Micro businesses and SMEs expect the beginning of 2021 to be tough, but are redoubling their efforts to improve their performance and become more productive. These are among the key findings of a new data set published today by Be the Business. Future editions will track changes in five areas of business activity, each of which has consistently been shown to impact on productivity.

Scale Space, the UK’s new community for scaling businesses, has joined forces with the University of Edinburgh to help unlock the innovation potential of startups working in the AI sector through a new Post-Covid AI Accelerator Programme.

The latest startups to join the ATI Boeing Accelerator have been announced with ten companies joining the programme. The startups for the second cohort were selected from nearly 200 applications, from more than 40 countries and range from Hull to Queensland, and the US to Germany. Providing solutions for the aerospace industry such as software to support inflight medical events and emergencies and behavioural science technologies to reduce airlines’ greenhouse gas emissions.

When Anthony Collias and Jacob Wedderburn-Day were looking ahead at 2021, one positive silver lining they could draw from the year was the favourable effect of the pandemic on the climate. The duo, who met at Oxford University, were already co-founders of a successful startup, but like many businesses faced severe difficulty and uncertainty of what the future would bring.

Otta, a startup that helps job seekers find roles at fast-growing companies, has revealed the most innovative companies in London to work for in 2021. Fifty startups and scaleups appear on the Rocket List, including tech unicorns Cazoo, Hopin (now a ‘double unicorn’) and Gousto, along with fintech firms, Revolut and Checkout.com, which are hiring for the most roles right now (79 and 68 respectively).

ETF Partners (The Environmental Technologies Fund) has announced a £5m investment in The Modern Milkman (TMM), a fast-growth UK startup committed to building a more convenient and sustainable approach to grocery shopping. The Manchester-based business delivers convenient groceries from independent and local suppliers directly to customers’ doorsteps in returnable and reusable packaging.

Uppbeat, a new startup providing free music for YouTubers and content creators, has recently launched. Removing the barriers to high quality, legitimate music, it is poised to become the go-to resource for creators across the world.

As a successful entrepreneur in his own right, Daryl Woodhouse knows the price that success can sometimes seem to demand. In 2010, aged 26, he secured a national role at a FTSE top 10 corporate leaving in 2011 to set up his own business, which quickly grew into a seven-figure revenue, winning 30 awards in the process.

SupplyCompass, the production platform for brands and manufacturers, has unveiled a major product update that now allows fashion businesses to invite and onboard their own factories, and streamline communication via an in-built Slack-style chat feature.

The Data & Marketing Association (DMA) has announced a new partnership with not-for-profit organisation, Race Equality Matters, which will seek to achieve racial equality in the workplace.

Spaceport Cornwall is seeing in 2021 with three new staff appointments. Following the departure of Miles Carden, Melissa Thorpe will be providing an interim solution to the position and will be supported by John Paffett. As well as this, new Cornwall Airport Newquay employee Luke Winfield, will be supporting the Spaceport team as Operations Manager.

Funded by the UK European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), CPI, an independent technology innovation centre and founding member of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, has announced the launch of the PROSPECT programme to assist Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the North East across a wide range of sectors.

Legacy Club is pleased to announce Startups Magazine as its headline partner for 2021. Following Legacy Club’s successful launch in January 2021, this collaboration aims to bring together Startups Magazine’s thriving community of start-up businesses and entrepreneurs with Legacy Club’s extensive offering of support, advice and mentorship.

Digital Catapult’s Future Networks Lab Challenge provides an exciting opportunity for internet of things (IoT) and 5G startups to respond and pitch their solutions directly to industry challenges set by technology partners Siemens and Arrow Electronics.

The UK should take advantage of new post-Brexit freedoms to create a world-leading copyright system, Fixing Copyright, a new report by The Entrepreneurs Network think tank argues. According to the report, modernising copyright would provide a boost to the UK’s artificial intelligence startups.

UK-based EdTech gaming studio, Kuato Studios, has raised £4.5m in a round led by Horizons Ventures and is launching ‘Panic Room’ - its first virtual reality title.

As SME leaders plan for the year ahead, Vistage’s latest CEO Confidence Index has found that more than half (54%) of Small and Mid-size Enterprise (SME) members in the UK and Ireland are optimistic that the economic conditions will improve in the next 12 months.

The growing demand for software development professionals has already resulted in a talent shortage of 40m workers worldwide which is projected to reach 85.2m by 2030. However, no-code solutions will allow anyone in the organisation to code cheaper, faster, and without any prior knowledge in programming.

London is at the centre of Europe’s burgeoning tech scene, with new research from Dealroom.co and London & Partners showing that London tech companies helped Europe to reach record levels of tech venture capital funding in 2020. International investors continue to look to London, with the findings revealing that the UK capital received more tech VC investment than any European city in 2020.

“If we have learned anything in 2020, it’s that consumers play a pivotal role in their own health outcomes.” - CES 2021. Consumers are now expecting accessible, convenient solutions that allow them to jumpstart their care - from wellness to healthcare - at any moment.