From Side Hustle to $1.8 Billion: Jane Software Nears Major Secondary Deal

Jane Software, the Vancouver-based clinic management platform co-founded by Alison Taylor and Trevor Johnston, is reportedly set to reach a $1.8 billion valuation as part of a $500 million secondary financing round, according to The Globe and Mail.

The deal will see shares change hands from existing stakeholders to a trio of major U.S. investors, reportedly led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), with support from JMI Equity and Tidemark Management Company.

Originally built to manage Taylor’s own clinic, Jane began as a “side hustle” in 2014 and has since grown into a powerhouse, reaching $100 million in annual recurring revenue, as Taylor announced at the BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver last October.

Notably, Jane has remained mostly self-funded, raising less than $10 million in external capital—a rare feat in Canadian tech at this scale. This will be the second major secondary deal for Jane, after JMI previously purchased over $100 million in shares at a $600 million+ valuation in 2021.

This type of secondary activity is becoming more common in Canada’s tech ecosystem, offering liquidity amid a cool IPO environment. Similar moves have been made by companies like Wealthsimple, StackAdapt, and Clio, the latter having closed a $900M (USD) secondary-heavy Series F round at a $3B (USD) valuation.

At the Town Hall, Clio CEO Jack Newton encouraged founders to explore secondary markets as a way for investors to “punch out” without a public exit. Taylor, in turn, credited Newton and Clio for helping foster Vancouver’s startup ecosystem and showing what’s possible for Canadian founders.

Jane’s latest milestone is a testament to that philosophy — scaling sustainably, staying focused on mission-driven growth, and quietly becoming one of Canada’s standout tech success stories.

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SCI Semiconductor Secures £2.5m to Tackle Memory Safety in Cybersecurity

Sheffield-based start-up SCI Semiconductor has raised £2.5 million in a funding round led by Mercia Ventures, with support from NPIF II – Mercia Equity Finance, angel investors from the UK and Silicon Valley, and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. The company is aiming to be the first to bring a ‘memory safe’ silicon chip to market—a solution to a long-standing cybersecurity challenge that underpins around 70% of cyberattacks.

The funding will support team expansion in Sheffield and accelerate the launch of SCI’s ICENI chip family, built on CHERI technology developed by the University of Cambridge. Backed by the UK and US governments, the chips promise to enforce stricter memory access controls, reducing vulnerabilities without the need for major overhauls in software.

Founded in 2022 by Haydn Povey and Krishna Anne, the company already counts Google Research among its early customers and has received over £1 million in government grants. The investment is also being hailed as a boost for the UK’s deep tech sector, with high-value job creation and supply chain security cited among the wider benefits.

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BGF Commits £400m to North West as Part of £3bn UK Investment Strategy

BGF, the UK’s most active growth capital investor, has pledged £400 million to support North West businesses over the next five years, forming part of a new £3 billion nationwide plan aimed at helping scaleups and high-potential companies across the UK. The commitment builds on £596 million already deployed in the region since 2011 and reinforces BGF’s long-term “regional-first” strategy, with 74% of its capital historically invested outside London and the South East.

Pinesh Mehta, Partner at BGF for the North West, commented:

“The North West is home to some of the most exciting and ambitious companies in the UK. This £400 million commitment underlines our confidence in the region and our determination to support more businesses through every stage of growth.”

The wider plan also includes a £300 million commitment to female-powered businesses, following BGF’s earlier £25 million backing of the Invest in Women Taskforce, which helped unlock over £250 million in capital last year.

Debbie Wosskow OBE, Co-chair of the Invest in Women Taskforce, praised the move:

“This is another historic moment. BGF’s 10% commitment to female-powered businesses is significant… and is one of the largest ever made in the UK.”

Since its founding, BGF-backed companies have delivered £7.1 billion in revenue growth, £1 billion in export growth, and created over 27,000 jobs. Its Manchester-based team offers deep local expertise and supports businesses with minority equity investments ranging from £3 million to £30 million for growth-stage companies, and £3 million to £10 million for early-stage ventures.

Recent regional investments include:

• Besseges, a Manchester-based fire protection and facilities management firm
• Eleven Sports Media, a Blackpool sports marketing business expanding internationally
• Evolve Business Group in Wigan, focused on managed network and IT solutions

BGF’s commitment underscores its aim to unlock UK-wide innovation while delivering tailored support from investment through to exit.

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Silicon Valley Talent Returns to Manchester as Ex-Google and Microsoft Exec Joins Northern Tech Unicorn

Big news for the North’s tech scene: Matillion, the Manchester-based intelligent data integration platform, has appointed Frank Weigel - a University of Manchester alumnus and former product leader at Google and Microsoft - as its new Chief Product Officer.

Weigel brings heavyweight experience in simplifying complex technologies, having helped launch Microsoft Power Apps and Google App Integration. His career has focused on low-code/no-code solutions and making powerful tools accessible to all – expertise now set to fuel Matillion’s next wave of AI-driven innovation.

“After two decades in Silicon Valley startups and Big Tech, I’m thrilled to empower both humans and AI agents to transform the data they need – with tools that are intuitive and built for the AI era,” said Weigel.

He joins to lead Matillion’s flagship Data Productivity Cloud, a unified platform helping enterprises streamline manual data engineering and unlock more time for real business impact.

Matthew Scullion, Matillion CEO and co-founder, added:

“Frank’s experience and Silicon Valley background make him the perfect person to lead our product vision as we help enterprises scale their data capabilities for the AI revolution.”

Matillion, which reached unicorn status in 2021, continues to gain momentum following the launch of its Data Productivity Cloud in 2023. Recent product updates include integrations with Snowflake Cortex AI and AWS Bedrock, reinforcing its mission to remove friction from data workflows and supercharge productivity.

With global customers including Cisco, EDF, Slack, and the London Stock Exchange Group, Matillion is proudly proving that you don’t need to be based in Silicon Valley to build a world-class tech company.

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Motion Raises £250K to Revolutionise UK Care Homes with Workflow Automation

Motion, a fast-growing London-based care tech startup, has secured over £250,000 in a combined angel and Innovate UK-backed funding round to accelerate its mission of modernising operations and communication in UK care homes.

Founded by Zeezy Izenman, a University of Sheffield graduate, Motion has already deployed its platform to 3,000+ residents across multiple care providers. The platform merges workflow automation with family engagement tools, tackling one of the care sector’s biggest pain points: administrative overload and lack of transparency for families.

“We’re solving a workflow problem that affects the entire care ecosystem,” said Izenman. “Care teams are spending hours on manual documentation and communication tasks. Our platform automates these processes whilst creating the transparency that families want.”

Motion captures data from care activities and resident engagement, then auto-generates updates for families and management — reducing repetitive tasks while building trust and emotional connection with families.

The investment includes a competitive Innovate UK grant and backing from experienced tech founders and sector specialists, validating Motion’s product-market fit and vision to transform the £26.2 billion UK residential care market.

Claire Rintoul, CEO of Sheffcare, praised the platform:

“The Motion team are incredible – they’re very skilled and we love having them working with our care homes.”

With this funding, Motion plans to enhance integration with existing care systems, expand analytics for care planning, and scale its sales and marketing functions to meet growing nationwide demand.

Already covered by BBC and The Times, Motion is being recognised as an emerging force in care innovation and we're intrigued to see how the team continues to evolve. 

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