Needle, an AI-powered search and agent development platform, has raised $2.2 million seed funding in a round led by 468 Capital and Presight Capital. The funding will expand Needle’s engineering team, strengthen its core technology, and accelerate its go-to-market initiatives.
The UK has dropped to 18th place in PwC’s Women in Work Index, marking its worst ranking for workplace gender equality in ten years. A ‘sluggish’ pace in closing the gender pay gap and declining female workforce participation have pushed the UK further behind its peers, now ranking second-worst among G7 nations, behind Canada.
Less than six months after securing €9.3 million in funding, Constellation Technologies & Operations (CTO) is delivering on its ambitions. The startup is developing a constellation of VLEO satellites to enable telecom operators to provide high-speed, low-latency internet access from space – just as they do today with terrestrial networks. CTO has unveiled its first regenerative operational payload, the Early Test.
The Worshipful Company of Entrepreneurs, the City of London’s newest livery company, and the Company of Entrepreneurs Trust were delighted to showcase the progress and early impact of their annual Entrepreneurs’ Award in Social Innovation (EASI) and announce an exciting collaboration with the Worshipful Company of Needlemakers, to an invited audience at Drapers’ Hall in the City of London.
In an age where technology shapes much of our everyday lives, businesses must keep up with innovations to meet the demands of tech-savvy consumers.
Helsinki Metropolitan Area is raising its profile as a noteworthy deeptech hub. Now, the city of Helsinki invites business leaders to discover opportunities in the field with a deeptech-focused edition of the famous 90 Day Finn programme.
HiBob has released its fourth annual Women in the Workplace report, revealing men’s perceptions of workplace equality are out-of-touch with reality.
The Venture Capital Trust Association (VCTA) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the UK’s Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme at a landmark event held at the House of Lords, reflecting on three decades of investment, innovation, and economic growth.
The Aurora Tech Award has unveiled its 2025 finalists. The annual award spotlights outstanding female founders in emerging markets, celebrating visionary women entrepreneurs who are redefining the technology landscape.
As companies navigate an increasingly turbulent external environment, communications and HR leaders have identified ‘change fatigue’ as one of the top five barriers to success, according to Gallagher’s 2025 Employee Communications Report. The report, which drew insights from more than 2,000 communication and HR leaders across 55 countries, found that 44% of HR leaders view change fatigue as a key battleground for success in 2025.
Unique, a vertical AI player creating a specialised agentic AI platform for financial firms, today announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round, raising $30 million. Unique’s total investment now stands at $53 million since its founding in 2021. This round is led by CommerzVentures and DN Capital, with continued support from existing seed investors including VI Partners and Pictet Group.
Recruitment inefficiencies and unfilled vacancies are set to, at a minimum, cost the UK economy an estimated £132.6 million in lost productivity over the next year, according to a new survey from leading global recruiter PageGroup’s Enterprise Solutions team.
Videobot, the omnichannel interactive short-form video platform, has announced its drive to reinvent customer experience journeys through its video experience (VX) platform. The company recently closed at €2.8 million funding round, bringing its total funding to date to €5.5 million which will enable it to continue to develop its portfolio of products, designed to deliver video-centric brand journeys.
GoCardless, the bank payment company, has launched capital powered by Pipe, to provide direct access to capital financing for its small business customers. The offer is in collaboration with Pipe, a fintech company delivering embedded financial solutions through software and payments partners.
Seaweed based supplement, cosmetic, and food ingredient startup BioMara, has secured $150,000 to advance fucoidan production to meet growing demand.
Ahead of International Women’s Day, Rare Founders brought together a whole host of female founders to discuss the parts of the journey that women in business don’t often discuss in public. The raw, unfiltered truth, the struggles that are hidden behind their success, and the real-life experiences that female founders face on a daily basis.
Electric Sheep, a UK-based AI tech startup, announces a major milestone as it secures Innovate UK’s prestigious £500,000 Smart Grant – an award recognising its advancements in AI-driven visual effects (VFX) technology. This funding will support the development of Spotlight V3, Electric Sheep’s next-generation rotoscoping tool, set to launch in early 2025.
Ignota Labs, the AI-driven drug turnaround company, has announced the close of a $6.9 million (£5.5 million) seed funding round, co-led by Montage Ventures and AIX Ventures with participation from Modi Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, and Gaingels. The funding will be used to expand the pipeline by acquiring additional distressed assets and for advancement into early-stage clinical trials of their first asset, a PDE9A inhibitor.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK are set to make major changes to their product sourcing strategies this year, according to new data from Alibaba.com, a platform for global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce.
AI has dominated discussions over the past few years, with concerns about its potential to replace jobs taking centre stage. While some remain fearful, others are clearly excited about embracing an AI-driven future as global web searches for ‘AI workers’ continuously rise an average of 80% each month.
