Princess Beatrice-backed start-up community OPUS lands $2m funding boost
A for-profit social enterprise which counts HRH Princess Beatrice among its directors will this week announce a funding boost and the appointment of one of Silicon Valley's most prominent figures to its board.
Sky News has learnt that OPUS, a membership community which aims to cultivate a new wave of British entrepreneurs, is to unveil a $2m injection of capital from a syndicate of angel investors and family offices.
It will also announce that Marc Porat, co-founder of General Magic - the company credited with inventing the early technologies behind the smartphone - is to become a director of the company.
Money latest:
OPUS has drawn a membership of nearly 1,000 technology company founders since it was established with the aim of helping their projects during the embryonic stages of building their businesses.
"Anything anyone has ever achieved has been due to the support and actions of others," Sam Tidswell-Norrish, chair of OPUS, said in a statement.
"That's what OPUS is built on - the power of the collective.
"This raise is a signal of intent: that OPUS and its investors are deeply committed to backing the founders of tomorrow."
The company has a physical presence in central London, and is establishing a dual-base in South Africa.
Its new funding will be deployed to help founders through the use of artificial intelligence in areas such as fundraising, recruitment, product development and operations.
Among OPUS's other backers are Miguel McKelvey, the WeWork co-founder, and Imtiaz Patel, former boss of MultiChoice Group.
"OPUS's mission deeply resonates with my own journey," said Mr Porat
Read more from Sky News:
"The early stages of building are always the most challenging - even for the most talented, experienced and well[1]connected founder.
"Community and friendships unlock opportunity, and being able to contribute towards a platform that leverages technology to scale that value to early-stage founders is exceptionally exciting."
OPUS will also announce this week that Ken Donald, a former executive at British fintech Snoop, is to become its co-managing director, alongside Kerry Fennell.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Boston Globe
22 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Jillian Sackler, philanthropist who defended husband's legacy, dies at 84
Arthur Sackler died in 1987 — nine years before the opioid OxyContin was marketed by the company as a powerful painkiller. Shortly after his death, his estate sold his share of the company to his billionaire brothers, Raymond and Mortimer, for $22.4 million. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The company's misleading advertising claim that OxyContin was nonaddictive prompted doctors to overprescribe it beginning in the 1990s. The proliferation of the medication ruined countless lives of people who became dependent on it. Advertisement In 2021, the company proposed a bankruptcy settlement in which members of the Sackler family agreed to pay $4.2 billion over nine years to resolve civil claims related to the opioid crisis. In return, they sought immunity from future lawsuits. In 2024, the US Supreme Court struck down that deal. A revised settlement was reached in 2025, with the Sacklers and Purdue agreeing to pay $7.4 billion without receiving immunity. The first payment, within three years, included $1.5 billion from the Sacklers and nearly $900 million from Purdue. Advertisement But the backlash from the crisis prompted universities and cultural institutions — including the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art — to obliterate the Sackler name from programs, buildings, and galleries, and to declare that they would no longer accept any philanthropy from the family. Jillian Sackler — a British native who was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 for her philanthropic work — mounted a concerted publicity campaign to absolve her husband of any complicity or culpability, repeatedly reminding the public that he had died long before the scandal erupted. While she stopped short of saying that the drug was the 'root cause' of the opioid crisis, she accused the company of misleading advertising. She told The Guardian that the other members of the family 'have a moral duty to help make this right and to atone for any mistakes made.' As for Arthur, she added: 'I think he would not have approved of the widespread sale of OxyContin.' The couple were avid art collectors and patrons. One art scholar described Arthur Sackler as 'a modern Medici.' The couple was associated with major cultural and academic institutions like the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution; the Sackler Wing at the Metropolitan Museum; the Arthur M. Sackler Museum at Harvard University (now part of the Harvard Art Museums); the Arthur M. Sackler Sciences Center at Clark University; and the Arthur M. Sackler Center for Health Communications and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, both at Tufts University. After Arthur Sackler died, his wife continued his philanthropic agenda. Donations from his estate and insurance benefits helped finance the Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing of Galleries at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University, the Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia at the National Academy of Sciences, and Studio International, an art magazine. Their name was removed from some, but not all, of those institutions. Advertisement Gillian Lesley Tully was born on Nov. 17, 1940, in Stoke-on-Trent, in central England south of Manchester. She changed the spelling of her first name when she moved to the United States to be with Arthur Sackler, whom she met in 1967 when he was visiting London; they married in 1980. Her father, Kenneth Tully, worked at Midland Bank (now HSBC UK). He married a colleague, Doris Queenie-Gillman Smith. Ms. Sackler had a younger brother, Brian Tully, who died in 2019, leaving her no immediate survivors except for Arthur Sackler's children from an earlier marriage. Among them is Elizabeth Sackler, a philanthropist who has described the estimated $13 billion amassed by her aunts and cousins during the opioid crisis as 'morally abhorrent.' Jillian Sackler attended New York University. The couple moved into a home on Park Avenue in Manhattan, where she continued to live after her husband's death. In her role as president and CEO of the Dame Jillian and Dr. Arthur M. Sackler Foundation for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities, Sackler referred to the other branches of her husband's family as the 'OxySacklers.' In an opinion piece in The Washington Post in 2019, she wrote that her husband had been smeared through 'guilt by association.' Advertisement 'Neither Arthur nor his heirs had anything to do with the manufacture or marketing of OxyContin,' she asserted. 