News

Industry innovators and disruptors become finalists

A recruitment company that’s shaking up the international space industry, Britain’s first carbon negative ice cream company, and a key disruptor in sustainable fashion-tech are all among the finalists in the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards 2021.

Embedded finance is the key to SME recovery and rebuilding economy

New data from European small business lender, iwoca, revealed how embedded finance will play a vital role for small businesses as they look to recover from the pandemic.

British AI tech firm beats Google as it helps drive revenues for business

A British AI tech startup Kortical, which helps companies use Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, has improved 10x their success rate of generating positive outcomes across their organisations vs the industry average.

Female-led Scottish tech firm raises £1.2m to tackle global counterfeit goods trade

An online brand protection business, SnapDragon Monitoring has raised £1.2m in its latest funding round, bringing the total raised to just over £3m, from ACF Investors, Mercia, and Scottish Enterprise, to help brand owners identify and remove fakes, copycats and online threats, using intellectual property to do so.

Framey has raised $1m seed investment to build social travel app

European travel startup, Framey has closed a $1M Seed funding round led by ICE Capital from Dubai, and backed by Europe based JECO Capital. The company, planning to disrupt the way people plan their trips, will use the funds to invest in its technology, scale up its operations and launch globally.

London and South East SMEs see positive outcomes

A study of 250 business owners in London and Greater South East England by Vistage, the CEO coaching and peer advisory organisation for small and medium sized businesses, has revealed that the majority of respondents remain positive in spite of ongoing challenges, with 84% claiming they are optimistic about the next 12 months.

Calling all innovators – United Utilities launches next Innovation Lab

It’s back – the ideas incubator programme that launched the 2021 drinking water initiative of the year and delivered the UK’s reigning top Tech Innovator.

Supporting innovative students and graduate businesses to scale

Over 80 budding entrepreneurs from across the UK are participating in the Santander X Entrepreneurship Awards 2021 and are in with a chance of receiving up to £75,000 of business development support at the competition final, due to take place at Wembley Stadium in London in October.

Connecting with the brightest minds of startup ecosystem worldwide

As part of a new edition of ICT Spring (September 14th and 15th), the renowned global tech conference organised since 2010, Mastermind Summit & Competition will take place on September 15th at the European Conference Center Luxembourg. This event – dedicated to the startup ecosystem – aims to promote and spread best practices, foster emulation between entrepreneurs and VCs and offer recognition to the best international startups of the ecosystem. Mastermind is composed of a one day conference and a startup competition where three key categories will be represented: FinTech, DeepTech and NewSpace.

TapTrip announces new partnership with Trainline Partner Solutions

Innovative business travel company TapTrip has teamed up with Trainline Partner Solutions (TPS), Trainline’s B2B arm and a leading distributor of global rail content, to further elevate and streamline its service to business users as rail becomes the primary source of travel for more and more domestic business customers post-Covid.

Xero unveils the next evolution of bank reconciliation

Xero has unveiled its most comprehensive improvements to bank reconciliation on the platform in a decade, to help give small business owners more time back in their day.

Key takeaways from Microsoft Inspire 2021

The latest Microsoft Inspire event proved once again to be an insightful and valuable event for all of Microsoft’s partners. It has proved to be an invaluable tool to measure the company’s future and where it sees itself in a post-pandemic world.

Black Tech Fest reaffirms companies commitment to British Black community

The largest global brands in the technology industry today announce their collective commitment to champion racial equity at Black Tech Fest ’21, a live festival celebrating Black culture, showcasing innovation, and creating pathways for underrepresented talent. The three-day event will take place online and in person from 19th to 21st October during UK Black History Month. Last year, over 40,000 people streamed Black Tech Fest content across Black History Month and 3,500 attendees from over 20 countries attended the festival, the biggest celebration of its kind in Europe. See here to pre-register.

Lab by Transport for Wales to showcase innovation and tech talent

A pioneering scheme designed to support startup businesses and stimulate growth in Wales is showcasing the best of innovation and tech talent in August.

Female digital entrepreneurs to provide tools for success

Thinkific Labs, a platform for creating, marketing, and selling online courses, today announced the launch of the third annual Think in Color Summit.

 

Podcast publisher launches crowdfunding campaign

The UK startup is simplifying the world of podcasting and making it more accessible for the storytellers of tomorrow.

E-bikes app HumanForest and digital wealth manager Nutmeg announce partnership

HumanForest, a sustainable e-bike sharing app, has announced a marketing partnership with digital wealth manager, Nutmeg.

Online Cancer Recovery Platform Launches with Backing from Leading Cancer Doctors

Perci Health, the world’s first online platform that gives people access to support from multidisciplinary cancer teams, has launched today with £1.5m of seed funding. The backers are an assortment of influential oncologists and cancer surgeons from major cancer centres across the UK.

First startup to provide carbon labels for restaurants and food businesses launches in UK

Foodsteps, a food technology startup that allows businesses to easily calculate, reduce, and label the environmental impact of their food, has formally launched in the UK today. The company is the first UK-based tech firm to provide carbon tracking and impact labelling to restaurants and caterers as well as food businesses.

Vira Health raises £1.5m seed round to improve long term care for women

Vira Health, a digital health company focused on improving long term health for women, has raised £1.5m in seed funding from LocalGlobe, MMC Ventures, and angel investors including Megumi Ikeda, Managing Director, Hearst Ventures, Andrea Zitna of Elvie, former Spotify executive Sofia Bendz, founder of GoCardless Matt Robinson, and Simon Lambert, former CTO, MOO.com, and Treatwell.