FTSE 100 sinks as global equity selloff continues

UK Investor Magazine
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FTSE 100 sinks as global equity selloff continues

The FTSE 100 was sharply lower again on Tuesday as the global equity selloff accelerated ahead of Nvidia earnings and the return of US data.

London’s leading index was trading down by more than 1% at the time of writing.

“Market jitters are back as traders position themselves to tackle a week centred around NVIDIA’s earnings and the delayed September jobs data,” said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com.

“Global equities face another round of selloffs on Tuesday led by the Asian session despite a lack of fresh catalysts, suggesting another round of risk-aversion brought on by positioning.”

Market chatter about a possible AI bubble is rife, and Nvidia’s earnings tomorrow could be a catalyst for further selling or provide the reassurance investors need that the AI trade has further legs. Nvidia has become the most-watched earnings release globally, and the stakes for tomorrow’s release could not be higher.

“As fears over an AI bubble build, there has rarely been more riding on an individual set of results than Nvidia’s on Wednesday,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Even a mild disappointment could reinforce the market’s worries and spark a wider sell-off.”

The majority of the FTSE 100’s stocks were down on Tuesday, with 89 of the 100 constituents trading in the red at the time of writing.

ConvaTec was the FTSE 100’s top faller after the Novo Nordisk Foundation sold its entire stake in the group, equating to around 7.8% of ConvaTec’s total shares. ConvaTec shares were down 3% at the time of writing.

Weakness in Asia filtered through to more selling of China-focused stocks on Tuesday. Anglo American was down heavily while HSBC and Standard Chartered lost more than 3%.

ICG was the FTSE 100’s top riser, gaining 7%, after announcing that management fees had increased 16% in its first half period.

Imperial Brand was another of the few risers as the group reported that improving demand for tobacco alternatives helped lift profits.

“In the wider market context, what appears a modest advance for Imperial Brands carries more weight,” Russ Moudl explained.

“At a headline level, earnings for the year to 30 September may have been materially lower thanks to higher tax and costs associated with the delivery of its 2030 strategy.

“The underlying picture was better, and investors will have taken note of the solid growth delivered in next-generation products like vapes and e-cigarettes – with losses narrowing.”

Our top 20 startups from Web Summit 2025

UK Investor Magazine
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Our top 20 startups from Web Summit 2025

Web Summit 2025 brought together over 70,000 attendees in Lisbon this month to celebrate innovation and the global technology start-up ecosystem.

We scoured the exhibition floor, masterclasses, and pitch sessions to bring together the most exciting startups attending this year’s event.

In no particular order, these are UK Investor Magazine’s favourite startups from Web Summit 2025:

Nebius

Nebius is a $21bn market cap NASDAQ-listed AI infrastructure provider. The company effectively provides outsourced AI compute to hyperscalers. Nebius recently signed a $19bn deal with Microsoft to supply dedicated AI infrastructure. Their offering allows customers to deploy AI applications that scale elastically from single-GPU instances to pre-optimized, multi-thousand-NVIDIA-GPU clusters, supporting both model training and inference workloads at any scale.

Find out more: https://nebius.com/

PeachWeb

PeachWeb makes seriously cool websites accessible and affordable. They are the first 3D and AI-powered website Builder that makes stunning, interactive websites in minutes. With a few clicks, users can create industry-leading websites that set them apart from the competition.

Find out more: https://peachweb.io/

Fayder

FAYDER is the first fan engagement and funding platform built exclusively for elite athletes, enabling them to create subscriber communities where fans pay for behind-the-scenes content, exclusive experiences, and direct interaction while providing financial support for athletic careers. Unlike general platforms such as GoFundMe, Patreon, or OnlyFans, FAYDER addresses the specific needs of serious athletes who face declining government funding and limited sponsorship opportunities.

Find out more: https://faydersports.com/

ReachX 

ReachX is pioneering digital investment banking for private markets. They provide clients with end-to-end solutions to manage private market fundraising and help connect investors with new opportunities. ReachX also provides the regulatory oversight for advisors to conduct deals within their ecosystem. Founded by ex-Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan investment bankers.

Find out more here: https://www.reachx.co/

Replit

One of Web Summit 2025’s headliners, Replit, is revolutionising software development with low- and no-code solutions that enable non-technical people to build fully functional apps. The company recently raised $250bn at a $3bn valuation on ARR of $150m. We spoke with Michele Casta, Head of AI at Replit, at Web Summit, who hinted at more exciting product developments in the coming months.

