Can ethical fintech actually make money? A gaming founder’s contrarian bet

Nick Perrett spent years building gaming mechanics before losing track of his own pensions – an expensive wake-up call that led him to found Prosper. His contrarian view: ethical fintech isn’t just morally right, it’s more profitable long-term – and founders who understand this will build the next generation of financial giants.

The Saturday Effect: What a Jersey Beach Town Taught Me About Sustainable Performance

On Long Beach Island, New Jersey, something fascinating happens every Saturday. It’s turnover day. Rental homes flip. People rush in with fresh excitement, or out, determined to make the most of their final moments. It’s a whirlwind of energy, anticipation, and urgency.

Duel sees power in creator communities, raises $16m

Duel, the Brand Advocacy platform helping retail brands including Lush, ELEMIS, Victoria’s Secret, and Abercrombie & Fitch, has raised $16 milion in a Series A round.

Arcade receives investment from Lumina Media

Arcade, the management company behind The Sidemen, announced a seven-figure strategic investment from talent- and IP-led group Lumina Media.

Sunhat raises €9.2 million in Series A

Sunhat, the startup helping enterprises automatically validate and share ESG and vital non-financial data, announced €9.2 million in Series A funding.

Freemium vs. free trial: which is best for your startup?

How you introduce your product to the market can shape your startup’s growth trajectory. Freemium and free trial models are two of the most popular approaches allowing businesses to attract users and encourage full adoption.

Revyve secures €24M funding to boost egg-replacing yeast proteins

Dutch foodtech scale-up Revyve has raised nearly €24 million in Series B financing, bringing its total capital raised to more than €40 million. The investment will accelerate the company’s commercial rollout of functional yeast proteins designed to replace eggs and additives in mainstream food categories.

Scindo raises £4 million to accelerate sustainable ingredients platform

Scindo, a UK-based startup developing a data-rich AI platform to discover and design next-generation enzymes, has raised £4 million in funding co-led by Kadmos Capital and Clay Capital, with participation from PINC, the venture arm of international food and beverage company Paulig, and existing investors Synbioven, AgFunder, SOSV, Farvatn Venture and Savantus Ventures. The investment will accelerate Scindo’s mission to enable bio-based ingredients and sustainable chemistry across multiple high-value sectors.

Sunhat raises €9.2M Series A to solve the “Proof Gap” for enterprises

Sunhat announces €9.2 million in Series A funding. The round was led by CommerzVentures, with participation from existing investors Capnamic, EnBW New Ventures, xdeck, and WEPA Ventures.

1 in 5 Large UK Businesses Hit by AI and Deepfake Attacks

Artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of cybersecurity – and deepfakes are fast becoming one of the most disruptive threats.

DATE to spotlight Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 digital transformation at Riyadh’s global tech summit

Riyadh will host the KSA edition of DATE (Digital Acceleration & Transformation Expo) on 8-9 December at JW Marriott, bringing together 2,000+ government officials, investors, industry leaders, and innovators from around the world.

CATALYST SHOWCASES NORTHERN IRELAND’S INVESTMENT POTENTIAL TO 40 LEADING VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS AT INBOUND INVESTORS

Catalyst brought 40 UK and Irish venture capital firms to Belfast last week, for its annual Inbound Investors event, to meet and hear from 50 fast-growing Northern Ireland startup and scaleup companies.

Are we doing succession planning for robots?

A mother-daughter perspective on AI’s impact on future careers.

The startup survival guide: 7 reasons new businesses fail
The startup survival guide: 7 reasons new businesses fail
This article is part 1 of 4 in the series Beyond The Numbers

Launching a new business is exhilarating – the energy, the creativity, the vision of building something that’s uniquely yours. But the statistics are sobering. According to ONS data, around one in five UK businesses fail within the first year, and nearly half don’t make it to their fifth birthday.

Thinking of leaving your job to launch a rival tech Startup? Here’s what you need to know

Striking out on your own to launch a rival tech business could be one of the most exciting but also daunting times of your career. The temptation will be to hand in your notice, fire up your laptop, and start calling prospective clients.

Why a CEO turned his company employee-owned

After a run of double-digit growth, many founders look to bank the momentum and exit. Increasingly, however, others are turning to Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs). For these leaders, the priority is building a company that can sustain growth and stay true to its values. In today’s volatile market, independence matters, and so does a culture that helps teams adapt without compromising standards. An EOT provides both: it secures that independence while keeping long-term goals at the centre of decision-making.

Magical resilience: why curiosity is the key to startup survival

After spending 15 years leading teams in one of the UK’s largest retailers, I made the bold decision to put everything into my dream: becoming a full-time magician and speaker. On 4th April 2020, I took redundancy – ready to launch the business I had been quietly building for years.

YASO raises $11M Series A to accelerate growth

YASO has raised £8.25 million in a Series A investment round led by Puma Growth Partners, a leading provider of growth capital to scale-up businesses.

The significance of the UK-US tech deals

Away from the pomp and pageantry of Donald Trump’s State Visit to the UK, there was real progress made on business. The record-breaking £150 billion Tech Prosperity Deal of US investment in the UK rightly grabbed a lot of attention. This is the largest-ever single package of commercial investment linked to a State Visit.

Signal over noise: solving the venture capital visibility problem
Signal over noise: solving the venture capital visibility problem

The venture capital market, shaped by US norms, has a persistent inefficiency: capital allocation is…