Osu, the payment app for the UK’s self-employed, has announced the close of a £2.25m seed round, led by early-stage experts Creandum, to fund further growth to reach 10,000 customers this year.
LawtechUK, the government-backed initiative within Tech Nation, to help transform the UK legal sector through technology, today brings to a close the Pilot stage of the first Lawtech Sandbox – a research and development initiative for lawtech scaleups – following a successful three month trial period.
A pioneering new mindfulness training programme, powered by Virtual Reality (VR) training specialists Virti, has launched this month to help employees cope with the demands of their jobs during the pandemic.
Sage has unveiled research showing that 1 in 2 (52%) UK adults dream about starting their own business. However, over half (53%) of those feel that money worries are stopping them from turning the idea into a reality – a fear that has been exacerbated by the stresses of COVID-19.
The past 12 months have placed many obstacles and challenges in the path of businesses, as the pandemic took grip of the nation and workplace processes were forced to change to stay within government guidelines.
Social impact fund Valloop, created to help employees and management buy the companies they work for, delivered compound annual growth of 16.1% over a five-year period between September 2015 and September 2020.
As WhatsApp users are forced to share personal data with Facebook, a new competitor – YEO (Your Eyes Only) Messaging – has launched today, offering an alternative ultra-secure private messaging platform.
Launching one year after the first lockdown, creative workspace and accelerator, Huckletree has launched a new campaign with Otherway to address the year that’s been, celebrating the founders persevering and innovating despite the pandemic, whilst inspiring the companies of the future to be brave in the face of adversity.
With many of us working from home, dogs crashing our virtual business meetings has not only become the norm, but the preferred. According to recent data, dogs gate crashing your virtual meeting may have other benefits such as better feelings of wellbeing and lower stress levels.
A year since it was awarded CBILS lender status, responsible lender, AskIf, can now reveal it has approved close to £4m to deserving SMEs and micro businesses, playing an essential role in the national push to help businesses survive and thrive. AskIf has delivered on its mission to be an inclusive lender with 17% of CBILS loans distributed to BAME-owned businesses, and 22% to female-led businesses.
The findings of a new report shows that employee welfare has been catapulted to the top of the HR agenda for business leaders, with two-thirds of employees reporting a spike in support being offered to both furloughed and non-furloughed teams since May 2020.
A new report has revealed the devastating impact a year of lockdown has had on the mental health of those running business. According to a study by Harper James Solicitors the strain of the past 12 months has led to one counselling platform recording an 84% rise in demand.
New research by money.co.uk has crowned Google as the most successful company to be started at university. The search engine sits at the top of the university startup league table with a current market capitalisation of $1.27 trillion (£926 billion). This is 12.7 million times greater than the $100,000 initial funding the company received in 1998.
UK startup, LGN has secured $2m in funding to help businesses outpace their competition by building better and more resilient AI models, faster and at scale. With backing from the likes of Trucks Venture Capital, Luminous Ventures and Jaguar Land Rover, LGN supports enterprises to scale out their use of edge AI and accelerate learning in the real world, rather than in labs and test environments. The company will use the investment to continue its mission of getting AI into the real world.
A London-based software development company has launched a new initiative offering the country’s startups the opportunity to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as part of an economy-boosting scheme in the wake of the pandemic.
If you’ve read any of my previous articles for Startups Magazine, you may have noticed that anything related to healthcare excites me beyond belief. Fun fact about me: I used to have a massive fear of doctors but I’ve since turned that into an unhealthy obsession with the healthcare sector and I’m now known as the ‘Queen of all things Medical’ by my colleagues. So of course, when I discovered digital training startup, Virti who are focusing initially on healthcare, my blood pressure shot up with excitement and you’ll see why as you read on.
Plymouth Startup Weekend is back this spring with a big question for business brains and creative thinkers everywhere: How can our cities rejuvenate culture and tourism post-pandemic? For Britain’s Ocean City, which was picked as one of the top ten places to travel in 2020 by Condé Nast Traveller magazine, this is an even bigger question.
Ihqlak Hussain’s new book, SUCCEED!: An Inspirational Toolkit for the Serious Entrepreneur, dives into the author’s own personal experience, coming from a tough background, working hard and successfully achieving his goals. This book offers easy to understand and must-read advice for budding entrepreneurs designed to highlight how to plan, develop and execute a new business venture.
Bubo.AI is an AI solution for customer value-based pricing. Cloud technology and advanced analytics allow clients to determine the path to more profitability based on optimised prices. Founded and based in the UK, Bubo.AI won the ‘Best Emerging Technology in AI’ award in 2020.
Thirteen companies who are helping the UK’s healthcare, manufacturing and resource sectors recover from the impact of COVID-19 have been chosen to join Microsoft’s AI for Social Impact 2021 programme.
