Ten British green tech private companies with significant potential to help protect the environment are revealed in the Sunday Times BGF 10 Green Tech to Watch, researched by Fast Track.

Vertical farming, the practice of growing crops indoors under tightly controlled conditions, is continuing to expand rapidly. By using LED lighting tailored to the exact needs of the crop, alongside advanced hydroponic growing systems, and growing crops in vertically stacked trays, vertical farms can achieve yields hundreds of times higher than the same area of traditional farmland.

David Spencer-Percival, serial entrepreneur and founder of two globally successful recruitment businesses, Huntress and Spencer Ogden, is launching his latest venture, Life Science People.

Fleet management software for small and medium-sized companies, Vimcar has released new research into vehicle theft and misuse in the electrical services sector. The survey of more than 1,000 UK firms identified a clear need in the sector to have greater control over its fleet, with vehicle misuse costing the industry thousands each year.

The Business 20 (B20), the official voice of the global business community across G20 members, and Business at OECD have launched a joint conceptual policy proposal that focuses on reducing barriers that firms in general and SMEs in particular encounter in their quest to participate in Global Value Chains (GVCs), as cross-border fragmentation and friction continue to impede the free flow of people, capital, goods and services.

The sporting legend and seasoned business advisor, Sir Clive Woodward, will teach a new live and interactive course on team growth and development, to help combat the 95% failure rate for tech startup businesses in the UK. He will be working with an up-and-coming online-learning platform, which aims to flip this staggering stat by addressing the critical knowledge crisis affecting marketing and sales professionals in tech companies worldwide. 

UK startup, Flare Bright has announced that it has won a UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) contract to rapidly innovate it's SnapShot product.   

One hundred of the UK’s most inspiring small businesses have been chosen to mark the official countdown to Small Business Saturday, which takes place across the UK on 5 December 2020.

A campaign to identify Britain’s 100 most inspiring and multi-achieving female entrepreneurs has officially kicked off, with dynamic businesswomen across the country encouraged to apply to join the ranks of the f:Entrepreneur #ialso 100.

Technology startup inploi has launched a string of new features adding tens of thousands of job opportunities to their platform and positioning it squarely as the professional community to connect the New Collar Workforce with companies that want to engage and hire from this demographic. inploi notes that 82% of their user base does not have a LinkedIn profile.

Online investment platform, Seedrs has announced the next evolution of its secondary offering. Opening up its popular secondary market platform to all private businesses, allowing founders, employees and early investors to realise secondary liquidity without having to wait for an IPO or exit event.

Global small business platform, Xero has released new metrics on the health of the UK’s small business community in July from its Xero Small Business Insights (SBI) program, in partnership with research firm AlphaBeta (part of Accenture).

The use of digital gift cards has grown dramatically since the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis in the US, according to a new survey by Rise.ai, a startup that offers AI-driven customer re-engagement solutions.

Seagate Technology, a world leader in data storage and management solutions has announced the results of a global survey of 3,000 small and medium sized business (SMB) decision-makers.

OVHcloud have announced a brand-new Hosted Private Cloud range, with the release of the first product in the suite: Hosted Private Cloud Premier. The new product addresses the strategic needs of large organisations for performance, security and isolation and location of their data, while at the same time offering competitive pricing.

Tech Nation, the growth platform for tech companies and leaders, has launched its Unlocking Global Tech report, assessing the value of UK digital tech exports and exploring the opportunities and challenges for digital tech companies to expand and scale in different regions around the world post COVID-19. 

London’s entrepreneurs have been given a welcome boost thanks to funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Virgin Group. The funding will support the not-for-profit organisation - Virgin StartUp – to run its Ready Steady Grow programme which is aimed at supporting London based founders. The funding is valued at £1.7m over three years, half of this will be funded by the Virgin Group with the GLA funds matching the contribution. The extension is distributed by the GLA from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).   

ATI Boeing Accelerator has opened applications for its second cohort, to invest into sustainability-enabling startups that will benefit the UK aerospace industry across three key areas of focus: Industry 4.0, Lifecycle and Resilience, and Energy. Launched last year, the accelerator was created in partnership by the Aerospace Technology Institute and Boeing, and is delivered by European accelerator Ignite. GKN Aerospace is a corporate sponsor and more partners will be announced in the upcoming months. 

London Tech Week 2020 launches today showcasing the best of global tech and how it will play a crucial role in helping us navigate the challenges facing our changing world.

British startups Jiva Materials (featured recently on Startups Magazine) and SoluBlue have been awarded a place in the final for the 2020 Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge. The two startups, working to tackle some of the most challenging types of waste pollution, have won at least €100,000 each and are now in the running for the €500,000 grand prize.