The week in London technology, read and picked by hand. No algorithm, nothing in here because someone paid for it.
Tuesday · · 5 minute read
British startup Emulate in talks for $700 million round
British startup Emulate, founded one month ago by former DeepMind researchers, is in advanced talks to raise up to $700 million. The company develops AI world models that simulate physical environments and is seeking a $3.7 billion post-money valuation.
Reported by StrictlyVC, 2026-09-18
ElevenLabs reportedly seeking $500M Series E round
ElevenLabs, a four-year-old London startup, is reportedly in the market to raise a $500 million Series E round. The company develops synthetic voices and tools for dubbing, conversational agents, and audio production. Scaleup Europe Fund is named as a potential investor in the round.
Reported by StrictlyVC, 2026-09-19
Tandem Health raises $100M Series B for AI operating system
Tandem Health raised $100 million in Series B funding on 14 September 2026. The investment was led by the Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT. This marks the fund’s first investment in the healthcare sector.
The capital will accelerate the adoption of AI across European healthcare. Tandem Health plans to expand its AI Medical Assistant into an AI-native Clinic Operating System and double down across European markets. The company currently supports 10,000 care organisations in 14 European countries. Its AI solutions include three Class IIa medical devices certified under EU Medical Device Regulation. Lukas Saari, CEO and co-founder, said, "Europe’s health systems are under real strain and AI presents a tangible solution." The company aims to address the widening gap between demand and workforce in European health systems.
Reported by Tech.eu, 2026-09-21
AI compute shortage is "least short it will ever be"
Gavin Uberti, cofounder and CEO of AI chip startup Etched, commented on the current AI compute shortage. He stated it is "bad, but it is the least short it will ever be." Uberti noted this situation is due to exploding costs for raw materials, memory, and circuit boards.
Reported by Sifted, 2026-09-18
Google commits €13bn to Finnish data centres
Google will invest €13bn across four data centre sites in Finland during 2027 and 2028. This plan includes expanding its Hamina campus and constructing new facilities in Kajaani, Vaala, and Muhos. It marks Google’s largest single investment in Europe to date.
Reported by Scaling Europe, 2026-09-21
Robinhood engineers charged with insider trading
US prosecutors have brought formal charges against two engineers who are employed by Robinhood. The individuals are accused of insider trading. These charges specifically relate to their activities concerning crypto-linked perpetual futures.
Reported by Opening Bell Daily, 2026-09-16
London’s Bread Ahead bakery asked to leave Borough Market
Last week, Borough Market informed Bread Ahead that the bakery needs to leave its estate. Matthew Jones, founder of Bread Ahead, stated the charity’s reason was the bakery’s success and international franchising. He added that leaving the market would result in the loss of 83 jobs.
Jones publicly disagreed with the decision, stating, "Borough Market have informed us that Bread Ahead needs to leave the estate." Bread Ahead’s PR firm then initiated a public campaign. The Borough Market Trust, which runs the site, has declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing tenant confidentiality. This situation has opened a debate about tenant selection in the market, where potential traders often wait years for a pitch.
Reported by The Londoner, 2026-09-19
Immigration raids reach record high in London
Between January and June of this year, London experienced 1,814 immigration raids, resulting in 1,256 arrests. This represents a substantial increase from 2022, when London averaged just over one raid per day. The city now sees ten raids daily.
These operations are carried out by Immigration, Compliance and Enforcement, an agency created in 20
Reported by The Londoner, 2026-09-16
New London homes sales to British buyers drop to 21%
Between April and June this year, just 21% of new London homes were sold to British buyers. This figure is down from 49% of deals previously. Data company Molior reported that developers are increasingly selling properties to investment funds instead of individual UK buyers.
Developers are bypassing individual buyers due to weak market conditions. Tim Craine, the founder of Molior, stated, "It is a feature of a weak market. People have stopped buying new homes in London." This shift means 69% of new homes sold in London during the period went to overseas investment funds or housing associations. This is more than double the 28% rate from the same period in 2025. Developers anticipate difficulties selling to individuals and are offloading properties to private equity to manage cash flow.
Reported by The Londoner, 2026-09-21
US military almost acts on AI hallucinated intelligence
AI systems falsely reported that a Chinese ship was carrying nuclear cargo in the Middle East in an intelligence report. This nearly led the U.S. military to board the vessel. Officials determined the AI-generated intelligence was wrong before an interception occurred.
Reported by MTS, 2026-09-19
Security researchers use Claude to access OpenAI systems
Hacktron AI researchers exploited vulnerabilities using Claude, gaining access to an OpenAI employee’s ChatGPT account and portions of OpenAI’s code repositories. The team reported their findings within OpenAI’s bug-bounty programme and received a $6,500 bounty.
Reported by MTS, 2026-09-19
AI-powered system helps founders build investor lists
A new "Claude Code engine" and scoring system have been introduced to enhance fundraising outreach. This system evaluates investors based on "Fit," "Recency," and "Reach." It uses a four-layer process, including curated lists, scraping, enrichment, and verification, to identify more effective investor targets.
Reported by The VC Corner, 2026-09-20
Londoner jailed for ‘industrial scale’ fake vinyl fraud
Rehan Ahmed, 40, was jailed on Friday for three and a half years at Inner London crown court. He pleaded guilty to two charges of breach of artists’ copyright, and acquiring and using criminal property. Ahmed operated under the company names Phoenix of Vinyl and Paragon Music, producing counterfeit vinyl albums. Police found 15,000 records at his factory, with a street value of about £1m.
Judge Darren Reed highlighted the “sophisticated and planned nature of the enterprise” and the “wider harm to the music industry”. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has been involved in 43 search warrants over the last two years, seizing about 600,000 counterfeit items. Peter Ratcliffe, the BPI’s new director of content protection, stated that at least 10 other counterfeit vinyl investigations are currently taking place. He added, “We’re going to find more, and I think we’re going to have bigger finds as well.”
Reported by The Londoner, 2026-09-21
Understanding SAFE Note Dilution and Founder Equity
An updated analysis examines how SAFE note discounts and valuation caps convert, detailing their impact on founder ownership. Data within the analysis shows median founding team stakes decrease round after round. It identifies 20% as the most common discount. A cap table template is also provided to model different scenarios.
Reported by The VC Corner, 2026-09-17
Editor’s note
Lots to get our teeth in to this week.
"Security researchers use Claude to access OpenAI systems" has to be the stand out one for me, still very little in the way of startups with a primary focus on Cybersecurity in the AI space.
Its a perpetual market that won’t be going anywhere, every advance in the technology will lead to the need for an opposing force to lock down systems. No I’m not pitching for investment, but this has to be an opportunity for someone.
