Anna Wood

Anna Wood is the Editor of Startups Magazine. She joined the team in June 2023 as Deputy Editor, and has since been promoted to Editor of the publication. When it comes to the startup sector, Anna has a keen interest in spacetech, biotech, medtech, anything that flies, and shining a light on the gender and diversity funding gap. Outside of work hours, you can find Anna tucking into a book, a nice meal, and playing her Switch!

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97% of SMEs now use social media for their business

New research from iwoca reveals the overwhelming majority of UK SMEs are leveraging social media, as 97% say they use platforms to boost their business.

Nyobold raises $30M as demand for high-power energy solutions surge

Nyobolt has raised $30 million in funding, led by IQ Capital and Latitude, the sister fund of LocalGlobe, with strategic partners including Scania Invest and Takasago Industry.

Retrograde launches 2.0: the AI talent agent empowering the creator economy

Retrograde has officially launched Retrograde 2.0, a major upgrade to its AI AutoPilot for content creators. Founded by entrepreneurs Grace Beverley and Jake Browne, Retrograde has redefined the creator economy by offering an AI-powered assistant that manages brand sponsorships end-to-end, following a successful $1.9 million funding round, led by Elkstone and other angel investors.

Aviva Investors completes €11.4M VC investment with Lakestar

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva, has announced it has made an €11.4 million investment with Lakestar, a European venture & growth capital firm specialising in technology.

Bridgio and Infineon unveil second wave of hardware innovation

Bridgio Tech Accelerator, in collaboration with Infineon Technologies, is announcing the launch of the second batch of the Industry-Focused Pre-Acceleration Program.

Inephany raises $2.2M to automate and optimise AI model training

Inephany, an AI optimisation startup, has announced the close of a $2.2 million pre-seed funding round to accelerate the development of its AI-powered optimisation platform, which promises to revolutionise how neural networks – including Large Language Models (LLMs) – are trained and fine-tuned.

Altery partners with UnionPay Internation to offer improved payment solutions

UK fintech startup Altery has announced its partnership with UnionPay International as a principal member, following the official approval on 13th September 2024.

eBay invests $300k in Refiberd to drive circular fashion solutions

Global marketplace and destination for branded pre-loved fashion, eBay, is investing $300,000 into Refiberd in its ongoing efforts to support fashion startups to scale circular solutions through its global Circular Fashion Fund programme.

94% of M&A engagements anticipated to be completed using AI

Litera, in association with the Technology in M&A Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s M&A Committee, has released new data revealing UK firms currently use AI-based technologies to complete around half (49%) of their Merger & Acquisition (M&A) engagements and 61% at firms where M&A is the majority of their work.

Proofig AI’s MyDatabase protects institutions from self-plagiarism

To help research institutions guard against self-plagiarism, research image integrity software provider Proofig AI has launched MyDatabase, a repository designed to protect the originality of research by preventing the unintentional reuse of your own published images.

Now is the time to get on the Dancefloor
Now is the time to get on the Dancefloor

What happens when a software engineer is also an amateur DJ? Dancefloor, the platform that encourages dance music fans to discover new DJs and club nights in their city! “We exist to get people dancing,” explained Ben King, the Founder and CEO of Dancefloor.

Marshmallow secures $90M at a valuation of $2 billion

UK fintech, Marshmallow, announces that it has raised $90 million worth of funding from Portage, BlackRock, and Columbia Lake Partners. The raise comes three years after the business’ Series B, in which time, it has almost doubled its valuation to just over $2 billion.

Mindset AI raises £4.3M to meet demand for embedded AI agents for SaaS businesses

Mindset AI, an embedded AI agent platform, has raised £4.3 million in funding to expand its operations in the UK and open an office in Chicago, US.

KÄÄPÄ Biotech raises €900K in funding

KÄÄPÄ Biotech, a biotechnology company that researches, innovates, and develops functional mushroom products, has announced it has closed a €900,000 strategic investment from PeakBridge, a pioneering global fund manager in agri-food and a member of the Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity partnership.

Revenir and Karta automate VAT reclaims in first major deal beyond Europe

Revenir, the UK fintech specialising in automated tax reclaim solutions, has announced a new partnership with US-based financial technology company, Karta, representing Revenir’s first partnership outside of Europe.

Businesses face low employee morale and productivity

As the UK government continues to implement its AI Opportunities Action Plan, British business leaders are pinning their hopes on technological innovation alongside HR strategies, such as offering hybrid work, to boost employee morale and productivity, according to research by Celonis, the global company in Process Mining and Process Intelligence.

Three-quarters of UK professionals eye side hustles to boost finances

As salaries continue to be stretched thin by a high cost of living and with National Insurance tax hikes placing more pressure on company budgets – many professionals are being driven to clock into a ‘5-9’ after their ‘9-5’.

£121M quantum funding boost targets fraud prevention

The UK Government is investing £121 million in quantum technology, a novel technology with huge potential, to tackle crime, fraud and money laundering, bolstering the UK’s world-leading research programmes.

CUTISS and Tecan to advance bioengineered human skin tissue manufacturing automation

CUTISS, a late-stage clinical biotech at the forefront of tissue therapeutics and regenerative medicine, has announced a strategic partnership with Tecan, a global company in the development, production, and distribution of automation solutions for the life sciences and diagnostics sector.

Where are they now? – RanMarine
Where are they now? – RanMarine

RanMarine’s speciality lies in creating waterborne robots, also known as Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs), that focus on cleaning floating pollution out of waterways, both inland and coastal.