Angel Business Club will address the mental impact of laying the foundations for business success as its Insights Series returns on Wednesday, 13th January. The webinar, titled ‘The Mental Cost of Building a Business’ will be hosted by CEO of fintech app, SimplyPayMe, Kent Vorland.

Manufacturers supported by Made Smarter, the movement helping SMEs join the Industry 4.0 revolution, are forecasting the creation of more than 750 new jobs from £12.6m of technology investment.

SME fleet telematics specialist, Vimcar, has been ranked the 20th fastest-growing technology company in Germany by global professional services network, Deloitte.

InMotion, Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital and mobility services arm, has invested in blockchain technology firm, Circulor.

The data from Close Brothers Asset Finance’s latest research of 900 senior members of the SME business community is now available on its free-to-use SME Data Hub.

Recycleye, the intelligent waste management startup, has secured £1.2m in seed funding, led by venture capital investors MMC Ventures and Playfair Capital, with participation from leading funds Atypical Ventures, Creator Fund, and eolos.

Healthcare technology company, Vantage Health has announced that its AI-powered platform, Rego, has been shortlisted for ‘Local COVID-19 Response Partnership Award’ at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2021. The shortlisting recognises Vantage Health’s dedication to improving healthcare and effective collaboration with the NHS, through Rego’s role in managing hospital outpatient attendances during the pandemic.

Three in five bosses (60%) say that the pandemic has unexpectedly impacted the productivity of their workforce in a positive way, according to new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance, with one in five saying their staff are now more independent since working from home (20%). 

A growing digital marketing analytics platform has been crowned as one of the winners of a prestigious award recognising the very best innovations that the tech industry has to offer.

The R&D tax relief schemes and R&D expenditure credit (RDEC) have driven greater innovation in the UK, according to analysis by HMRC. A review of these schemes, as well as the Patent Box, highlighted that there were both positive direct and indirect impacts on business for those that utilised the schemes whilst also spurring on innovation.

As COVID-19 continues to impact mental health and access to treatment in the UK, medical device company Flow is reporting a 247% increase in sales of its at-home, brain stimulation headset treatment for depression with 30% of its users overcoming depression during the pandemic.

A/O PropTech, Europe’s largest proptech VC, will be the first venture capital firm to join the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a member of its Global Innovators Community.

Carbon13 is the venture builder for the climate emergency, supporting startups geared at reducing CO2e emissions; by 2025, its mission is to help 1,000 entrepreneurs build 150 startups, each of which has the potential to reduce emissions by at least 10 million tonnes per annum.

FirstGroup has selected BRIDGE’s payment orchestration platform to achieve greater resilience and control in managing e-payment transactions. BRIDGE technology has initially been deployed across the FirstGroup’s online ticketing for UK bus travel, with plans to encompass the company’s mobile app channel and rail ticketing systems.

e-days, the absence intelligence company, says data from 86,000 recorded UK absences has revealed that stress levels have spiked twice in 2020 following the changes to the furlough schemes. These peaks were especially noticeable in organisations with fewer than 250 employees as the effects of the pandemic proved more challenging for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Cloud-based Customer Relationship Management [CRM] solution, BuddyCRM, has unveiled a sophisticated email marketing module, designed to help businesses drive increased revenue and bounce back from COVID-19.

Startups using clean technology to recycle CO2 into aviation fuel and creating real-time digital queues to maintain social distancing, are among those joining International Airlines Group’s latest Hangar 51 global accelerator programme.

Fintech business lender, MarketFinance has secured funds from a European bank, through fintech CrossLend, to facilitate lending to UK businesses. The news comes as demand for finance is surging, with MarketFinance research indicating that as many as 84% of businesses will be seeking loans this winter. Already in 2020, MarketFinance has advanced over £342m for institutional investors to meet the needs of UK businesses.

Cosmos Video, the virtual venues platform which allows people to work, hang out and socialise together, has raised £2m in seed funding from Europe’s leading seed investors, LocalGlobe with participation from Entrepreneur First, Andy Chung and Phillip Moehring (AngelList), and Omid Ashtari (ex-President, Citymapper).

London and Berlin have pledged to strengthen business links between the two European capitals by announcing an extension of a partnership agreement signed by both city’s trade and investment agencies last year. The city-to-city agreement has been renewed to coincide with a virtual event marking the 20th anniversary of the twinning of the two cities, involving the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller.