News

Investment proves significant in growth during COVID

Loui Blake, serial entrepreneur and angel investor, invests in Embargo loyalty app and joins as an advisor following the tech startup’s significant growth during COVID-19.

Deci and Intel Collaborate to Optimise Deep Learning Inference on Intel’s CPUs

Deci, the deep learning startup building the next generation of AI, has announced a broad strategic business and technology collaboration with Intel Corporation to optimise deep learning inference on Intel Architecture (IA) CPUs. As one of the first companies to participate in Intel Ignite startup accelerator, Deci will now work with Intel to deploy innovative AI technologies to mutual customers.

Cleantech startup raise £500k to scale up production

Cleantech engineering firm, Sunswap has recently secured half a million pounds in crowdfunding that will be used to rapidly scale the business and deploy their zero-emission TRU technology on the roads by the end of 2021.

Accelerating adoption of AI-powered cancer diagnostics in pathology

Ibex Medical Analytics, the pioneer in AI-powered cancer diagnostics, has announced a $38m Series B financing round led by Octopus Ventures and 83North, with additional participation from aMoon, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures and Dell Technologies Capital, the corporate venture arm of Dell Technologies, bringing total funding of Ibex to $52m.

New fintech platform launched to transform investment sector

A North-East based fintech firm has been launched with the aim of digitally transforming the way private equity firms, venture capital funds and angel investment networks currently manage the end-to-end investment process.

Edtech startup announces $35m Series-B funding round

Edtech marketplace, Preply, has secured an additional $35m of funding, a sum that exceeds the platform’s cumulative fundraising efforts since 2013. The round was co-led by Owl Ventures and Full In Partners, with participation from previous investors Point Nine Capital, Hoxton Ventures, as well as EduCapital, All Iron, Diligent Capital and Evli Growth Partners.

The Top Digital Transformation Startups of 2020

Digital transformation means many things to many people, so it’s important to segment and analyse startups developing foundational enabling technologies as well as key impacted applications, such as Industry 4.0 and digital health. Lux Research’s digital transformation experts are continuously monitoring industry megatrends and events to identify innovative startups in the space.

Research into uni spinout investment reveals lack of growth funding

The past year has demonstrated how important deeptech innovation is to solving some of the greatest challenges faced today, from finding vaccine candidates for the COVID-19 pandemic through to solving climate change and transforming healthcare. The UK’s deeptech sector is a critical part of the Government’s post-Brexit ambition for the UK to become a global ‘Science Superpower’.

The moment we have all been waiting for…

Guess who is back, back again with bigger and better plans than before. The Hustle Awards is returning for 2021, with a super exciting hybrid format, so not only does this mean we plan to actually network and celebrate with some of you in person; if that does not sound as exhilarating to you as it does to us, you can still enjoy this year’s awards from the comfort of your own home!

Tech startup explores new marketing methods to increase sales leads 

Influencer marketing. An ideal channel for a brand looking to raise awareness and grow its consumer base, but can influencer marketing work in a B2B setting? According to Yorkshire-based tech startup, socialsendr, yes it can, with the business seeing an immediate increase in platform sign ups following a campaign with a nano influencer on TikTok.

The VCs that founders need to know

After another record-breaking year, in which VC investment surpassed more than €38bn in Europe, Dealroom has released its annual ranking of the Most Prominent Venture Capital Investors for 2021 – and this time, it’s gone global.

Europe’s first FemTech accelerator announces spring 2021 cohort

FemTech Lab – Europe’s first independent accelerator that helps the rising stars of FemTech take their products to market – has announced its carefully-selected spring 2021 cohort of startups within the women’s healthcare and wellbeing space.

Supporting women-led businesses with free business support programme
This article is part 24 of 24 in the series IWD 2021

To mark International Women’s Day, University of Bristol-led tech incubator, SETsquared Bristol, are opening applications for Enterprising Women 2.0, a pre-incubation programme for women-led businesses, in partnership with NatWest.

UK small businesses using tech to harness post-pandemic spending boom

Following the government’s latest support measures for SMEs, new research from Xero shows that many firms acknowledge they will make more use of technology to capitalise on the post-lockdown bounceback, with the potential for a £16.6bn productivity boost.

PropTech startup has more than doubled its team since lockdown

Innovative property technology company, Vouch has confirmed that their team has more than doubled since March 2020, marking a 118% workforce increase despite the lockdown. Designed and built by letting agents for letting agents, Vouch delivers a referencing solution designed for the 21st century.

Angel Business Club: Carving Out Investment Success in 2021

Angel Business Club will lift the lid on the secrets to investment success when the club’s Insights Series returns on Wednesday 17th March.

Business growth agency bolsters SEO services with neural network model

A London-based business growth agency has set up a neural network to help enhance its Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) services.

Xero celebrates accountants, bookkeepers and app partners supporting SMEs through COVID

Xero accounting and bookkeeping practices and app partners across the UK and Ireland were honoured at the annual Xero awards. Hosted by Gary Turner, Xero UK & EMEA Managing Director and comedian, Henry Paker in an online ceremony, the awards showcased the achievements of those supporting small businesses through one of the toughest years. 

Mind the gap! Women fall foul to business reporting complacency
This article is part 23 of 24 in the series IWD 2021

UK businesses are at risk of losing employee trust through choosing to abstain from reporting their gender gap figures, following on from the EHRC’s second deadline extension. Government figures show that nearly half of 10,000 eligible employers chose not to submit their pay gap figures last year – equalling to nearly 5,000 businesses that possibly have something to hide.

Oscar-winning founder of motherhood app wins innovation award
This article is part 21 of 24 in the series IWD 2021

The founder of LatchAid, a FemTech startup using innovative technology to revolutionise breastfeeding and early parenting support, has won the prestigious Women in Innovation award.