Find out more: https://replit.com/

GoodMora

GoodMora is AI for business strategy. GoodMora maps how businesses are wired, exposing misalignments and simulating change so leaders act with clarity. They focus on bringing together fragmented information to provide actionable insight into running business.

Find out more: https://www.goodmora.ai/

VibeVenture

VibeVenture is an AI-powered startup accelerator. The VibeVenture platform gives founders an AI-powered health score and daily guidance to stay on track and scale fast. It also helps startups connect with investors and provides access to AI agents.

Find out more: https://www.vibeventure.ai/

Scarlet AI

AI automation platform that plans and executes tasks, delegating to agents, tools or team members. Users have access to a chat interface to build out tools that help solve everyday tasks.

Find out more: https://scarletai.co/

Kinetara.ai by FrodX

Kinetara is an Agentic BPO with autonomous AI agents for missed calls, sales follow-ups, and payment reminders. Each agent understands context, acts independently, and delivers measurable outcomes.

Find out more: https://kinetara.frodx.com/en/

Orluma

Orluma turns missed calls into outcomes – instantly. They have developed sub-second, multilingual voice AI that answers, books, resolves, and handles FAQs across 50+ languages.

Find out more: https://orlumahq.com/

Athena AI

Athena AI allows you to unify all communicational channels into a single dashboard, train & deploy AI Agents across those channels and connect everything to your CRM or backend, without any coding. Athena AI Agents help with support, sales, HR, pre-qualification, and bookings.

Find out more: https://athenachat.ai/

Alludium

Alludium lets users deploy ready-made agents instantly or create custom agents through conversation—no coding required. Unlike isolated AI tools, Alludium’s agents collaborate with you and each other, learning your workflows and making deployment faster and simpler. They launched their product at Web Summit.

Find out more: https://www.alludium.ai/

Monnett

Monnett has developed a social media platform they say is ‘made for humans’. It offers an alternative to legacy platforms by giving people back control of their feed. They aim to reduce ‘creepy spying’ and avoid shadowbans, which have dented trust with some of the world’s leading platforms. Monnett recently hit 10,000 users.

Find out more: https://monnett.social/

VANKA

Autonomous company creation and operation for humans in the ‘post-employment era’. This is an end-to-end startup formation and launch entirely powered by AI. VANKA’s founders previously exited to Google and are now setting out to provide businesses with a solution to get started with just one founder.

Find out more: https://www.vanka.ai

AISYNG

AISYNG builds Intelligent business systems that let SMEs work faster, cut costs, and make enterprise-grade decisions without big teams.

Find out more: https://aisyng.ai/

Cogniflow

Cogniflow helps businesses save time and money by implementing AI agents. The firm provides AI agents for sales and SDR teams, designed to automate routine tasks. They believe their tools can increase in outreach volume and close 3x revenue.

Find out more: https://cogniflow.nl/

Crux Global

Crux is a digital legacy platform that simplifies how people prepare, protect, and pass on what matters most by combining practical tools like secure document storage and wills with emotional features such as time capsules. The platform makes legacy planning accessible and human-centered, allowing users to organise critical information and preserve meaningful messages for loved ones in one comprehensive, easy-to-use solution that goes beyond traditional estate planning.

Find out more: https://cruxlegacy.com/

The Loops

This is a vital tool for designers. The Loops turns feedback into a growth engine; sharpening designers, accelerating teams, and driving business impact. Users can get live feedback from the platforms on their designs, providing insight into key graphic design techniques and the visual appeal of their designs.

Find out more: https://theloops.co/

Cipher Labs

Cipher Labs provides live guardrails and a copilot for autonomous AI agents across all modalities. Their technology keeps agents on track and secure with ML detectors. Using proxy LLM connections through the Cipher AI platform, users can monitor voice agents and track key safety points.

Find out more: https://www.getcipher.ai

Fairw.ai

Fairwai is an AI-powered conversation intelligence platform that automatically captures and analyses every customer interaction across your existing communication tools, including Meet, Teams, Zoom, Aircall, 3CX, and Yeastar. The platform uses AI to identify speakers, topics, tone, and intent in real time, transforming raw conversations into actionable insights without manual effort.

