It’s Who You Know

It’s not what you know but who you know. Or so the old saying goes. Whenever that is said though it always seems to be said in a disparaging way, as in the ‘old school tie’ is more useful in life than being clever, working hard, or looking for opportunities to make your own way in life.

Investment proves significant in growth during COVID

Loui Blake, serial entrepreneur and angel investor, invests in Embargo loyalty app and joins as an advisor following the tech startup’s significant growth during COVID-19.

Why do you need a business plan?

Do you want to create a new business venture? Do you have a business idea but don’t know where to start? Have you started your business without a plan? It is time to create a business plan! A business plan is like a travel itinerary, you need to plan your trip before travelling: Where you will go? How to reach there? How much will you spend? Where will you stay? What will you do (activities)? Which places will you visit?

The next hurdle for business leaders

2020 flipped everyone’s plans for the year upside down, with no corner of the world left untouched. In this state of complete disarray, the primary business challenge for many was to keep customers happy while rapidly shifting staff to remote working. With this now mastered for most businesses and homeworking being the new norm, the next hurdle for leaders will be getting the balance right between the many conflicting desires of those in their workforce.

What trade finance startups can learn from Amazon’s market impact

Through all the advancements seen over the past century, international trade has been slow to change. For example, Letters of Credit (LCs) continue to be an important trade finance product for global traders, but they rely on paper-based processes, which are fundamentally slow and prone to error. Now, with the need to change how organisations work in a post-COVID world, there is a greater need to improve how trade and trade finance operate

What’s next for global tech hubs after COVID-19?

Nearly a year on since the onset of COVID-19, many companies have realised their staff are able to (almost) work as effectively remotely, as they did in an office. For tech companies and their investors, the transition to remote working was relatively seamless, as the culture and infrastructure needed to succeed was already in place. It has, however, prompted many startups to reconsider whether they need an office at all, and whether high rents in cities like New York, London, and San Francisco can be justified.

How a former PlayStation team struck out on their own

Hutch Games, the mobile racing game company launched in 2011 with no funding and sold for $375m less than decade later. Shaun Rutland, one its Co-founders, explains how a former PlayStation team struck out on their own and how picking the right investors can help a business flourish.

Why diversity is central to the green movement

Rosa von Krogh is Head of Insights and Innovation at the North Alliance, one of the largest companies in Scandinavia marrying design, media and e-commerce. She is speaking at the global SHE Conference, alongside guests like Hillary Clinton, Norwegian PM, Erna Solberg and Icelandic PM Katrin Jakobsdottir, from 5-19th March 2021.

Deci and Intel Collaborate to Optimise Deep Learning Inference on Intel’s CPUs

Deci, the deep learning startup building the next generation of AI, has announced a broad strategic business and technology collaboration with Intel Corporation to optimise deep learning inference on Intel Architecture (IA) CPUs. As one of the first companies to participate in Intel Ignite startup accelerator, Deci will now work with Intel to deploy innovative AI technologies to mutual customers.

Cleantech startup raise £500k to scale up production

Cleantech engineering firm, Sunswap has recently secured half a million pounds in crowdfunding that will be used to rapidly scale the business and deploy their zero-emission TRU technology on the roads by the end of 2021.

We all need a Car Park Party

There’s two things you can do in a crisis – sit back and hope for the best, or stand up and fight – and as a business, Coalition’s ethos definitely falls into the latter group. We caught up with Founder, Guy Robinson about his latest venture – Car Park Party.

New fintech platform launched to transform investment sector

A North-East based fintech firm has been launched with the aim of digitally transforming the way private equity firms, venture capital funds and angel investment networks currently manage the end-to-end investment process.

Edtech startup announces $35m Series-B funding round

Edtech marketplace, Preply, has secured an additional $35m of funding, a sum that exceeds the platform’s cumulative fundraising efforts since 2013. The round was co-led by Owl Ventures and Full In Partners, with participation from previous investors Point Nine Capital, Hoxton Ventures, as well as EduCapital, All Iron, Diligent Capital and Evli Growth Partners.

The Top Digital Transformation Startups of 2020

Digital transformation means many things to many people, so it’s important to segment and analyse startups developing foundational enabling technologies as well as key impacted applications, such as Industry 4.0 and digital health. Lux Research’s digital transformation experts are continuously monitoring industry megatrends and events to identify innovative startups in the space.

Research into uni spinout investment reveals lack of growth funding

The past year has demonstrated how important deeptech innovation is to solving some of the greatest challenges faced today, from finding vaccine candidates for the COVID-19 pandemic through to solving climate change and transforming healthcare. The UK’s deeptech sector is a critical part of the Government’s post-Brexit ambition for the UK to become a global ‘Science Superpower’.

The moment we have all been waiting for…

Guess who is back, back again with bigger and better plans than before. The Hustle Awards is returning for 2021, with a super exciting hybrid format, so not only does this mean we plan to actually network and celebrate with some of you in person; if that does not sound as exhilarating to you as it does to us, you can still enjoy this year’s awards from the comfort of your own home!

Top 10 strategies to get more prospects and clients

Today, the sales funnel is more buyer-focused. It’s no longer about sales professionals and their understanding of products and services, but rather a concentration on buyers and how a business can fulfill their needs. And if you are a business wanting to get more prospects and clients, you need to put enough information about your brand where your targets spend the most time.

Accelerating adoption of AI-powered cancer diagnostics in pathology

Ibex Medical Analytics, the pioneer in AI-powered cancer diagnostics, has announced a $38m Series B financing round led by Octopus Ventures and 83North, with additional participation from aMoon, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures and Dell Technologies Capital, the corporate venture arm of Dell Technologies, bringing total funding of Ibex to $52m.

New platform supports ‘Blended’ working culture

A year into the pandemic, the vast majority of companies have had to adapt to new methods of working. Prior to the first lockdown in the UK, working from home was reserved for freelancers or viewed as a nice occasional perk.

Tech startup explores new marketing methods to increase sales leads 

Influencer marketing. An ideal channel for a brand looking to raise awareness and grow its consumer base, but can influencer marketing work in a B2B setting? According to Yorkshire-based tech startup, socialsendr, yes it can, with the business seeing an immediate increase in platform sign ups following a campaign with a nano influencer on TikTok.