Sofant secures £2.3m in an oversubscribed funding round

EMV Capital led a £2.3m pre-series A syndicated round in the Edinburgh-based 5G and Satcom antenna developer Sofant Technologies, with participation by Kelvin Capital, Old College Capital, Wealth Club and Scottish Investment Bank.

The sharing economy offers the best opportunity to grow a business

Attitudes towards sharing are always intriguing to observe. What we will and won’t share with others has changed continuously over the years and in line with broader consumer trends.

ORB – Tackling concussion

This smart mouth guard protects more than just your pearly whites, it unlocks real-time feedback to protect players on and off the rugby pitch.

The innovative way to ‘Enayball’ everyone’s creative side

Having recently visited the CRL workspace in Hayes to meet this year’s cohort, sponsored by Mouser, I was overwhelmed with some incredible startup founders and the ideas that had inspired them. One of which was a pair of friends Pete Barr and Eli Heath, who together have created a social enterprise startup to enable people with disabilities to draw, through adding tools to a wheelchair.

Why it’s Virtual Reality’s Time to Shine

When iconic computer game, The Sims, was first published in 2000, few knew that one day entire industries would be conducting business within a virtual Sim-like environment. And yet, in the world of wholesale fashion that’s exactly what’s happening in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top Tips to surviving in business
This article is part 5 of 14 in the series Kevins Top Tips

According to the Office for National Statistics 213,285 businesses failed in the UK in the first half of 2020, a 14% increase on the same period in the previous year. Without looking much more deeply into the numbers it is not possible to say for certain how many of those that failed were due to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown but we would not be far wrong to say that the 14% increase, or 26,193 businesses failures were as a result of the pandemic.

The tech sector can spearhead economic recovery

Figures from the Office of National Statistics have revealed that during the height of the coronavirus lockdown period, employment in the UK fell by the largest amount in over ten years, since the height of the 2009 financial crisis. This situation could worsen in the coming months as the Government furlough scheme draws to and end.

Smart mouthpiece to help monitor COVID-19 symptoms remotely

ORB, a London-based startup, previously featured by Startups Magazine, is a real-time performance, wellness & health AI data platform, who specialises in the capture, analysis and presentation of human physiological data (Biotelemetry). The platform enables non-invasive, continuous, real-time monitoring in non-controlled environments (e.g. at home or on a sports field), offering accurate deep insights into physiology no other product is able to.

Inadequate broadband is impacting the bottom line for London’s SMEs

Community Fibre, London’s fastest 100% full-fibre broadband provider, recently announced new research findings from a survey conducted with market research specialist 3Gem. Results reveal that while SMEs based in London are more reliant on broadband access than ever before, inadequate internet access is costing them money and opportunity. The results come at a poignant time, as the UK celebrates 20 years since the first person had broadband installed into their home and more Londoners are working from home than ever before, needing fast and affordable broadband.

ParentCare can put your mind at ease
This article is part 2 of 4 in the series Part of the Nova community

In the second episode in our mini-series with Nova, a Liverpool-based tech cofoundery that partners with entrepreneurs to turn ideas into successful, scalable tech startups, in sectors including healthtech, fintech and edtech, Startups Magazine caught up with Bharat Vasandani, Founder of ParentCare.

THE WAY WE WORK NOW

The startup ecosystem is going through some big tests right now. This time has forced us all to discover just how efficient and productive we really can be working from our kitchen tables. It’s tested the limits of our patience (‘when will it ever end?’) and resilience (‘when can we go outside?’) and ability to stay focused (‘how do I ignore the distractions of home and get my work done?’).

Micromanagement and why it may be dangerous for your business

You maybe already believe that micromanagement is dangerous for you, your staff and your business. And it certainly is. But maybe not for the reasons you think.

Top 10 universities that produced tech startup founders during the last recession

During the Great Recession in the UK (2008/2009), 35% of tech startup founders went to the University of Cambridge and to the University of Oxford.

$71m raised to accelerate expansion of finger-prick blood analyser

The company behind the first FDA-cleared direct-from-fingerstick Complete Blood Count (CBC) analyser, Sight Diagnostics has announced it has raised $71m in Series D funding with participation from Koch Disruptive Technologies, Longliv Ventures and OurCrowd.

Business leaders cite ‘digital agility’ as the biggest opportunity for survival

Economic recoveries from crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic come in many shapes. The hope everywhere is always that they will be V-shaped, but U shapes are the next best thing. A volatile W and the dreaded L are worst-case scenarios.

Entrepreneur pivots fresh produce to PPE in fight against COVID

A Birmingham-based serial entrepreneur has ‘pivoted’ the strategy for his fresh-produce business to the supply of high grade Protective Personal Equipment (PPE), to support the fight against COVID-19.

Why hospitals need to embrace IT projects post-COVID-19

UK newspaper, ‘The Guardian’ reported last month that hospital trusts across England urgently need more equipment to prepare for an upcoming wave of operations and procedures deferred by COVID-19. The article highlighted that hospitals need ‘staff and space to deal with a huge backlog of scans for cancer and other conditions, as more than 600,000 people await CT, MRI and other scans amid the coronavirus crisis.’

Virtual networking in lockdown and its role in economic recovery

The coronavirus pandemic has sent shockwaves through the business world and left many struggling to stay afloat and, with the future still uncertain, many business owners are turning their attention to how they can pivot their way through this difficult time.

Global hiring market shows momentum towards recovery

New hiring data from LinkedIn suggests the global labour market is improving and continuing its early momentum towards hiring recovery. Progress observed in June held through July, although it did start to plateau towards the end of the month as some countries saw viral caseloads rise and shutdowns come back.

9 startups ready to change metal additive manufacturing

The metal additive manufacturing market will be negatively impacted by the 2020 pandemic. Despite this short-to-mid-term setback, the industry is forecast to rise and exceed $10bn within the next ten years. The emerging and established printer players grab nearly all of the headlines, but most of this forecast annual revenue will be in material sales in which there is great untapped potential.