Find out more here: https://fairw.ai/en/

A British Innovation Reshaping Global Electronics 

Jiva Materials
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A British Innovation Reshaping Global Electronics 

A British cleantech company is redefining what sustainable electronics can be and giving investors the chance to back one of the most significant material innovations in modern electronics. 

Jiva Materials, the Hampshire-based company behind Soluboard®, has developed the world’s first fully recyclable PCB substrate – a material capable of transforming how the electronics industry tackles waste, carbon, and circularity. 

Jiva is now raising capital on Crowdcube, as part of a wider funding round. The full opportunity is available here.

This raise offers investors the chance to support a patent-protected technology already drawing attention from major global OEMs, including Amazon and Logitech. 

From a single idea to an industry-shaping material 

Founder & CPO Jack Herring conceived Soluboard® while studying Product Design at the Royal College of Art. The challenge: PCBs – the backbone of modern electronics are almost impossible to recycle. 

His answer became Soluboard®, a novel composite made from natural fibres and a biodegradable polymer, which can be dissolved in hot water to recover copper, fibres, and components without toxic chemicals or high energy. 

With CEO Steve Driver leading production and commercialisation and over £3.5 million already invested, Jiva has turned that concept into a validated, industry-ready technology. 

A massive market problem – and a clear path to disruption 

Electronic waste is the fastest-growing waste stream on Earth, exceeding 60 million tonnes annually. PCBs account for over 40% of this waste – yet almost none are recycled. 

According to Fortune Business Insights and Global Market Insights: 

  • Global PCB market (2023): USD 71–75 billion 
  • Projected by 2030: USD 113–120 billion 

New regulations such as Digital Product Passports, transparency mandates, and Scope 3 emissions reporting are accelerating demand for recyclable, low-carbon materials. 

Soluboard® targets exactly this shift, reducing PCB carbon impact and enabling circular recovery where FR-4 boards are currently incinerated or landfilled. 

Proven traction – strong signals from the market 

Jiva Materials has already partnered with 60+ OEMs across consumer electronics, computing, lighting, and industrial applications. Soluboard® has been fabricated and assembled in standard PCB formats, proving compatibility with existing processes. 

The company has secured Eurostars funding, is progressing through UL94 V-0 certification, and is completing extended reliability testing – all critical steps toward large-scale adoption. 

The investment: powering Jiva’s next phase of scale 

Jiva’s Crowdcube round has already raised just under £1 million, with over £500,000 of EIS-eligible capacity still available. 

Funds will be used to: 

  1. Establish Jiva’s first UK production line – 300,000 m² annual capacity to support customer onboarding, reliability qualification, and early European orders. 
  1. Launch a second manufacturing line in Asia – 1 million m² annual capacity to meet Tier-1 OEM demand as Soluboard® enters formal product specifications. 
  1. Complete technical and regulatory milestones – including UL94 V-0, long-term reliability testing, and expansion of the engineering team. 

A Series A round in early 2026 will fund full industrial scale-up and global expansion. 

“We’ve proven the science, the product, and the demand,” says Steve Driver. “Now it’s about scaling fast – and investors can be part of that journey.” 

The next five years: setting a new standard in sustainable electronics 

Jiva’s goal is to make Soluboard® the global industry standard for sustainable PCB substrates – with multi-site manufacturing across the UK, Europe, and Asia, millions of square metres of output, and inclusion in major OEM materials libraries. 

By replacing FR-4 with a recyclable, low-carbon alternative, Jiva Materials aims to shift the industry from incineration to recovery, closing the loop in one of electronics’ most carbon-intensive areas. 

Norcros: this week’s Interims will show shares, at 295p, have further to climb

Mark Watson-Mitchell
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Norcros: this week’s Interims will show shares, at 295p, have further to climb

We have all got them! 
Kitchens and Bathrooms – I mean. 
And investors should have this group’s shares too. 
Just over a month ago, on Wednesday 15th October, I featured Norcros (LON:NXR) shortly before its latest Trading Update and just after the £265m-capitalised group had added another market-leading brand to its portfolio. 
That £46m acquisition saw the group acquire Fibo Holdings, a major wall panel supplier based in Norway. 
The business will be announcing its Interim Results this Thursday, 20th November, which I believe will be good enough to spike investor inte...

