Bendi, the AI-driven platform that helps businesses manage and mitigate business disruption, sustainability challenges and reputational risks in their supply chains, has announced it has raised $1.04 million in pre-seed funding.
DeepL, a global Language AI company, has announced it will be among the first to commercially deploy the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX GB200 systems. The NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, which is expected to be operational at DeepL by mid-2025, will be used to power research computation.
Lola Cars has become a major stakeholder in PACETEQ, one of the automotive industry’s foremost data technology and software companies. The investment sees Lola gain access to knowledge and expertise critical to the brand’s ambitions to re-establish itself as a world leader in sustainable engineering and motorsport.
The Startup World Cup regional finals have crowned a new champion. Lithuanian startup Traxlo, with its platform “Tasku.app” – a short-term gig work portal offering flexible tasks in local stores, has won the opportunity to represent Central and Eastern Europe in Silicon Valley’s grand finale and compete for the $1 million prize. The event took place during the Engaged Investments conference, hosted by DEPO Ventures and J&T Ventures in Prague, Czech Republic.
The Sustainability Analytics platform GaiaLens, has launched its new on-demand sustainability reporting product for ESG analysts today. Offering a flexible, monthly subscription-based model, analysts can now access fully automated reporting for all major sustainability frameworks at the click of a button.
The Access Group, a provider of business management software to mid-market organisations in Europe, USA and Asia Pacific, has announced that it has acquired HireAra, a UK based AI-powered candidate presentation platform that automates the process of formatting and presenting candidate CVs/resumes for recruiters.
3D animation software company Swoove Studios has closed a $7.5 million seed funding round led by European angel investors.
UK small business sales growth continued to slow over the last quarter (July to September), not helped by rising late payments times, according to the latest Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) data from Xero, the global small business platform.
Open access publishing startup DeSci Labs has won the Best Automation & Data Innovation – Organisation prize at this year’s Lab Awards, held at Lab Innovations 2024. The award recognises the innovation behind DeSci Publish, the world’s first open science publishing infrastructure based on Web3 technology.
Showcasing cutting-edge technological solutions, LG NOVA, the North America Innovation Center of LG Electronics, has announced the winners of the 2024 Startup Pitch Competition, co-sponsored by LG Chem. This year’s event, held during LG NOVA’s annual InnoFest in San Francisco, featured standout startups focused on Life Sciences, Open Innovation, HealthTech, AI, Smart Life and CleanTech, with three companies recognised for their potential to drive impactful change.
For yet another edition, Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS) has held the world’s largest entrepreneurship competition in the tourism industry. More than 400 startup companies have applied as candidates for the Touristech Startup Fest 2024, of which 40 have been the finalists and have presented their business models in front of investors in Travel Tech in Seville, Spain. This year, the international participation of entrepreneurs has grown with projects from countries such as Spain, Argentina, the United States, Slovakia, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Mexico, Bhutan and Italy.
Fintech startups in recent years have garnered quite a reputation for being the major drivers of financial transformation on the global scale. However, the reality is that far more startups collapse early on then achieve success and make any lasting impact. Even if they survive their first year, around 70% of ventures fall through before reaching the half-a-decade mark.
As an industry analyst and thought leadership advisor, I find that most startups share a form of purposeful myopia – a belief in the inevitability of a product or service. If only buyers and investors understood the vision, they would put their money behind it.
On the 30th October, the long awaited Autumn Budget was delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.
HP commissioned a survey via YouGov, polling around 1,200 UK workers to understand what keeps them busy at work, and how often they’re able to take lunch breaks. It found that 2 in 5 (40%) surveyed never take an hour-long lunch break, and almost 1 in 3 (30%) would skip lunch to catch up on admin tasks such as compiling meeting notes and filling in time sheets.
70% of UK professionals are struggling to ‘switch off’ from work, an issue which is leaving many unable to relax and even lose sleep over.
Invoice finance company Stenn has released new findings highlighting that US SMBs are cash-strapped heading into the festive period, betting big on the holiday season to top up reserves that are running dry.
Entrepreneur, early-stage investor and philanthropist Dr Ewan Kirk has called on the Government to introduce a blanket 10-year visa for all STEM graduates in a move to boost entrepreneurship, drive growth, and encourage more of the world’s brightest and best to choose the UK for their graduate and post-graduate STEM education
Auquan, an AI innovator for financial services, has announced a $4.5 million addition to its seed round, led by Peak XV with continued participation from Neotribe Ventures, bringing total seed funding to $8 million.
Ahead of the Chancellor’s Budget announcement, the CIPD is calling on the government to increase apprenticeship opportunities for young people, encourage innovation, and improve labour market enforcement.
