News

With Mental Health Awareness Week underway, Virgin StartUp – Virgin’s home of entrepreneurship in the UK – is shining a spotlight on small business founder’s mental health and the challenges they face. According to new research from the not-for-profit, more than half (51%)* of startup founders reported experiencing more instances of burnout this year. Additionally, almost one in five (18%) said their mental health and stress levels have worsened over the past six months.

Sage has announced that it will offer one free Sage Copilot licence per practice. The move is designed to help accountants and bookkeepers embrace the new era of AI accounting with greater confidence and less risk.

Icelandic metals analysis pioneer DTE and Dynamic Concept, a global supplier of molten metal process technologies and equipment to the aluminium industry, have announced a strategic partnership.

The South Summit Madrid 2025 Startup Competition, co-organised with IE University, will experience its most international edition with up to 23 countries represented among the 100 finalist startups. A figure that exceeds the 16 nations of last year’s edition and reinforces South Summit’s muscle as the main global hub for entrepreneurship and innovation worldwide.

The 45th PODIM Conference, one of the most influential startup and technology events in the Alpe-Adria region and the Western Balkans, taking place from May 12 to 14
in Maribor, once again gathered the crème de la crème of the startup and tech world. The three-day event attracted over 1,000 participants from around the globe, 58 venture capital funds and other types of private investors—who are estimated to manage investment funds worth more than €8.2 billion earmarked for investing in startups—188 startups from 23 countries, more than 80 speakers from all over the world, and many successful entrepreneurs. In addition to a rich program, more than 1,300 one-on-one meetings were held at the event. Yesterday’s final event of the Podim Pitching Competition also brought a winner – the startup infrared.city from Austria.

Applause has released the results of its fifth annual State of Digital Quality in Accessibility survey, revealing growing awareness and adoption of inclusive design practices ahead of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) deadline in June, as well as interest in adopting AI’s accessibility-related capabilities.

Following rallying calls for global tech, research and innovation ecosystems to ‘Choose Europe’ and the groundbreaking launch of the EU Startup & Scaleup Strategy, Europe’s tech sector embarks on a revitalised era of exponential growth and development, fuelled by a renewed focus on research, tech talent and increasing later-stage investments across the continent.

Fiverr, the company that is changing how the world works together, has released the 11th edition of its Spring 2025 Business Trends Index.

In today’s ever evolving digital landscape, innovation has become a necessity. However, the path to enabling fast, secure and scalable software delivery remains complex. Many engineering leaders continue to face the fundamental challenge of empowering developers and providing autonomy to facilitate autonomy. This also comes with the added challenge of maintaining governance, security, and compliance that the organisation demands. 

The Oil & Gas Automation and Digitalisation Congress (AUTOMA) 2025 convenes industry leaders to present their technological advancements and smart solutions for the oil and gas sector on 13-14 October in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Congress gathers key companies such as TotalEnergies, Shell, and Fluor, known for their commitment to innovation and inclusion initiatives, to share their expertise and strategies driving progress in the industry.

South by Southwest London has announced the semi-finalists for its international Venture Spotlight competition for early-stage startups across life science, biotech, deeptech, and creative tech.

Over the past three years, Latitude59 Pitch Competition winners have collectively raised more than €20 million in investments, reinforcing Latitude59’s position as one of the most influential startup launch platforms in the Baltics and the New Nordics.

99% of private sector businesses in the UK are classed as SMEs, but despite the scale of the activity that takes place within this segment, there’s often a lack of guidance for smaller companies seeking to comply with the significant regulatory barriers they must navigate.

Microsoft spotlighted the future of cybersecurity with Agentic AI, autonomous, AI-powered agents purpose-built for defending against evolving cyber threats. At GISEC Global 2025, the Middle East and Africa’s largest cybersecurity event, Microsoft is spotlighting how Agentic AI is transforming cybersecurity, equipping organisations with intelligent agents capable of detecting, triaging, and responding to threats faster than ever before.

High-Velocity Startups has entered an ongoing strategic partnership with Fusion Flow Software to deliver automation and AI advisory services supporting international enterprise growth.

DevOps today is the engine behind agile transformation, and high-performing digital organisations. Teams are redefining how software is built, tested and deployed. However, in a world where success often happens behind the scenes, recognising hard work is vital. 

In a digital first economy, the performance and security of any software is what hold a business together. Creating seamless user experiences involves curating a rigorous and well thought out software testing processes. Without a doubt, these processes require high level of collaboration and innovation from the software testing team and quality engineers.  

Subjektiv Art is a new app launched to make discovering, buying, and selling art more inclusive and simple by creating a discovery and sales platform complete with completely integrated global logistics network for moving art around the world.

VentureIsrael announced the launch of its second venture fund, VentureIsrael 2, targeting investments in early stage deeptech startups across Israel.

Yhangry, the UK’s largest private chef platform, is entering the short-term rental (STR) space with a mission: to help property managers and hosts stand out in a saturated market by offering unforgettable, in-home food experiences that go beyond the typical rental stay.