'Suggestions that his philanthropy is now somehow tainted are simply false.' She added: 'Arthur is not here to answer back, but I can tell you that blaming him for OxyContin's marketing, or for any other wrongdoing by the pharmaceutical industry, is as ludicrous as blaming the inventor of the mimeograph for email spam.' This article originally appeared in


Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Man City signs backup goalkeeper Bettinelli from Chelsea
Associated Press MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City signed Marcus Bettinelli from Chelsea as a backup goalkeeper on Tuesday. City made the move after announcing the departure of long-term No. 3 goalie Scott Carson on Monday with his contract due to expire. Bettinelli has joined on a one-year deal and in time to be involved in the Club World Cup in the United States starting on Saturday. 'His experience and mentality will hopefully complement our other senior goalkeepers while ensuring he's always ready to perform when called upon himself," City director of football Hugo Viana said. It's City's second signing of this special June 1-10 transfer window introduced to help clubs shape their squads for the Club World Cup. The first was Algeria left back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton for $42 million. British media reported City is also trying to sign midfielders Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Pittsburgh Entrepreneurs Celebrate Grand Opening of British Swim School on June 22 to Meet Growing Demand for Swim Lessons
PITTSBURGH, June 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- British Swim School, North America's leading "learn to swim" provider, announced the opening of its newest location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Located at 2344 Wildwood Road in Gibsonia, British Swim School Pittsburgh invites families and community members to join its grand opening celebration on Sunday, June 22 from 1-4 p.m. The event will feature a raffle for a free month of swim lessons, food trucks, face painting, a fire truck visit, staff lifeguards available to oversee open swim time in the pool, facility tours and a special ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the occasion. British Swim School Pittsburgh is proudly owned and operated by Becky Grindle, Ryan Grindle and Traci Brown. Recognizing the need for greater access to swim lessons across all age groups, they are opening their newest British Swim School just as summer reaches its peak - a time when families and individuals visit lakes and pools to cool off. This marks the eighth location for the family- and women-led group, continuing their mission to promote water safety in the community. "We are thrilled to be celebrating the grand opening of our newest British Swim School in Pittsburgh," said Becky Grindle, franchise president of British Swim School Pittsburgh. "When we opened our first location in 2013, there were zero swim schools in the area, which made it clear how vital water safety education was for the community. Drowning can happen in less than 60 seconds if left unnoticed, and even the most experienced swimmers can face unexpected dangers in the water. That's why our commitment through British Swim School goes beyond just teaching swim strokes. We strive to build water safety awareness for individuals of all ages." For more than 40 years, British Swim School has been committed to drowning prevention. Most recently, it became the first full swim school franchise to partner with Stop Drowning Now, a nonprofit dedicated to saving lives through water safety education. The new British Swim School Pittsburgh location is open and operating Tuesdays from 4-8 p.m., Fridays from 4-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 9 a.m. -12 p.m., with expanded programming coming soon! For more information on British Swim School's programs and to book a lesson, visit or call (724) 241-8602. Follow British Swim School on Facebook and Instagram. About British Swim School British Swim School, the nation's most established swim school franchise, with over 40 years in business, believes that every individual, regardless of age or ability, should have the opportunity to become a safe and happy swimmer. Offering lessons for babies, children, and adults, the brand is dedicated to its mantra, "Survival of the Littlest," focusing first on the survival skills needed to survive a water accident, then moving on to stroke development and more advanced skills. Not only does British Swim Schools give peace of mind to countless families who seek the essential life skills the brand offers their children, but the purpose-driven franchise also offers an exceptional opportunity for entrepreneurs who seek a fulfilling business venture with a sound foundation, low investment, and an easily scalable model. Part of the Buzz Franchise Brands family, British Swim School currently operates over 500 schools across the United States and Canada. For more information about British Swim School, visit Media Contact:Nadia CaronFish 919954-893-9150ncaron@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE British Swim School Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data