Empirical Ventures, a Bristol-based fund that backs ‘venture scientists’ building deeptech and life-science startups, has received a new £10 million commitment from the British Business Bank via its Regional Angels Programme. The additional capital brings the Bank’s total support for Empirical to £15 million, following an earlier £5 million pledge. Empirical, co-founded by Dr Ben Miles and Dr Johnathan Matlock, uses SEIS, EIS and syndicate structures to provide patient, high-conviction capital to technical founders nationwide, targeting areas such as advanced materials, novel energy generation, robotics and next-generation life sciences. The funding is intended to help translate UK research into commercial ventures outside London — notably in cities such as Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh — and supports objectives in the UK government’s 2026 Modern Industrial Strategy to unlock the commercial potential of the national research base. Empirical’s model emphasises helping scientists move from lab discovery to scalable companies, aiming to de-risk early-stage science-driven firms that traditional generalist investors often avoid.

A U.S. federal judge on March 26–27 granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily prevents the Trump administration and the Pentagon from enforcing a presidential order and a Defence Department designation that had labelled AI firm Anthropic a "supply chain risk." Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California found the actions appeared punitive and likely to chill public debate, describing the government's move as an "attempt to cripple Anthropic" and raising First Amendment concerns. The injunction freezes both a White House directive ordering agencies to stop using Anthropic’s Claude models and a rare Pentagon label historically reserved for firms in adversary states. The dispute stems from negotiations over a $200m contract and the company’s refusal to allow unrestricted military uses — including mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous lethal weapons. The ruling keeps Anthropic tools in use by federal agencies and contractors while litigation continues; the government has signalled it may seek emergency appellate relief. Major tech firms, AI researchers and retired military officials have filed amici briefs supporting Anthropic, saying the designation sets a risky precedent for industry-government relations.

Finnish quantum hardware firm IQM Quantum Computers has secured a €50 million financing facility from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock to strengthen R&D, expand market presence and shore up its balance sheet ahead of a planned US public listing. IQM announced in February it will go public via a merger with Real Asset Acquisition Corp (RAAQ), valuing the company at about $1.8 billion pre-money and including a $134 million PIPE; the combined company is expected to hold more than $450 million in cash at closing. The BlackRock facility, arranged before the SPAC announcement, is structured to diversify capital and lower IQM’s overall cost of capital. IQM builds full‑stack superconducting quantum computers for on‑premises deployment—claiming 21 systems sold to 13 customers, at least €35 million in unaudited 2025 revenue and over €100 million in bookings by year‑end. The funding will be used to accelerate chip and systems development, scale commercial operations and support entry into new markets as the company positions itself as one of Europe’s leading quantum hardware vendors.

Jeff Bezos is in early talks to raise as much as $100 billion for a fund to buy and modernise legacy manufacturing firms using artificial intelligence, multiple reports said. The proposed vehicle would acquire companies in strategically important sectors such as aerospace, chipmaking and defence and fold them into an industrial transformation strategy tied to Project Prometheus, an AI startup where Bezos is co‑CEO. Prometheus, which has already drawn roughly $6.2 billion in funding and recruited talent from top AI teams, aims to develop physics‑aware AI models for engineering and simulation. Sources say Bezos has been sounding out large asset managers, sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and other deep pools of capital, and has travelled to Singapore as part of fundraising talks. Banks including JPMorgan have been approached to back elements of the plan, with one initiative discussed as an initial $10 billion resiliency investment. If realised, the vehicle would rank among the largest buyout efforts globally and pair heavy private capital with AI models to redesign industrial processes and scale automation across factories and supply chains.

PDW Holdings Inc., a Huntsville, Alabama-based developer and manufacturer of small unmanned aerial systems, announced on March 25, 2026 that it has closed a Series B financing of more than $110 million. The round was led by Ondas with participation from Hood River, Cedar Pine, Hanwha Asset Management’s venture fund, Booz Allen Hamilton and other existing and new investors; Houlihan Lokey acted as financial adviser. PDW makes AI-equipped systems and mission software for defense and public safety, including its C100 quadcopter, the Attritable Multirotor, SIM flight simulator, CORE mission-planning software, multi-mission payloads and an anti-jam radio. The company said proceeds will be used to expand product offerings, strengthen engineering capabilities, scale production and establish a U.S.-anchored supply chain to meet growing demand from U.S. and allied customers and ramp mass manufacture of deployable systems for contested environments.