Aura Funerals, the digital end-of-life planning and funeral service, has announced a successful £750,000 funding round through Angel Investment Network, the online angel investment platform. This marks Aura’s third successful raise through the network. The funds were raised as part of a larger £3.2 million growth funding round.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has welcomed the first businesses to join its new 5G Ecosystem at Daresbury Laboratory, designed to support and accelerate innovation among businesses.
Latitude59, a startup and technology event in the Baltic States, New Nordics, and Kenya, is set to return to Tallinn in May 2025 with a new theme: Integrity & Perspective.
According to GRiD, over the next 12 months, nearly a third (31%) of employers intend to increase their investment in employee benefits to provide support for staff. However, almost the same number (29%) of employers are looking to increase investment into funding support directly, which the industry body for the group risk sector believes is a concern.
For years, ADHD has been framed as a disorder: a problem to be fixed. Schools and workplaces are built for neat, structured thinking, rewarding people who can sit still, follow rules, and stick to routines. But for many entrepreneurs, ADHD isn’t a weakness – it’s their superpower.
Brexit’s official 5th anniversary was on 31st January, and – for some businesses – international trade remains a point of great frustration. Brexit, for many British enterprises, has been more shock and less awe. A recent LSE study revealed that the UK lost £27 billion in trade during Brexit’s first two years, with the value of British goods exports falling by 6.4% and total goods imports by 3.1%.
Augmetec, the legaltech startup founded and led by Kritin Sundaram, announces that it has raised over £2 million in seed funding to turbo charge its growth. The round is led by UK-based early-stage investors Fuel Ventures, with participation from Swiss fund 14Peaks Capital, and three industry angel investors, including the Founding Partner of one of the world’s largest law firms, the family office of a $1 billion+ legaltech organisation, and the Head of Fraud at Asia’s largest law firm.
StructureFlow, the visual modelling platform designed for navigating complex corporate structures, transactions, and processes, has acquired Blue J Diagramming, a visualisation tool widely used by accountancy and tax professionals. This move aligns with Blue J’s broader strategy to concentrate on its generative AI solution for tax research, marking a shift in its business focus.
Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD), a startup working in gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, has successfully closed a $32 million Series C funding round. The investment was led by a strategic investor with participation from British Patient Capital and supported by existing investors Parkwalk, BGF, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Foresight Group, and IQ Capital.
Defying today’s challenging funding landscape, healthtech startup Level Zero Health has announced a £5.5 million pre-seed funding round spearheaded by European VC, redalpine, to enable remote and continuous hormone monitoring using first-of-their-kind DNA-based sensors. HAX (SOSV), Entrepreneur First, and industry experts also contributed to the round.
How employers support the health and wellbeing of employees will play a crucial role in the recruitment and retention strategy of 61% of organisations over the next 12 months, according to the latest research from Towergate Employee Benefits.
Generational, the UK-based startup in electric-vehicle battery-health testing, reveals its strategy to supercharge car-dealers’ and consumers’ confidence in used EVs with its intuitive, state-of-the-art battery-health assessment technology.
The upcoming Africa’s Green Economy Summit (AGES) taking place from 18–21 February in Cape Town has garnered high-level institutional and private sector support, including, amongst others, Sanlam Investments, the African Union, SA Tourism, African Development Bank, DBSA, Standard Bank, Gauteng Department of Economic Development, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and the UNDP.
IMPOSSIBREW is a team of London-based beer lovers who are harnessing tech to create enhanced functional non-alcoholic beers that deliver both relaxation and exceptional taste. Its Social Blend technology helps drinkers unwind naturally, offering a true third choice beyond ‘drinking’ and ‘not drinking’ and pioneering a new category in functional drinking.
In 2025, many businesses have come a long way in their acceptance and understanding of the importance of supporting mental health in the workplace. Reports show, of the UKs top companies, around 96% now offer some type of mental health support to their employees. Alison Bromley, Head of Partnerships at Onebright, discusses assessing your workplace mental health strategy for 2025.
WinWayLab is a free two-month online accelerator for zero-stage startups (you don’t even need an idea at the beginning) in the wine tech industry. The programme kicks off on March 4 2025, offering participants the chance to turn their ideas into successful businesses with expert guidance, funding and resources from Winno.
After a few years of turmoil for businesses and individuals alike, the world is finally starting to look a little more stable. And business owners feel that way, too; in our 2025 survey, an overwhelming 96% of business owners said they felt optimistic about their business succeeding in 2025. By contrast, just 77% said the same the previous year. This is likely due to the formation of a new government, decreased stress, and feeling more prepared to embrace AI.
The global construction industry, valued at $12 trillion annually, builds the infrastructure underpinning modern life – from highways and data centres to renewable energy. Yet, for decades, it has faced persistent challenges: inefficiencies, project delays, cost overruns, and a growing labour shortage. Despite its size, the industry spends less than 1% of revenue on IT, resulting in stagnant productivity growth for decades.
FOUNDRY, the community focused co-working provider, has launched its latest location at New Acres in Wandsworth, South West London.
Latest research from The Global Payroll Association (GPA) reveals that UK PAYE employees paid £252 billion in income tax in 2024, Meanwhile, businesses paid £114 billion in employer National Insurance Contributions, a total which is set to grow significantly in 2025 following changes set out in Labour’s Autumn Budget.
