News

New $60m venture capital fund to invest in 120 MENA startups

A new $60m venture capital fund led by an ex-Google executive and Silicon Valley venture capital firm veteran will invest in 120 early-stage startups across the MENA region amid an anticipated boom in tech post-COVID.

Have you checked out the Women in Electronics annual leadership conference?

It is no secret by now that we are huge supporters of encouraging more females into the tech industry, and closing the gender equality gap. We have recently released out latest issue all about Women in Tech, where we spoke to some amazing females and heard some empowering stories from both males and females in the industry. However, to hear from some more inspiring females and males about the tech industry, and particularly the role women have within it, then head along to the 4th annual conference from Women in Electronics.

Tech startup secures Series A funding with W23

Spoon Guru, the London-based AI powered food search and discovery technology startup, has announced that it has secured a Series A funding round with W23, the Venture Capital arm of Australia’s largest retailer, Woolworths Group.

Best Business Women Awards 2020 Finalists announced

In a year full of adversity and challenge, an amazing line up of finalists for The Best Business Women Awards have been announced for 2020. This is cause for celebration as most businesses have faced their most turbulent year yet.

Report shows customer-centric leadership is the new growth indicator

Zendesk has released new research in partnership with Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) that shows how companies investing in customer experience (CX) are reaping the benefits. The global study found there is a clear link between organisations with more mature customer experience capabilities, and improved business success in areas such as market share, increased customer spend, and pivoting processes over the last six months. 

Female-led equity-backed businesses show resilience through COVID-19

Resilience and Recovery, a new report from the Female Founders Forum – a project by think tank The Entrepreneurs Network, in partnership with Barclays – has revealed that female-founded, equity-backed businesses have been worse affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than their male counterparts.

Edgify brings Federated Learning to real world with $6.5m seed funding

Edgify, a company building AI training frameworks at the edge, has secured a $6.5m seed funding round backed by Octopus Ventures, Mangrove Capital Partners and a semiconductor giant.

Web Summit will host 100,000 attendees online on its own conference platform this December

The decision to hold Web Summit online in the interests of public health follows discussions with the Portuguese government and city of Lisbon .

Five top tips to make the jump into a coding career

The art of coding is reported to enhance productivity and communication within businesses, therefore, it is fast becoming a sought-after skill by employers. As the tech industry continues its exponential growth and becomes an integral part of every business, where’s the best place to start for a career in coding?

P4 Precision Medicine Accelerator opens 2021 programme applications

Powered by Barclays Eagle Labs, the P4 programme curates a unique ecosystem to support precision medicine SMEs develop research into world leading technology, gain regulatory approval as well as adoption into the UK and international healthcare systems.

Use the secrets of Improv to achieve results at work

If you think improv is just for extraverts and wannabe actors, think again. Learning improv skills can be a great investment in your career too. From marketers to management consultants, from startup founders to the NHS, people are taking the skills of improvisation offstage to help them communicate more clearly, act more confidently and think on their feet.

Seven UK innovators tipped to deliver Smart Zero Carbon Homes

Seven of the UK’s innovators in Smart, Zero Carbon Building Solutions have been selected for a rigorous business acceleration programme at Energy Systems Catapult. For its fourth ‘Innovator Challenge’, the Catapult is collaborating with Places for People, to help SMEs unlock new routes-to-market, secure investment and breakdown barriers to growth.

Europe’s startup-investor summit turns virtual

The organisers of Europe’s startup-investor matchmaking event, Arctic15, have brought its conclave virtual. The new online summit takes place from the 19th-21st October. The innovative event will bring together over 2,000 virtual attendees, 300 investors, 450 startups and 150 corporates, all of which are seeking to connect with the next generation of Nordic and European startups.

Using AI to change the lives of the visually impaired

WeWALK, the smart cane designed for people who are blind or with low vision which is now in use across 37 markets, has joined Microsoft’s AI for Accessibility programme to accelerate WeWALK’s capability by developing and validating a human behaviour model for visually impaired users.

Code First Girls surpasses goal to teach 20,000 UK women to code

Code First Girls, the UK social enterprise working to close the gender gap in technology, has today announced it has surpassed its 2017 campaign goal to teach over 20,000 young women how to code in the UK and Ireland. Over the past three years, Code First Girls has become the largest provider of free coding courses for women, having delivered over £14m worth of free technology education. The announcement comes at a critical time to close the IT skills gap, only 19% of those pursuing Computer Science at higher education level are women.

Wondercise turns your Apple Watch into a Motion Matching Personal Trainer

Wondercise, the advanced smart fitness service, launches globally with Apple Watch and Garmin wearable support, from just 10 cents a day.* Featuring world-first Motion Matching technology complete with on-screen heart rate data, it analyzes your movements and compares them with those of an on-screen trainer in real-time.

My Digital announces People Hub for the new Quantum workforce

Today, one in seven UK workers are on flexible contracts, up 25% in the last two decades. To meet the demand of the modern workforce, Quantum Employment Design company My Digital is announcing its real-time digital accounting cloud service focused exclusively on the needs of contractors.

London-based startup launches new app for fashion lovers

London-based startup, SilkFred wanted to take all the things customers love about shopping with them and distill this into a simple concept: the latest fashion from brands you haven’t yet discovered, for the moments that are special to you and shoppable video content showing you how to wear from the SilkFred team.

Upskilling opportunities during lockdown: UK employers miss the mark

According to new research from Pluralsight, the enterprise technology skills and engineering management platform, 43% of UK office workers are worried they will be left behind as companies seek new skills to cope with the rapid pace of change.

Serial entrepreneur injects new lease of life into Belsize Community Library

The Purposeful Project, founded and run by serial entrepreneur Simon Squibb, has launched a new initiative to create specialist entrepreneurial hubs in local libraries, with Belsize Community Library forming the first of its kind in the UK.