News
Poncho, a digital startup backed by Kamet Ventures, has launched to address the growing childcare crisis and the resulting unprecedented pressure facing working parents. This comes as one in six childcare providers is expected to close by Christmas and 87% of parents report having needed to homeschool at least one child since May.
Europe’s Hottest Accelerator, SETsquared Bristol has announced the six companies that have been awarded their 2020 Breakthrough Bursary. Angel Investors Club, Engineer2Engineer, Latchaid, Lurncampus, FluoretiQ and YelloButterfly will join SETsquared Bristol’s incubation programme in January 2021 to grow their technology startups.
‘Workcation’ has officially been added to the Oxford English Dictionary this year: and for good reason. Italian startup hotel booking platform, DayBreakHotels – who set up a bespoke ‘smart working’ service in the summer to open hotels up to a nation of remote workers – saw a 350% surge in bookings from business customers during the second lockdown (compared to the first lockdown), as Brits looked for a change of scene after months spent working from home.
Scientist and entrepreneur, Dr Harry Destecroix, has unveiled Science Creates, the deep tech ecosystem that offers specialised incubator space, a £15m investment fund and a comprehensive network of strategic partners to nurture science and engineering startups and spin-outs. The hub, in partnership with the University of Bristol and located in the heart of the city, is set to become the ‘new West Coast’, transforming disruptive discoveries through impactful commercialisation.
Digital insurance company, Getsafe closed a $30m Series B funding. Swiss Re’s digital platform iptiQ led the round. Existing investors, including Earlybird, CommerzVentures, btov Partners and Capnamic Ventures, also participated. Getsafe now has received a total of $53m from investors, making it one of the best-financed European insurtechs.
The benefits of satellite data to life on earth are something that the global space community celebrated at this year’s ‘World Space Week’. Female founded tech startup, Data Duopoly, have already been recognised for their innovation in the use of space data – winning the Pitch to the Primes competition at the UK Space Conference in 2019, awarded by Astronaut Tim Peake.













