The technology industry is growing at a massive rate, and especially within hardware startups, there is such a large number of tech products coming onto the market every year. So how do you stand out and make sure you are seen above the rest?

Fashwire is a mobile and web marketplace for discovery where you can shop directly from over 300 fashion brands from over 33 countries you know and love and discover new ones from all over the world. Fashwire is changing the way we shop on our phones. By connecting consumers directly with brands all in one app, and it also allows brands to curate, create, and control all product and content in their profiles, which is different from a traditional retail model.

Johnathan Ransom, CEO & Co-founder of Square Mile Farms spoke to Startups Magazine about the challenges and opportunities that arose during the 2020 COVID crisis whilst raising from their network. Think back, post-2008 financial crisis, internet technologies and crowdsourcing both evolved to allow companies to easily raise funds from their network and community for the first time. The power and value of the crowd have only increased since then, helping businesses grow quickly and sustainably while reaching entirely new audiences.

While the world battles a loneliness epidemic, reinforced by COVID-19 imposed lockdown and social-distancing, a new, rapid growth startup uses technology to help solve the problem for companies individuals. Panion has recently announced a suite of features that solidify the startup's position as the most exciting new virtual community-building app in the world. Panion encourages its members to be authentically themselves and to lean into the interests that make them unique.

Founded by Milo Hill and David Hampshire, DOOZY was built during lockdown and allows people to create free quizzes, share them with friends and play them instantly. And it really is as simple as that - no downloads, no sign-ups, just creating a quiz and sharing it with friends.

No Isolation  was founded with the aim of reducing loneliness and social isolation through the creation and implementation of warm technology. Following the success of its first product, the AV1 telepresence avatar, designed to tackle loneliness amongst children and young adults affected by long-term illness, the company brought its second product, ​KOMP​, to the UK in 2019. KOMP - a one button communication device, designed to connect seniors with their wider family unit - has been bought by 3,300 families across Europe.  
 

It is fair to say that so many startups have used the year 2020 to really show how they can adapt and help and shine through, but for the Biggest 2020 Hero category this year there was one clear winner who really have done some amazing work in 2020 and through the COVID crisis, and that is Joanna Montgomery, Founder and CEO of Little Riot which develops connected products that enable human connection in an otherwise very digital world, such as the product Pillow Talk.

Enter Farm-Hand: a software startup revolutionising life for farmers in India by applying Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology to irrigation hardware.

Award-winning startup, e-peas, a supplier of advanced energy harvesting solutions, has just completed its latest funding round.

Chocolate and technology, arguably two of the greatest two things in the entire world, and Sergio Figueredo, Founder of the startup Choco4Peace, is therefore arguably one of the greatest men in the world, as he managed to combine the two. Not only that he has also this year been chosen as the first Hustle Awards Winner in the category Social Impact Hero!

With a large and growing range of smart devices and intelligent products, Imou serves global IoT users through a ‘three in one’ business system encompassing Imou Cloud, the smart devices and the intelligent technology – and the latest and arguably most exciting one is the Ranger IQ.

Embracing her entrepreneurial spirit and pursing a new venture, Suzann Bozorgi launched a tech platform designed to make interior design more accessible for clients.

Secto Design has made a significant investment in startup company Paptic. “Until recently, Secto Design has purely invested in developing its own production. However, Paptic has such a meaningful goal and it fits perfectly to our own philosophy, that we had to jump along,” said Tuula Jusélius, the Founder of Secto Design.

From a young age Olivia Higgs, always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. Although initially it was more of a dream to own a boutique hotel, rather than being the Co-founder of NAVA, an app that enables users to explore cities in a personalised way whilst supporting local independent business owners, but it was through her interest in artificial intelligence that she found herself here.

Cazoo, the UK's fastest growing digital business which is transforming the way we buy used cars, has today joined the exclusive list of companies known as unicorns, with valuations in excess of $1bn. Founded 18 months ago by serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman and having launched only 6 months ago, Cazoo is now the fastest British business ever to have reached the rare and coveted unicorn status.

The world is facing a mounting waste crisis and a South West technology startup has developed a new online system to help tackle the problem. The system will also help waste businesses run their businesses safely during the coronavirus pandemic.

Personalised health management platform, Span, has announced the launch of its new subscription-based business offering to help employees prevent and reduce symptoms of lifestyle-induced conditions - Diabetes, Hypertension, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Obesity and IBS. The platform offers personalised, continuous nutrition and mental wellbeing plans and on-demand consultations with clinicians.

With recent news showing the British economy shrunk by 20.4% in April, several business owners are concerned about whether their businesses will recover and what the 'new normal' will look like. Here we chat to Pete Reis-Campbell, CEO and Founder of Kaizen, who discusses how he navigated the pandemic why remote working is the future for many companies.  

AI tech startup Greyparrot has raised £1.825m to tackle the growing waste crisis by introducing digitisation and automation to recycling. The round was led by Speedinvest, a leading early-stage industrial tech investor, with participation from Force Over Mass.

As we live through the most connected time in history, its clear to see that data plays a huge role in many businesses. It’s what keeps businesses running smoothly, so naturally it needs to be of the highest quality. But what are the most reliable sources? Customer feedback is at the top of most businesses lists. Customers certainly won’t hesitate to tell you what they like or dislike about your product or service. But how can we use all this information? Can conversations with call centres or an online chatbot harvest all the value from these conversations?