Highlights

Wayve specialises in developing AI models for autonomous driving, creating a "robot brain" that learns from and interacts with real-world environments. Its Embodied AI technology is designed to prioritise safety, delivering natural and secure driving performance. It addresses the challenge of handling rare, unexpected, or edge-case scenarios that are not frequently encountered during training, by generalising learned driving skills to handle unexpected scenarios without prior training. Wayve’s self-supervised learning approach supports efficient, large-scale learning, enabling the AI to adapt smoothly to new vehicles and environments across different locations.

The funds are earmarked to bolster Wayve's strategic initiative to advance autonomous mobility, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence. Mishcon de Reya's Emerging Companies team was led by Chris Keen, with support from Kunal Sankhla, Geoff Dragon, Charlotte Lomas and Ege Sever.

Sokin, established in 2019, provides over 500 businesses, including in freight, logistics and Premier League football clubs, with multi-currency accounts to manage their international receivables and payments.

The investment from Morgan Stanley follows a trend of major financial institutions increasing their stakes in European FinTechs, signalling a growing interest and confidence in the sector. Sokin plans to utilise the capital to expand its global reach, with a particular focus on growth in Asia, South America and Africa. Currently, around 45% of Sokin's clients are based in North America, indicating a strong foundation for further international development.

We advised Sokin on all UK elements of the transaction. The team was led by Hayley Cross, London-based Partner in our Emerging Companies team, and included Kate Morter (Managing Associate) and Emma O'Rourke (Associate), as well as support from across the firm, including from our specialist Employment Incentives team.

HutanBio's HBx Biofuel is a 'Drop In' low carbon fuel solution aimed at decarbonising long-distance transportation, particularly in the Maritime and Aviation sectors. The investment from UKI2S, managed by Future Planet Capital (Ventures) Limited, reflects the growing interest in technologies that support the transition to NetZero emissions.

The investment round, which included participation from Mishcon de Reya, will enable HutanBio to continue the development of its HBx biofuel platform, which has been developed to thrive in high salinity conditions and is grown in enclosed photobioreactors on non-arable land. This approach avoids the use of prime agricultural land and reduces deforestation incentives.

The funding round was led by BGF alongside Green Generation Fund, with contributions from Volta Energy Technologies, and the continued support from existing investors. 

FluoRok, founded in 2022 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford, has developed a patented method for producing fluorochemicals. These chemicals are essential for various industries, including energy, healthcare, and food supply, and represent a global market worth $24 billion. FluoRok's technology offers a safe and sustainable alternative to the traditional, carbon-intensive methods centred around hydrogen fluoride, a highly toxic and hazardous chemical. 

The investment will enable FluoRok to expand its team and production facilities, particularly for the initial supply of its fluorinating reagents and lithium hexafluorophosphate, a crucial component for lithium-ion batteries. 

Mishcon de Reya's team, led by Nicola McConville (Partner) and Kunal Sankhla (Managing Associate), provided legal advice and support throughout the fundraising process, ensuring a smooth and successful transaction for FluoRok and its investors. 

The investment round was co-led by deep tech venture capital funds Inflection.xyz and Lunar Ventures. The round also saw participation from individual investors, including Charlie Songhurst, Zehan Wang and Mehdi Ghissassi, as well as institutional support from the UK Space Agency through non-dilutive funding. 

Founded in 2023 by aerospace engineers Thomas Santini and Neil Buchanan, Lodestar Space is developing capabilities for physical interaction with space assets that underpin both national security missions as well as the future of commerce beyond Earth. 

The team has recently completed a successful zero-gravity test in collaboration with the Aurelia Institute and MIT and is targeting an in-orbit demonstration with an uncooperative space asset by the end of 2025. 

Under the terms of both agreements, Relation will receive an upfront payment from GSK of $45 million, which comprises an equity investment of $15 million. Relation will also be eligible for success-based collaboration payments of up to $63 million, as well as potential preclinical, development, and commercial milestone payments of up to $200 million per target, and tiered royalties on net sales of products. 

Relation will lead observational studies to generate two unique functional disease data sets, and Relation’s Lab-in-the-Loop platform will analyse this data to discover novel disease targets. Relation will apply its platform to a number of related fibrotic conditions and osteoarthritis, while GSK will have worldwide development and commercialisation rights to any resulting targets. 

The Mishcon de Reya team, led by Patrick Farrant, provided legal support throughout the negotiation and execution of these agreements, with contributions from David Rainford, Sophie Wood, James Boyle, Anna Sloan, Hugo Christie, Kunal Sankhla, Gwen Ballin-Reeler, and Hayley Cross.