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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XPANCEO: a sight for smart eyes

“From a young age, I was deeply immersed in the world of technology, imspired by my grandfather, a pioneering engineer who played a key role in constructing the first computers in the 1950s. This unique upbringing, which involved soldering computers and circuits with my grandfather, instilled in me a profound appreciation for technology and innovation,” reminisced Roman Axelrod.

Workspace of the issue: Cubo Work

Cubo is a provider of bespoke flex offices and co-working spaces, boasting 12 sites across the UK, including Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.

Workflow raises $3M to make creative work faster using AI

Workflow, a company building AI software for design, marketing, and product teams has announced it has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding in a round led by early Revolut-investors, Venrex. Investors in the oversubscribed round included 8VC, backers of Asana, and scout funds from Sequoia, Octopus, and Index Ventures. The round saw investors back exited founders Will Taylor (Rota.com), Allis Yao (ex-Instagram, Spirito AI), and Paul Sangle, (Mailwiz.app, ex-Yelp product lead).

Female Foundry launches Visionaries AI Incubator Cohort II

Female Foundry expands its Visionaries AI Incubator with seven game-changing female-founded startups to drive innovation across Europe.

Quarter of UK companies missing out by not benchmarking benefits

Research by Towergate Employee Benefits shows that over a quarter (26%) of employers are missing out by not benchmarking the benefits they offer to their workforce, in comparison to those offered by other companies. The research also reveals that just 40% of companies benchmark by sector, 37% by location, and only 30% by size of company.

Women-run companies less likely to fail than male-led companies

KSA Group Limited, insolvency practitioners who run the Company Rescue website, has researched the UK SME market of over 4 million businesses in an attempt to see if there was a gender bias on the board of companies that become insolvent.

MintNeuro secures £1M to advance semiconductor tech for neural implants

MintNeuro, a startup working on scalable, low-power semiconductor technology for minimally-invasive neural implant applications, has announced it has raised £1 million in a funding round led by Empirical Ventures. Additional investment came from Parkwalk Advisors (through the Imperial College Enterprise Fund), Imperial College London, Plug & Play, Excellis Holding, and several prominent angel investors.

The Hustle Awards 2025: submissions open now

Due to overwhelming demand, the entry submission portal for the Hustle Awards 2025 is NOW OPEN!

Open Bionics secures six-figure funding for overseas expansion

British prosthetics manufacturer, Open Bionics, is on a mission to make bionic arms accessible to people with limb differences, and is set to accelerate its expansion in the US and DACH markets thanks to an innovative high growth lending solution offered by NatWest.

Energy market dysfunction stopping UK businesses going green

New research conducted by energy transactions company tem. has revealed vast shortcomings in the energy market, which are feeding distrust and misconceptions among UK businesses and preventing them from switching to green power.

In Parallel secures €2.8M seed funding to transform corporate strategy with AI

In Parallel has successfully closed a €2.8 million seed funding round from Lifeline Ventures, helping the company scale its AI-powered approach to strategy execution management.

Cutting-edge transport projects receive £1.4M to encourage innovation and deliver growth

Winners of a £1.4 million competition to transform the transport sector, grow the economy and inspire innovation have been announced by the Department for Transport.

tozero raises €11M in seed funding to ramp up recycled lithium production capacity

tozero, a European startup in the sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling space, has raised €11 million in an oversubscribed seed round led by NordicNinja. New investors joining this funding round include In-Q-Tel (IQT), automotive giant Honda, and global infrastructure engineering giant JGC Group. Existing investors including Atlantic Labs, Verve Ventures and Possible Ventures, also doubled down.

Legal AI startup Luminance set to illuminate European markets

Originating in Cambridge, UK, Luminance was conceived by a team of mathematicians and AI experts who recognised the immense potential of AI in transforming the legal industry’s approach to the vast amounts of documentation and data involved in legal work.

Oxford University Innovation highlights research commercialisation breakthroughs

Oxford University Innovation (OUI), the technology transfer office of the University of Oxford, has launched its 2024 report Shaping the Future: Oxford’s Innovation Impact, showing it raised millions of pounds to fund innovative research and venture creation, filed scores of new patents and created more than 15 new companies over the past 12 months.

Paloma Health raises £2M to tackle NHS waiting lists for autism assessments

Paloma Health, the AI-enabled healthtech startup reducing wait times for access to critical NHS health services, has raised £2 million in a pre-seed round. The round was led by Triple Point Ventures, with co-investors Heal Capital and expert angels, including Pam Garside, Co-Chair Cambridge Health Network, and James Allgrove, ex-Stripe. The funding will support the roll-out of Paloma Health’s first NHS service providing access to children and young people’s autism assessments in under four weeks.

Entrepreneurs can now carry their HR team in their pocket with FresHR

What do business owners keep in their pockets? Keys? Phone? Handkerchief? What about their HR team? Probably not but that’s about to change. Established HR consultants Cream HR have created a new resource that enables owners of SME’s  (there are 5.51 million in the UK) to have their HR questions answered from their phone with their new product FresHR.

Brevel implements first-of-a-kind model for its microalgae protein

Microalgae protein innovator Brevel has successfully implemented the FOAK (First-Of-A-Kind) strategy method by building its first plant for proprietary industrial-scale fermenters for microalgae protein. The company has completed construction of its FOAK facility and already secured two commercial agreements with leading food & beverage companies.

MicroHarvest accelerates pace to achieve multiple kiloton production target

MicroHarvest, a company in sustainable microbial protein, has achieved a key milestone by demonstrating an ability to scale its production process to 10 tonnes per day in a single vessel, representing a ten-fold increase over its current capacity.

Introducing cocreatd: venture studio investing in next generation marketing companies

cocreatd is a a new venture studio, designed to back big ideas in the marketing industry and bring them to life. Founded by Oliver Yonchev, a former business partner of Steven Bartlett – cocreatd is Yonchev’s first venture since exiting Flight Group, alongside co-founders James Lawson Baker, Paul Stevens, and Simon Whitaker.