With men being twice as likely to become entrepreneurs than women, the business world has a long way to go to address the barriers which stop women from starting companies, and help to create a more equal society.
As the pandemic continues to impact businesses – both small and large – across the globe, I meet with four diverse founders based in the UK, who are taking part in WeWork’s Diverse Founders Programme in partnership with UK social enterprise, Foundervine.
Creative workspace and accelerator, Huckletree has announced the opening of applications for its eighth cohort of the Alpha Programme, a 12-week pre-seed accelerator designed to turbocharge the launch and growth of the most exciting and impactful businesses in the UK and Ireland.
Satori is transforming healthcare in the 3D printing industry by offering accessibility, cost, and time efficiency through its affordable, desktop-sized, professional 3D printer, the ST1600.
A new app that encourages people to make small but impactful changes to their lifestyle has launched in the UK, guided by behavioural science and designed to instil habits beneficial to the planet. The app, called Ailuna, allows users to be more aware of their environmental impact, and take science-backed steps to a greener lifestyle.
Renowned technologist, investor, podcaster and business author, Arunkumar Krishnakumar a Partner at Delphos International, is releasing his second book – Restartup: A Founder′s Guide to Crisis Navigation – on the 4th of February along with his co-author, Maxson Tee.
Over the next 12-weeks, 110 women who are working to launch and grow sustainable businesses in the media, digital, technology and creative sectors in the North West will be supported to kick-start their careers as freelancers.
Over the last twelve months companies have had to adapt quickly to new situations they may have once been unfamiliar with. If these experiences have taught us anything, it’s that if you respond quickly and efficiently to changing surroundings, you can continue to excel.
If we learnt anything from the past year it’s that having control over cash flow is the cornerstone of business health. The impact of COVID and other external factors like Brexit mean that things are constantly changing for small businesses, meaning they have to continuously adapt. This means that you will need to consistently map your cash flow and review your forecast as things change. For example, things like furlough coming to an end in April will need to be factored into forecasting.
Small and medium sized businesses that have suffered due to COVID-19 don’t expect to recover to pre-pandemic levels until summer 2022, according to new research published by Santander UK.
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that change and disruption on this colossal scale, really has the potential to highlight the pros and cons of big business vs startups. While the startup cons no doubt include a vulnerability to externalities, through factors such as short cash flows and unreliable customer books, the flip side is the flexibility with which to grasp the new opportunities.
With COVID-19 restrictions rushing businesses to channel their resources online, 2020 marked an unprecedented turn in building an efficient marketing strategy with great emphasis on premium website content.
In the current pandemic, many businesses are facing financial hardship. A survey conducted by The Federation of Small Businesses show that just under 5% of 1,400 firms taking part in the study expected to close this year, equating to 250,000 small enterprises nationwide.
Yorkshire-based tech startup, socialsendr, has evolved the functionality of its platform introducing LinkedIn to its social portfolio to better support clients with their social media marketing.
The world’s first causal AI platform, created by deep-tech scaleup causaLens, is being leveraged by financial services companies (including Aviva Investors, 2IQ, TIAA, CLS Group and a plethora of prominent hedge funds), to automatically extract valuable causal insights from financial data and boost the profitability of their trading strategies.
As part of its Next Innovation with Japan project (Project NINJA), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is expanding its startup accelerator program (NINJA Accelerator) to Kenya, scheduled to take place in Nairobi on 7th April, 2021, in partnership with the Double Feather Partners (DFP) / Deloitte Tohmatsu consortium, and GrowthAfrica.
Plexal, the innovation centre and coworking space established by Delancey, has launched the Rapid Innovation Accelerator today in partnership with Omani innovation development company, AL JABR. This virtual-first, six-week programme will connect digital innovators in the UK with counterparts in Oman to help them develop technology-led solutions to the local challenges posed by COVID-19.
Hydro Wind Energy is launching a crowdfunding campaign on the Seedrs investment platform. This latest Seedrs crowdfunding campaign continues Hydro Wind Energy’s journey towards a valued funding round and the start of full commercialisation. The finance raised will go towards the technology and product development teams for power generation (OceanHydro Wind) and water desalination (SubSea RO Wind), as well as international expansion and to scale QuenchSea (portable water desalination) globally.
Over the space of just two years, 33-year-old Raimonda Jankunaite from Kent has established a thriving community of 150,000 women in business from across the world. As the Founder of The Women in Business Club, her ambition is to share the secret sauce to succeeding in business. This has led her to educate, inspire, and support thousands of female entrepreneurs from the UK to Australia and the US. But it wasn’t something she originally set out to do…
The first lockdown had a profound impact on education as students were told to study at home – a location that doubled as the new office of their parents, ultimately creating a co-working cocktail with a sharp aftertaste. Children were unable to learn in classrooms or see friends while parents were acting as teachers during working hours.
