Canva, the world’s all-in-one visual communication platform, has unveiled a suite of new products and features set to transform how people design at work and beyond. This announcement coincides with Canva reaching the major milestone of 200 million monthly active users, an increase of more than 115 million over the last two years, as the company also hits $2.5 billion in annualised revenue.

NVIDIA has expanded its collaboration with Microsoft to support AI startups worldwide, initially targeting the healthcare and life sciences sectors.

AudioStack is an end-to-end enterprise solution for AI audio production. Its proprietary technology connects AI-powered media creation forms such as AI script generation, text-to-speech, speech-to-speech, generative music, and dynamic versioning. This allows enterprises to build complex audio production workflows faster than real-time. AudioStack unlocks cost and time efficient audio that is addressable at scale, without compromising on quality.

Dryad Networks, a startup working in ultra-early wildfire detection technology, has announced a major financial boost to advance its wildfire prevention solutions. The company has been awarded a €3.8 million grant from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), via Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB), to accelerate the development of its revolutionary wildfire suppression project, codenamed “Florian.”

Estonian startup GDPR Register has created an AI-powered solution designed to assist businesses and public institutions across Europe in meeting their data protection requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By leveraging AI, the platform streamlines compliance, offering a unique approach to managing GDPR obligations.

adCAPTCHA, a newly launched security verification platform, has secured £1 million in funding to combat the growing challenge of automated bots and cyber fraud.

Evntful is a female-led dating app aimed at levelling the playing field for women in the male-dominated dating industry. With a 70/30 male-to-female ratio on platforms like Tinder, Evntful seeks to address the frustrations and safety concerns that plague modern dating, particularly for women.

Zip, the AI-driven procurement orchestration platform, has secured $190 million in Series D funding, with BOND leading the round. This substantial investment ranks among the largest in the enterprise SaaS space this year, boosting Zip's valuation to $2.2 billion, up from $1.5 billion in 2023. New investors DST Global, Adams Street, and Alkeon joined the round, alongside returning backers Y Combinator and CRV.

Authologic, a global digital identity verification platform, has raised $8.2 million in its Series A funding round, led by European VC firm OpenOcean. YCombinator, Peak Capital, and SMOK VC also contributed, backing Authologic's mission to modernise KYC and AML processes with secure e-ID solutions. Traditional KYC systems that rely on document images are becoming outdated, as AI-generated fake documents make these methods increasingly vulnerable to fraud, identity theft, and compliance issues. Authologic’s platform offers a more secure approach, addressing the flaws in legacy verification systems.

Drax Group has partnered with Smart Green Shipping to advance the use of wind-assisted technology in decarbonising the shipping sector. The project centres on Smart Green Shipping's 'FastRig' wingsail, which aims to cut fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30% annually.

Student Minds, the UK charity dedicated to student mental health, has unveiled a new partnership with Mind Data, a digital platform providing real-time mental health insights.

Munich energy startup, PIONIERKRAFT, has secured a significant investment in its Series A funding round, amounting to a high seven-figure sum. The round was led by First Imagine!, a European venture capital firm committed to sustainable innovation.

“The model of the lone entrepreneur – the poor boy with a brilliant business idea who rises single-handedly from poverty; the isolated scholar scribbling brilliant ideas in a garret or country village – is largely mythological.” That was what John Kay and Sir Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, wrote in their book Radical Uncertainty.

Anna Brailsford, CEO and Co-Founder of Code First Girls, is dedicated to educating and building a community of female coders to bridge the gender divide in the tech industry and connecting them with economic opportunities.  

All good marketing campaigns should create an impact, however, creating a campaign that will be talked about long after the billboard is taken down, or the content stops being shown on our feeds is no easy feat.