4YFN, the global startup event, has unveiled the finalists for its annual 4YFN Awards, a competition spotlighting standout digital startups from across the globe.

At CES in Las Vegas, the startup ELHYTE specialising in the electrification of construction equipment will reveal E-CUBE, patented, interchangeable and universal battery compatible with all 2.5-ton compact mini-excavators on the market.

In a huge move for the UK’s advertising and technology sectors, Crumbless AI has joined forces with Cubet, a global tech innovator, to introduce the Autonomous Ads Agent – a solution that promises to end reliance on controversial cookie-based tracking. With the launch set for April 7th 2025, the waitlist for this revolutionary product is now open, but space is limited to just 100 priority spots.

Deus Robotics, an innovator in warehouse robotic automation, has successfully closed a $3 million seed funding round led by U.Ventures, with participation from 1991 Ventures, SID Venture Partners, Sigma Software Labs, and SD Capital and is now valued at $20 million.

Almost half of UK adults (47%) are thinking about starting a business or side hustle in 2025, a 12% increase on this time last year.

Alibaba International has announced that its AI-powered business-to-business (B2B) search engine for product sourcing, Accio, has reached a significant milestone since its launch in November 2024, currently boasting over 500,000 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) users.

As the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Shoorah, Ferne McCann is a familiar face on UK television, known for appearances on popular shows like ITV’s I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, and BBC’s Celebrity Best Home Cook. However, life in the spotlight is not without its challenges.

The VTT LaunchPad is a business incubator established by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

The days where people had a “job for life” are those of the past as people are changing jobs now more frequently than ever. PWC reported that a quarter of UK workers are expected to change jobs in the next 12 months which is often due to career changes and seeking out new challenges. With 468,000 new businesses started in the UK in 2024, January is a popular time for these new year’s business ventures.

In my experience, there is one habit in a co-founder partnership that consistently sets them up for conflict. This New Year I invite you to commit to the resolution that avoids that.

Every day, recyclable materials that could be recycled are thrown into general waste bins, destined for landfills or incineration. In the UK alone, over half of households admit to doing this. And even when items do make it into recycling bins, 80% of them are “wishcycled” – put there with hope, rather than certainty, about whether they belong.

As technology continues to evolve, the potential for digital health will only grow. Moving into 2025, the healthtech sector is poised for transformative growth, driven by breakthroughs in AI, advanced data insights, and a shift toward predictive, personalised care.

As a CEO and Managing Partner of a boutique recruitment agency specialising in scaling startups, I believe diversity is not just a moral imperative – it’s a competitive edge. Many startup founders hesitate to embrace diversity due to concerns about cultural integration, communication barriers, or team dynamics. Yet these challenges are solvable, and the rewards of building a diverse team far outweigh the risks. In this article, I’ll share why hiring diverse teams is essential for growth, innovation, and long-term success.

From developments in AI tech to global economic uncertainty, business environments are rapidly changing. For business students, it’s no wonder why they may be facing uncertainty about their futures in the business world. That’s why it is so important to foster innovation and resilience in these students, who will need to continue to adapt to further technological disruption and workplace changes.

Astroscale, the UK subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings, D-Orbit, and ClearSpace have jointly secured £690,000 from the UK government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) for a Regulatory Sandbox project to test innovative Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) missions, help the regulators understand these emerging technologies and their implications, and ultimately inform and enable regulation for such novel space activities which are set to boost UK economic growth.