In 2024, Black Friday was forecasted to boost the UK economy with £7.1 billion in sales. And with three in five adults predicted to be heading to the shops for the Black Friday weekend in 2025 – that's 31.9 million potential customers for UK SMBs.

Dost, an AI-powered financial automation platform, has announced its official UK market launch following a £6 million Series A funding round led by Octopus Ventures.

Alibaba.com has named 15-year-old Harrison Nott as its Grand Winner of CoCreate Pitch – the product-driven startup competition – for his small business, CoolTowel.

UNiDAYS has teamed up with Student Venture and Canopy Community, to launch a nationwide Student Startup Accelerator programme, designed to discover and accelerate the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Cellbyte, the AI-native platform that helps pharmaceutical companies accelerate drug launches, has announced that it has raised $2.75 million in seed funding. The round was led by Frontline Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Pace Ventures, Saras Capital, and Springboard Health Angels.

TMT ID, the mobile data and identity intelligence company, has secured a £30 million investment from BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor, to support its expansion and help global firms combat cybercrime, prevent fraud and build digital trust. 

Condukt, the next-generation compliance platform for financial services, has announced $10 million in funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and MMC Ventures, with participation from Cocoa Ventures.

Exwayz, pioneer in 3D positioning and navigation software, has announced a €1 million fundraising round led by CentraleSupélec Venture. This includes a grant awarded by the prestigious i-Lab Innovation Competition under the France 2030 plan.

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) startup portfolio has successfully raised over $1 billion in investments, co-investing with a diverse network of local and global venture capital firms. This significant milestone underscores KAUST’s growing impact on the global deeptech landscape.

AKA Foods has announced the completion of a $17.2 million seed funding round led by renowned AI experts and entrepreneurs Alex and Michael Bronstein. The funding marks the official launch of AKA Studio, a secure AI system and proprietary platform that enables food companies to create, optimise, and launch products much faster, smarter, and more affordably than ever before.

1nhaler, a Scotland-based drug delivery device developer, has secured £1.5 million in seed funding to drive development of its novel pop-up cardboard dry powder inhaler (DPI).

A movement is transforming the way Britain does business, with the “1% mindset” taking root in small to medium business enterprises throughout the UK. New research from Adobe, in collaboration with Steven Bartlett, found that more than 90% of UK SMB owners and directors who know the term, say the “1% mindset” can make a positive impact on both business output (91%) and business profits (91%).

Integrated Systems Events has announced the launch of Spark, a new four-day showcase event dedicated to cross-vertical creative connectivity.

Digital workplace solutions and managed services company Espria returns in December with another Optimise IT exhibition, leading the discussion on how IT solutions can best work together to provide the ultimate support for businesses and end-user experience.

Hydrohertz launches a battery cooling technology which not only delivers a step change in EV fast-charging times, but also significant improvements in battery range, life, and safety.