Greencore Group: food group excellent finals should help to boost shares higher

Mark Watson-Mitchell
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Greencore Group: food group excellent finals should help to boost shares higher

The 52-week period to Friday 26th September saw Greencore Group (LON:GNC), the Dublin-based convenience foods manufacturer, report a very impressive set of results. 
The group declared a strong financial year, with revenue increasing by 7.7% to £1,947.0m (£1,807.1m) and adjusted operating profit growing by 28.9% to £125.7m (£97.5m), leading to an improved adjusted operating margin of 6.5% (5.4%).  
There was a 29.3% increase in pre-tax profits at £79.5m (£61.5m). 
The company also saw a significant increase in free cash flow to £120.5m and a reduction in net debt to £70.1m,...

WeShop Nasdaq float boost for Aquis companies

Andrew Hore
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WeShop Nasdaq float boost for Aquis companies

Social commerce platform operator WeShop Holdings (NASAQ: WSHP) shares have started trading on Nasdaq. This is good news for two Aquis companies.

On Friday share trading started at $20.02 and ended the day at $30.21. The share price ended the normal trading day (4pm Eastern time) on Monday 30.8% higher at $39.31, which was well below the high earlier in the day, although it fell back to $35.01 after hours. That values the company at $383m. There were 248,701 shares traded on the day.

A shares are traded on Nasdaq and there are B shares issued to shoppers who use the platform.

Aquis investors

WeCap (LON: WCAP) owns 11.8% of WeShop. That is 806,022 shares directly and 2.08 million shares via a 23.5% holding in Community Social Investments Limited (CSIL). This direct and indirect stake is valued at $45.2m. WeCap has a discounted capital bond of £6.97m. Even taking this off, the valuation is 6.2p/share, according to Tennyson Securities.

The flotation has sparked additional interest in WeCap with 51.67 million shares traded on Monday. At 2.35p, the share price was 0.1p lower on the day and this valued the company at £10.9m. The share price had passed 3p at one point in the day. Even if the WeShop share price fell to $25, the value to WeCap would be 4p/share.

Hot Rock Investments (LON: HRIP) has a portfolio of shares, as well as 150,000 shares in WeShop. This stake is valued at $5.25m. At 1.2p. Hot Rocks Investments is valued at £2.8m.

The Smarter Web Company: compounding the utility of Bitcoin ownership

UK Investor Magazine
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The Smarter Web Company: compounding the utility of Bitcoin ownership

Jesse Myers, Bitcoin Strategy Consultant of The Smarter Web Company, joins Jeremy Naylor as part of the UK Investor Magazine Aquis Showcase Series running up to the event on 19th November.

Please register for the Aquis Showcase here using the code ‘UKINVEST’ for a 20% discount

The Smarter Web Company provides web design, development and online marketing services on a subscription model, comprising an initial setup fee, annual hosting charges and optional monthly marketing fees. The business has identified opportunities to expand these core service offerings to its existing client base.

Beyond organic expansion, The Smarter Web Company is pursuing a strategic acquisition programme to increase its client portfolio and recurring revenue streams. Management will evaluate potential acquisitions on a selective basis, proceeding only when market conditions and strategic fit align with their objectives.

FTSE 100 falls as investors brace for US economic data

UK Investor Magazine
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FTSE 100 falls as investors brace for US economic data

The FTSE 100 was struggling to hold firm on Monday as investors braced for the return of key US economic data points after the government shutdown prevented the release of potentially market-moving data.

London’s leading index was down 0.2% at the time of writing after swings between minor gains and minor losses.

“Global markets are waiting on the overdue economic data from the US – which will potentially be released at the beginning of this week,” explained Emma Wall, Chief Investment Strategist, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“During the record long shutdown, inflation and jobs data for October was not collated or released, which has left policy makers in limbo.

“These two data points are key for the Fed to help determine whether they continue to cut rates when they meet next month. The S&P 500 fell on Friday, following a strong start to the week, as the market digested what the lack of data might mean for the dot plot.”

London’s market also largely shook off concerns from Asia, with investors facing fresh worries about Taiwan amid increasing tensions between China and Japan.

“The FTSE 100 managed a steady start on Monday despite volatility in Asian stocks and a lacklustre end to last week on Wall Street,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Shares in Japanese consumer-facing stocks came under pressure as China warned its citizens not to visit the country amid simmering tensions between the two sides over Taiwan.”

