An EU-funded consortium of 10 organisations – including Telefónica and Huawei – has launched to reduce the carbon footprint of telecommunications systems. EXIGENCE, which lists partners in telecommunications, academic research and digital transformation across seven EU Nations, is set to mitigate the environmental impacts of next-generation (6G) mobile systems.
PAY360 2025, the largest event dedicated to the global payments ecosystem, will be held on 25-26 March 2025 at ExCeL London. Hosted by The Payments Association, this premier event brings together over 6000 innovators, thought leaders, and stakeholders to discuss the trends, technologies, and challenges defining the future of payments.
Social media in all its forms has become a marketing must-do. Its reach is enormous and its shareability potential far beyond any other marketing channel. But TikTok has a certain reputation. The younger sibling of the social media dynasty, it’s relatively new to the party, and largely associated with frivolous content – viral trends for Gen Z and the impressionable generations.
“In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible,” said Seth Godin.
This National Productivity Week, a CIPD poll has found that almost two thirds of people (63%) would trust AI to inform – but not make – important decisions at work. According to the poll of over 2,000 people, over a third (35%) wouldn’t trust AI to make important decisions at work, preferring to use human intelligence. Just 1% of respondents would trust AI to make important work decisions.
Three London-based startups have won funding after pitching their ventures to a panel of business leaders in Deliveroo’s annual Big Pitch event.
BOW, the universal robotics software company, has announced closing a £4 million seed round. The round was led by Northern Gritstone, the investment business focused on science and technology businesses in the North of England, with co-investors Finance Yorkshire and Praetura Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.
As the world continues to turn up the dial on digital transformation, businesses need faster, more agile, and secure solutions to support evolving operations. Traditional legacy infrastructures are increasingly inadequate, as organisations integrate new technologies and roaming identities into existing networks, creating complex, layered architectures that expose them to new security risks. Combined with the rising costs of maintaining traditional networking, these systems are becoming increasingly unsustainable.
Forest, one of Europe’s most innovative shared bike operators, that last year submitted a tender to operate e-bikes in Paris, has secured £13 million in the first close of its Series B round, including a facility of up to £10 million in Asset-Backed Finance from Fintex Capital.
Sage has announced that Sage Copilot, the generative AI-powered assistant will be generally available to UK SMBs starting in March.
A new analysis by iwoca reveals that among major economies, SMEs believe that the UK offers the least support for businesses and performs the worst at creating wealth.
Dan Thomson, Founder of AI startup Sensay, has urged the industry to drop the term ‘AI agent’ and instead use the term ‘AI employee’ as the firm seeks to reframe the tense discussion around AI-human collaboration.
Atelerix, a Newcastle University spinout that is transforming the way that biosamples essential for drug discovery and pharmaceutical research are stored and transported, has raised £750,000, with participation from ACF Investors and biotech specialist investors o2h Ventures, bringing the year’s total funding to £1.25 million.
Startup founders have a huge list of things to think about, and somewhere pretty high is the company name. It’s like naming your child, so much emotion and pressure to get it right can lead to a disproportionate amount of time and concern being expended at the expense of other vitally important jobs-to-be-done.
TravelPerk, the business travel platform, has announced a new Series E fundraise of $200 million. The investment is led by European venture capital firm Atomico, alongside EQT Growth, with significant participation from Noteus Partners and existing investors, including Kinnevik and General Catalyst. The oversubscribed round nearly doubles TravelPerk’s valuation to $2.7 billion.
Exactly Payment Specialist, Saran Talasila, shares insights on how startups and SMEs can drive value through an efficient payment processing strategy and provides best practices for selecting the right payment solution provider.
The UK healthcare sector is at risk of falling behind its European counterparts in adopting AI, according to a major new pan-European study.
Molten Ventures has announced its participation as a co-lead investor in the $5.5 million seed funding round for Sightline, a market intelligence platform powering the transition economy.
Mollie, one of Europe’s fastest-growing financial service providers, has enabled Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone for its UK customers. This allows businesses of all sizes to use the Mollie app on iPhone to accept contactless payments without the need to purchase or manage additional hardware.
Swedish startup Adsorbi, a research-based spinout from Chalmers University of Technology, has raised €1 million in funding from Metsä Spring, Chalmers Ventures, Jovitech Invest, and a grant from Sweden’s Innovation Agency for its cellulose-based air purification material.
