During 2020 virtual collaboration accelerated exponentially, creating an instant need for virtual facilitation skills. But as more and more companies move towards online and virtual meetings, the opportunities and challenges associated with remote sessions have been thrown into sharp relief.

Virgin StartUp and Crowdcube have partnered to help the next generation of purpose-driven founders grow their businesses and achieve real change through their Collective Impact programme.

u-blox has signed a deal with the Cambridge-based technology company, Focal Point Positioning, to integrate technology that will improve the accuracy and reliability of GNSS devices – enhancing positioning performance and security for growing applications such as smart cities, location-secure IoT and health and fitness wearables. 

Fixter, the UK’s first end-to-end online car maintenance service provider, has urged UK motorists to book their cars in now for MOT, car service and repair work to avoid potentially costly parts price rises and supply issues in the event of a No-deal Brexit. To soften the potential blow, Fixter is offering a parts cost price protection guarantee for January 2021 MOT and service bookings across its UK network, giving car owners valuable peace of mind in these uncertain times.

Manchester-based tech start-up enee.io has been awarded £170k from Innovate UK’s Sustainable Innovation Fund. The six-figure grant will enable the firm to further develop and commercialise its pioneering technology providing automated and remote monitoring of industrial battery systems used to provide back-up power for critical infrastructure including hospitals, data centres and mobile phone masts.

TiE Global Entrepreneurship Awards are designed to honour the outstanding entrepreneurs for their stellar performance and recognising the key ecosystem stakeholders for their contribution to the startup innovation, entrepreneurship development and investment climate. This initiative is in live with TiE’s mission of Fostering Entrepreneurship.

The three-day, 60-hour marathon TiE Entrepreneurship summit scheduled to be held from 8th to 10th December 2020 is a mega virtual platform where budding entrepreneurs will get a chance to restructure their way to overcoming the COVID-19 crisis.

The government has pledged to spend 1/3 of its budget with SMEs and has also introduced schemes such as CBILS, BBLS and the Future of Fund to support startups during the pandemic, but as government support eases and investors continue to be cautious about funding early-stage startups, many startups are already struggling to stay open. A new campaign from Plexal, the innovation centre and coworking space owned by clients of Delancey, places the responsibility for saving startups at industry’s doors.

The F Factor, organised by Founders of the Future, is the UK’s premier startup competition for 18-25 year olds. It goes all across the UK to find entrepreneurial talent. To enter the competition you need an idea, a seemingly working prototype (does not need to be a fully working MVP but rather a prototype that shows how your idea works) and a two min pitch in video of your startup idea.

The PR Essentials Summit taking place on Friday 11th December from 7am PT to 5pm PT. The Summit is a one day virtual learning event for startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners to learn and develop their own public relations strategies and campaigns moving into the New Year.

Mouser Electronics, the New Product Introduction (NPI) leader empowering innovation, will be co-hosting a three-day online event to help UK-based startups test, validate and communicate their technical requirements to manufacturers. The workshop, hosted in partnership with the Central Research Laboratory (CRL), takes place from Monday 7th to Wednesday 9th December.

Students from Essex University have launched a new start-up to help the county’s small businesses become more environmentally friendly. They see sustainability as of the utmost importance in today’s society; sustainability being a social and environmental commitment to finding new ways to consume without draining our planet’s resources.

If you’re looking for a great Christmas gift for the women in your life, then a new book, Female Entrepreneurs – The Secrets of Their Success, may be the answer. 

The 2020 CRL Demo Day with the year we had obviously had to be taken virtually, which meant it could have gone two ways, but having attended the event and speaking with a number of people who also did, to say the day was a success would be an understatement.

No Isolation, the company bringing people together through the use of warm technology and the application of specialist knowledge, today launches a new version of KOMP, its one button computer designed specifically for use by seniors. The new model, boasting a wider screen and in-built internet, has been launched in direct response to user feedback following an increase in demand brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, No Isolation has sold 4,300 KOMPs, and the app is currently being used by around 30,000 people across the globe. This means that on average, each KOMP is connected to approximately 7 family members.

HOBEEN is the first startup in the home energy consumption model. It has accelerated its technological process to land as soon as possible in homes and help families save on their bills in face of the crisis caused by COVID-19. It is an APP that connects several smart devices that are installed in homes to offer personalised energy advice that helps reduce waste. In this way, a minimum saving of 30% in water, electricity and heating bills is expected.

One in four London tech companies fear they would not survive the economic impact of a no-deal Brexit, according to new research released today by Tech London Advocates, the independent network of more than 9,000 tech leaders, experts and investors.

New research from HR and people management platform Employment Hero shows a worrying lack of support for staff by UK small and medium sized businesses since COVID.