News
In April 2020, the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that 49.2% of adults in employment were working from home because of social distancing measures introduced following the COVID-19 pandemic. With remote working now a necessity for many, companies can adapt by staying on top of the latest trends. Here, Ashmita Das, CEO of Kolabtree, the freelance platform for scientists, discusses some of the trends in remote working.
Comstor, a Cisco distributor and part of Westcon-Comstor, has announced the immediate availability of the recently launched new Cisco Business Dashboard and Cisco Business Switch solutions as part of its Cisco Designed portfolio.
Bespoke protein and vitamin provider, Personalised Co, has announced the launch of its £300k funding round on Seedrs, to support its rapid growth. Following a successful round in 2019, this latest campaign has already secured over half of its investment target in its early stages.
Knowledgehook, the comprehensive mathematics learning platform, has raised £13.5m Series A equity funding, led by a UK-based EdTech investment fund with participation from Mesoamerica’s Alexandria Corp., Nelson Education, Ideal Ventures, and Nicoya Ventures.
British Patient Capital has announced a $35m commitment to The Evolution Technology Fund II. The Fund is expected to achieve a targeted $250m final close in the coming months and is already investing in growing cyber security and enterprise software companies.
There was a bullish attitude amongst attendees at this year’s online version of the Arctic15 startup event that investment in Northern European startups was picking up despite a second wave of COVID-19 across the region.
UK businesses have lost over £6.2m to cyber scams over the past year – with a 31% increase in cases during the height of the pandemic (May-June), new research shows.
WeWork, the global flexible workspace provider, has this week opened applications to its new Diverse Founders Programme in collaboration with award-winning social enterprise, Foundervine. The programme, available to both existing WeWork members and non-members, will provide founders from ethnically diverse minority backgrounds access to 100 WeWork Labs memberships through its community Labs platform, as well as hot desk spaces, starting in January 2021.
Quinyx has announced it has acquired Widget Brain, a company that leverages AI to help automate and optimise workforce scheduling.
Officially launching this month, Earthly is a tech platform providing businesses with a new way to lead the fight against climate change. Businesses already partnered with Earthly include Garnier, Planet Organic, JoJo Maman Bébé, WhatAMelon Water and Neal’s Yard Remedies.
Gradfuel, the innovative data-driven graduate hiring platform, has successfully secured £200k in seed investment amidst ongoing market uncertainty in light of COVID-19. The graduate recruitment platform, valued at £1.05m, has fuelled interest from investors and top-tier employers alike. Investors from a range of backgrounds, including ex-Managing Directors from J.P Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, as well as early investors for Patch Plants and Mindful Chef, have backed the company in its seed round.
UK software company, TAAP is helping small, medium and large businesses across the country work safely from home, keep tabs on company equipment and help boost productivity by launching the TAAP Work From Home app (available across Android, IOS and Windows).
From a trickle to a torrent, impact investing has become the trending topic across the asset management industry. While pressure increases for all investments to ‘do no harm’, a growing demand for opportunities that actively ‘do good’ continues to go unmet. Chorus Network is hoping to address that. Launched by a social impact entrepreneur and reformed investment banker, Chorus brings the best aspects of investing in startups and wraps that around the impact space.
Signs of life in the economy and an increase of business activity has led to an surge in confidence of CEOs within UK and Ireland SMEs. The Vistage CEO Confidence Index rebounded to 82.9 Q3 2020; while not at peak recovery, this is just 2.5% below Q3 2019.
Join BRIDGE CEO, Brian Coburn, and Magnus Danielson, CTO of Worldline on the 28th October at 11am as they share critical insight in maximising e-commerce payment systems to enable businesses to take advantage of transformational, innovative digital payment solutions.
Kibus Petcare, a pet product company, has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for Kibus, its proprietary at-home product that cooks pet food with the healthiness of traditional home-cooked meals. An automatic, convenient device that cooks healthy, natural, and minimally processed dog food, Kibus meets the needs of demanding dogs and their owners worldwide.
Clim8 Invest (Clim8), the only digital investment platform to help consumers invest in companies focused on tackling the climate crisis, has appointed three members to its investment committee.
The finalists of one of Europe’s most renowned startup pitch competitions have been announced ahead of Arctic 15 taking place from 19th-21st October. With more than 150 entrants competing for a chance to pitch to an audience of VC’s and angel investors, only 15 startups have made the final cut.
NovaQuest Capital Management, an investor in life sciences and healthcare, has announced a $20m product financing agreement with Mileutis, an Israeli biopharmaceutical company, to help mitigate the use of antibiotics in animals. NovaQuest’s investment will drive the continued development and commercialisation of Mileutis’ novel, biologically sourced, and residue-free therapies for animal health. NovaQuest’s investment is its first ever in the animal health care field and in an Israeli company.
The impact of COVID-19 on young people’s career prospects has been severe, with under-25s being more likely to be furloughed than any other age group, and many more young people being let go or having their job offers rescinded following the March lockdown.
