London-based startup launches new app for fashion lovers

London-based startup, SilkFred wanted to take all the things customers love about shopping with them and distill this into a simple concept: the latest fashion from brands you haven’t yet discovered, for the moments that are special to you and shoppable video content showing you how to wear from the SilkFred team.

Why NHS Test and Trace’s latest IT blunder is a lesson to us all

It baffles me that some 16,000 who had tested positive for COVID-19 did not have their information uploaded to the Test and Trace system because it was reliant on a 13-year-old legacy IT and, as it turns out, a complicated Excel sheet.

Upskilling opportunities during lockdown: UK employers miss the mark

According to new research from Pluralsight, the enterprise technology skills and engineering management platform, 43% of UK office workers are worried they will be left behind as companies seek new skills to cope with the rapid pace of change.

How Fostering Collaboration Can Boost Innovation

Collaboration involves people working together to attain a particular goal or to complete an allocated task. Some of the greatest ideas are born through this process. When you think about innovation, it is a collection of ideas either from the past or present.

The most dangerous word is ‘Just’

Evidence suggests street and sexual harassment have worsened during lockdown. The majority of that harassment will go unreported so there will be no response and little can be done to fight it. Something has to change if increased harassment is not going to be part of the ‘new normal’.

Businesses finding new ways to innovate in the face of COVID-19 and climate change

The international outlook for R&D is remarkably promising despite strong headwinds, according to research released today by Ayming Group, the business performance consultancy specialising in innovation. Ayming’s second annual International Innovation Barometer (IIB) reveals that R&D departments are being empowered by the creation of innovation ecosystems, new funding methods, and the deployment of technology.

Stream raises $15m Series A to support in-app chat for Telemedicine

Stream, the creator of enterprise-grade activity feed and chat APIs, recently closed its $15m Series A financing. The funding round was made possible by the startup’s rapid growth amid COVID-19.

microLED display startup announces €80m closing of planned €120m investment round

Aledia, a French startup that is pioneering a disruptive technology for microLED displays, has closed an €80m first tranche of its €120m D round financing. The company will use the proceeds to complete its product development and create the first-of-its-kind, high-volume 3D microLED manufacturing facility in the Grenoble area for an estimated capex of €40m (excluding equipment).

COVID-19 and the sports industry: how startups can help the sector’s recovery

As with every sector, the sports industry has been greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The after effects will no doubt continue to reverberate for some time to come even once we emerge from this global health crisis. However, sport is unique in that it plays a different role to many other activities in life; it provides a space for people to come together for rituals and traditions, often harking back for generations.

Immersive tech startup raises £800k seed round led by SFC Capital

Condense Reality, a virtual reality startup developing technology to transform how viewers watch live entertainment and sports, has raised a seed round of more than £800,000, including £220,000 from SFC Capital, the most active seed-stage investor in the UK.

Serviced Offices: Why The Pandemic Could Be Their Finest Hour

The pandemic has caused significant disruption to communities, businesses and the economy on a scale that has never been experienced before. The economy shrank 20.4% between April and June as ongoing lockdown measures led the country into recession.

COVID-19 boosts innovation for startups worldwide

Despite COVID-19, the Swiss Market Entry Bootcamp happened yesterday in Zurich. Representatives of 40 startup companies from 20 countries worldwide, including the US, Canada, Brazil, Turkey, and numerous European countries, attended the kick-off event online and physically at the Kraftwerk Zurich.

Gift card campaign to inject £2bn into Britain’s high street economy

The Gift Card & Voucher Association (GCVA), supported by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM), has urged Government to take action to save the high street, in a move that could safeguard thousands of jobs and add £2bn into the high street economy.

Research demonstrates the potential of e-fleets for SMEs

Vimcar, the fleet management software for small and medium-sized companies, has released new research into how new driving behaviour, adopted as a result of COVID-19, has impacted on the potential for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in SME fleets.

Industry body calls on businesses to become more inclusive of dyslexia

The Data & Marketing Association (DMA) has published new guidance, ‘DMA Talent: Dyslexia Employer Guide’, created using insights from neurodiversity consultants, brands/employers, and dyslexic employees working across the creative, data and marketing industries.

Fintech startup on track to create funds and SPVs worth £1bn by Q2 2021

Fintech startup, Vauban, has announced impressive growth plans to revolutionise alternative investment. Founded in 2018, Vauban brings game-changing technology to a sector where the fax machine is still used for fund allocations.

Lessons learned from 2020
This article is part 1 of 10 in the series Lessons Learned from 2020

As we enter the last quarter of 2020 I thought that it would be useful to take a look back at this extraordinary year and see what lessons can be learned from these truly remarkable circumstances. It has, after all, impacted on every business around the world in one way or another. Indeed, the impact has been so great that business, and the way that business is done, will never be the same again.

Why we must encourage female entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship
Why we must encourage female entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship

Hopefully, it goes without saying that women are vital members of any team in business. The best ideas are conceptualised and executed by groups with a variety of backgrounds, skills and opinions – homogenised teams will lead to unexciting products.

So you’ve pledged to improve on diversity… now what?

In my previous blog, I considered the steps necessary for business leaders to close the gap between rhetoric and reality on racial equity at work. This time, I wanted insight on what is actually happening on the frontline. I sat down with award-winning business strategist and founder of The Black British Business Awards, Melanie Eusebe. She has risen to the upper- echelons of the corporate world, and in our broad conversation offered her perspectives on corporate responsibility, solidarity, and how we sustain the current momentum.

Sustainable investment app launches Crowdfunding Campaign

Clim8 Invest (Clim8), the digital investment platform to help consumers invest in companies focused on tackling the climate crisis, has announced the launch of a Crowdcube funding campaign.