created with accessibility and efficiency at its core—partly inspired by MacDaeid’s lived experience as a registered blind lawyer. Since launching, the company has developed AI-driven tools that integrate directly into Microsoft Word, enabling legal teams to edit and review complex contracts without switching platforms.

The company has seen rapid momentum, tripling its ARR in 2024, with its client base now including Magic Circle and White Shoe law firms such as A&O Shearman, DLA Piper, and Slaughter and May, as well as corporate legal departments at BT Group, Deloitte, and P&O Cruises. Notably, the US market now accounts for 30% of revenue, prompting the relocation of key team members to the East Coast and the appointment of a US-based GM.

A significant portion of the new funding will support further development of its AI offering, including the newly launched multi-agent product, Enhance, which promises a 40% increase in workflow speed over traditional legal review methods. The business remains committed to sustainable growth, with its team expected to surpass 100 employees by late 2025.

Commenting on the raise, CEO Emelifeonwu emphasised the company's “human-first” approach to generative AI, saying: “We are solving real-world problems for lawyers, not applying AI for the sake of it.”

With this latest round, Definely’s total funding reaches $40M, positioning the company as a key player in the global legal tech space.

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Bluprintx and Brainpool AI Form Strategic Alliance to Accelerate Scalable AI in CX

Liverpool-based digital transformation consultancy Bluprintx has announced a global partnership with AI services provider Brainpool AI, bringing together a powerful network of over 800 AI experts from institutions such as MIT, Oxford, and Stanford. The alliance is designed to tackle one of the most pressing challenges for customer experience (CX) leaders: scaling AI initiatives that deliver measurable return on investment.

Founded by Kasia Borowska (Managing Director) and Dr. Peter Bebbington (Chief Technology Officer), Brainpool AI specialises in building responsible, bespoke AI solutions using world-class academic and technical expertise. Bluprintx, led by Founder and CEO Lee Hackett, complements this with its practical, future-focused transformation frameworks aimed at aligning marketing, sales, and service teams around actionable insights and innovation.

The strategic partnership follows Bluprintx’s recent investment from private equity firm Palatine, which is fuelling its international expansion. Together, the two companies aim to bridge the gap between AI theory and real-world application by prioritising model-agnostic AI development, offering flexible, vendor-neutral solutions tailored to evolving tech environments.

Their combined capabilities promise to drastically reduce AI implementation timelines—from several months to just weeks—through structured deployment frameworks, targeted pilot programmes, and pre-built solution modules. This enables organisations, regardless of AI maturity, to drive customer loyalty, streamline operations, and accelerate growth.

Bluprintx’s Global Director of Solutions, Ryan Forrest, said:

“At Bluprintx, we don’t just adapt to change—we anticipate it. This partnership with Brainpool AI fuses strategic transformation with deep technical expertise, turning AI from a cost centre into a genuine competitive advantage.”

Brainpool AI’s Kasia Borowska added:

“This is a truly unique partnership that connects the academic depth of our expert network with the real-world business acumen of Bluprintx. Together, we’re equipping organisations to solve challenges and seize opportunities that were previously out of reach.”

The collaboration is set to make a significant impact across the entire customer lifecycle, enabling businesses to harness AI for hyper-personalised engagement, automated workflows, operational efficiency, and revenue acceleration through tools such as dynamic pricing engines and predictive lead scoring.

With deep academic roots and a commercial mindset, the Bluprintx–Brainpool AI partnership is poised to redefine how enterprises approach and implement AI at scale.

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r2c Online Launches New Tool to Boost Workshop Efficiency and Transparency

Fleet software specialist r2c Online has launched a new feature aimed at transforming how commercial vehicle workshops manage technician productivity and job costing. The new tool, Time Recording, gives workshop operators real-time visibility into how every minute is spent on individual tasks—enabling smarter decisions, more accurate pricing, and improved team performance.

Designed for users of r2c’s digital workshop management system, Time Recording allows technicians to log hours against specific work lines, helping managers track job overruns, uncover bottlenecks, and reduce costly delays before they escalate. The tool not only supports more accurate job costing using real-time data but also reduces manual input—helping avoid margin losses due to underquoted work.

Beyond operational gains, Time Recording also offers a valuable tool for employee development, providing bespoke data for technician reviews, performance analysis, and training needs. Managers can easily identify top performers, support underperformers, and ensure fair workload distribution across the team.

r2c’s Commercial Director, Ash Connell, commented:

“Time Recording launches at a crucial moment as workshops face growing cost and tax pressures. Our experience shows many operations underestimate true labour costs, and this tool brings clarity to that challenge. It gives managers the transparency and insights needed to run more efficient, data-driven workshops.”

r2c Online, established in 2003, serves over 100,000 users, supports more than 60,000 fleets and 1,600 workshops across the UK. The company has recorded 11.7 million driver pre-use checks and 10.6 million completed jobs on its platform. Its client base includes major names like Scania, Tesco, Renault Trucks, and Wincanton.

The launch of Time Recording adds to r2c’s suite of digital tools designed to help fleets and workshops operate smarter—shaping a safer, greener, and more efficient future for the UK’s commercial transport sector.

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Northern Gritstone backs Manchester spinout Apini with £1.8m investment

Northern Gritstone, a leading UK investor in life sciences and deep tech, has announced a £1.8 million investment into Sam Butterworth founded Apini, a new biotech spinout from The University of Manchester, focused on developing small molecule therapies for chronic inflammatory diseases.

Apini, the first company to emerge from Syncona’s accelerator Slingshot Therapeutics, is pioneering treatments that target eNAMPT, an enzyme implicated in diseases like Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis—conditions that affect an estimated 10 million people globally. Unlike current treatments, Apini’s novel approach aims to modulate inflammation without suppressing the immune system, a major clinical advantage.

The research underpinning Apini is led by Professor Sam Butterworth, a globally recognised drug discovery expert best known for inventing the anti-cancer drug Tagrisso, used worldwide in the treatment of EGFR mutant lung cancer.

“This investment supports Apini’s mission to treat inflammatory diseases without the induction of immune suppression,” said Professor Butterworth. “We look forward to advancing and accelerating the Apini programme, which we believe can bring meaningful improvements to patients across a broad range of chronic inflammatory diseases.”

Apini’s launch was supported by the University of Manchester Innovation Factory, the institution’s tech transfer office. According to the Spotlight on Spinouts 2025 report by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Beauhurst, the Innovation Factory has helped create 114 spinout companies since 2011—placing Manchester among the UK’s leading universities for spinout success.

The £1.8m investment by Northern Gritstone will be delivered in three milestone-based tranches, alongside Syncona’s existing commitment through Slingshot, which was launched in late 2024 with £12.5m to identify and accelerate de-risked therapeutic programmes from academic settings.

Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, commented:

“Apini is based on the groundbreaking drug development work of Professor Sam Butterworth from The University of Manchester, and is a fantastic example of life sciences company creation based on world-class research. We’re delighted to invest in Apini, alongside Syncona, and with the support of the Slingshot accelerator.”

Edward Hodgkin, Executive Chair of Slingshot, added:

“We are delighted to welcome Northern Gritstone as an investment partner for Apini. This funding validates the programme’s potential and shows how Slingshot’s hands-on approach can transform outstanding academic research into high-impact biotech ventures.”

The partnership is a significant milestone for both Apini and Northern Gritstone as they continue to fuel the UK’s growing biotech ecosystem with innovation rooted in academic excellence and driven by real-world medical need.

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