There was weakness in China-focused stocks such as miner Anglo American and financials HSBC and Prudential.

But several upbeat stories helped keep the FTSE 100 flat on Monday.

WPP was the FTSE 100’s top riser after the Sunday Times report that competitor Havas was considering a bid for WPP, which is down 60% on the year. WPP shares were 4% higher.

Pershing Square Holdings was 2% after announcing a fresh $100m share buyback.

There was interest in defensive safer sectors such as utilities with SSE adding 1.5% and BATS rising over 2%.

AIM movers: Capital Metals resource upgrade and Polar Capital assets under management jump

Andrew Hore
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AIM movers: Capital Metals resource upgrade and Polar Capital assets under management jump

Mineral sands company Capital Metals (LON: CMET) has upgraded its mineral resource estimate for the proposed initial mining area of the Taprobane minerals project in Sri Lanka. Maintaining a 5% heavy minerals bottom cut means that the resource tonnes rise from 897kt to 4.3Mt at an average resource grade of 10.5%, but if it is reduced to 2% the resource jumps from 897kt to 13.1mt at an average resource grade of 5.5%. The share price increased 9.62% to 5.7p.

OptiBiotix Health (LON: OPTI) has received its first order of SlimBiome and WellBiome products from a well-known European weight management company. The value for these appetite reduction products is in low six-figures. The share price recovered 6.45% to 8.25p.

Medical imaging analytics services provider Ixico (LON: IXI) has won a contact to provide imaging services to a global pharmaceutical company to support a phase 3 Huntington’s disease clinical trial. The contract is worth more than £3.5m, which will be recognised over four years. The share price gained 4.65% to 11.25p.

Data analysis software provider Cirata (LON: CRTA) has won a $6.7m, three-year data integration software contract through IBM for a financial services company. This is the largest eve contract with IBM. The share price rose 3.64% to 19.95p.

FALLERS

Defence consultancy RC Fornax (LON: RCFX) raised £2.25m in a placing at 6p/share and raised £70,000 out of the £500,000 retail offer. The cash will fund development of the Procure X Marketplace to connect small companies with defence buyers and provide working capital. Directors and management are investing £156,800 in new shares. This includes Paul Reeves and Daniel Clark who raised £1m in the flotation back in February, when the company raised £5.2m at 32.5p/share. Cavendish has increased it 2025-26 forecast loss to £2m and expects a lower loss next year. The share price slumped 35.9% to 6.25p.

Vast Resources (LON: VAST) has repaid $1m of debt. Cash from the sale of a package of diamonds will be used to pay off more of the debt. The share price slipped 24.3% to 0.1325p.

Artemis Resources (LON: ARV) has commissioned a conceptual mining study for the Carlow copper gold project in Western Australia. This will cover open-pit and underground mining scenarios. There will also be a drilling programme. The share price is 10% lower at 0.45p.

Polar Capital (LON: POLR) grew assets under management by 25% to £26.7bn in the six months to September 2025. There was a small outflow, and the improvement came from investment performance, which exceeded the global markets. Interim net income rose 1% to £91.4m, but that does not include performance fees which should be much higher this year. Full year pre-tax profit is forecast to increase from £51.6m to £76.9m. Cash was £82.5m at the end of September 2025. The interim dividend is unchanged at 14p/share. The share price declined 4.74% to 522p.

RC Fornax shares tumble after heavily discounted placing

UK Investor Magazine
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RC Fornax shares tumble after heavily discounted placing

RC Fornax has completed a heavily discounted placing that raised £2.5 million before expenses through the issue of 37.5 million shares.

The UK-based defence consultancy, which delivers engineering solutions for critical military platforms, priced the shares at 6p each, a 39% discount on the price before the placing was announced.

RC Fornax shares are now down 80% since listing at 32.5p in January.

RC Fornax is conducting an additional retail offer to raise up to £0.5 million through the issue of up to 8.3 million shares at the same price. Results of the retail offer, which closes this morning, will be announced later today.

The company said the proceeds will support RC Fornax’s innovation strategy, particularly the development of Smart Scope, an AI-powered tool for automating compliant Statements of Work, currently at the MVP stage. RC Fornax is also developing Procure X, an intelligent marketplace that connects verified SMEs with defence buyers.

RC Fronax has made a series of disappointing announcements since listing, which is reflected in the heavy discount on the placement.

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