The re-opening of shops provided a much-needed relief for retailers in the last two weeks, as the number of companies with a negative assessment of trading conditions plummeted from more than half (54%) to 37%, according to the latest Opinium-Cebr Business Distress Tracker.

Global small business platform, Xero has announced its new analysis has revealed the extent of COVID-19’s impact on UK small business employment and revenue between March and May 2020, showing a 28% drop in revenue and a six percent decline in employment. Late payments to UK small businesses increased by 7.8 days between February and May 2020.

Performance marketing agency, Journey Further, has announced it has teamed up with Europe’s first revenue-based finance provider, Uncapped, to offer performance marketing support to entrepreneurs, startups and scaleups across the continent.

SETsquared Bristol has been awarded ‘Hottest Accelerator’ in Europe at The Europas Awards. The University of Bristol led incubator, based at Engine Shed, supports the growth of technology-based businesses, helping them move from initial ideas into commercial viability. 

More than two-thirds of business leaders across the UK have no idea how much employee sickness is costing their business, according to e-days, the absence intelligence platform.

French software provider, Saagie has announced a $28m fundraising round with Crédit Mutuel Innovation, alongside NewAlpha Asset Management, Seventure Partners and AG2R LA MONDIALE. Historic investors Cap Horn, BNPP Développement and C.Entrepreneurs (managed by Cathay Innovation) also participated.

The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards has launched the Pivot for Purpose Award, a new trophy celebrating the fantastic achievements of UK organisations to support communities and key workers during the lockdown.

The pioneering supplier discovery platform connecting retailers with verified and sustainable suppliers, Sourcing Playground has announced that it has been awarded funding by Innovate UK to deliver an AI platform that will overhaul retail supply chains.

With non-essential shops beginning to open in the UK, the latest Opinium-Cebr Business Distress Tracker shows things are already looking up for retailers, as less than a fifth (18%) now see themselves at risk of insolvency. This has fallen from 40% since the last Tracker two weeks ago.

The economic turndown resulting from Coronavirus is expected to have a devastating effect on SMEs, the extent of which will cost the UK’s small and medium sized businesses an average of around £12,000, according to a survey which shows that two fifths of such firms are at risk of closing permanently.

The Shanghai-based personal mobility provider, AIWAYS has confirmed it is working with the biggest and best automotive technology suppliers from Europe to develop the U5 all-electric SUV. The supplier list demonstrates the Chinese startup’s commitment to quality in product development and manufacture.

As the UK marks three months under lockdown, Sage has published an in-depth report based on weekly polling of a total of 5,000 SMEs over the course of the lockdown period.

The Great Depression that hit the US in the 1930s was probably the worst economic recession ever registered. To guide the country out of it, President Roosevelt launched a series of programmes, public work projects and financial reforms known as the New Deal. While the economic implications of COVID-19 threaten to shadow the Great Depression, Harel Boren, CEO and Co-founder of Inspekto, explains why Autonomous Machine Vision (AMV) could be the new New Deal.

Provider of a data analytics acceleration platform that enables enterprises to gain insights from their massive data stores, SQream has announced that it has raised $39.4m in Series B+ funding. The round was led by Mangrove Capital Partners and Schusterman Family Investments, who joined existing investors, including Hanaco Venture Capital, Sistema VC, World Trade Center Ventures, Blumberg Capital, Silvertech Ventures and Alibaba Group. The proceeds of the investment will be used to recruit top talent to accelerate advancements in the Company’s technology and cloud innovation, and customer delivery platforms to better serve worldwide demand.

The Mayor of London’s scaleup programme has teamed up with Microsoft to provide some of the capital’s leading small companies with extra support to help them grow.

OurCrowd hosted the OurCrowd Pandemic Innovation Conference earlier this week which brought together thousands of top investors, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate executives, government officials and press from over 90 countries around the world.

LiveStyled is excited to announce it is relaunching as ​Realife Tech​, The Experience Automation Platform, with a $7.2m funding round led by ​Virgo Investment Group​, with additional backing from strategic investors ​Superfly Ventures and ​Stadia Ventures​. Realife Tech works with the world’s biggest entertainment destinations and events, and has developed a ‘​Post-Covid Fan Safety Hub​’ to provide key customer-facing technology and help bring events back safely once restrictions on large gatherings are lifted.

It’s a tough time for all businesses, but Manchester once again proves to be a hotspot for emerging new talent. Ambitious startup, The Shirt Society, has secured a substantial six figure investment from one of the city’s top tech investors: Scott Fletcher MBE.

Israel startup Rise.ai, which offers AI-driven customer re-engagement solutions, is making its gift cards available for purchase on Facebook and Instagram. This new feature will let small and medium businesses and enterprises (SMBs/SMEs) sell digital gift cards to their local community through Facebook and Instagram using the customers’ geo-location.

Purina has announced the first ever winners of the UNLEASHED accelerator lab programme. UNLEASHED is a unique initiative, run by the Purina Accelerator Lab, designed to combine R&D with personalised mentoring and a bespoke nurturing of each business. The winning cohort includes: BlueNalu Innovations, San Diego; BorrowMyDoggy, London; Natu, Barcelona; OneMind Dogs, Helsinki; and Petable, Lisbon.