Running a business is a time-consuming endeavour but it brings great opportunities for you. From building a business for sale or having a business that can fund your desired lifestyle.

I used to honestly believe I’d missed the lesson in which someone explained the jargon on a payslip. After all, we wouldn’t drive for the first time without someone explaining how to turn the car on.

Starting a business is a challenging undertaking but even more so in today's economic climate. However, with adversity comes innovation. For founders and entrepreneurs, engaging with technology that is disrupting the rigidity of the finance sector can be the path to success.

UK-based HR startup, Zelt has announced it has raised $3.5M in seed funding in a round co-led by Episode 1 Ventures and Village Global, with participation from a number of high-profile angels including Charlie Songhurst, Mandeep Singh, Felix Leuschner and Daniel Hegarty.

KaarTech, a global digital transformation consulting company specialising in SAP and S/4 HANA implementation, has raised $30 million from A91 Partners, an investment firm headquartered in Mumbai. Gautam Mago and Kaushik Anand from A91 Partners will join the Board of KaarTech.

Hello Neighbour, a UK full-service property lettings and management company powered by technology, has announced the completion of a £2.5 million Series A round, with a majority stake from Surebind. Backed by private and institutional investors, the latest raise brings total funding amounts to £4.8 million.

Thunes, the global B2B payment infrastructure platform, has announced the addition of three prominent investors – Visa, EDBI, and Endeavor Catalyst – to its Series C funding round, supporting its mission to address the inefficiencies of moving money internationally and create a next-generation payment system that is secure, instant and transparent.

Raising capital during an economic downturn can be a challenging endeavour, as the fear of dilution and the need for financial stability become paramount. Attempting to raise during a downturn presents various hurdles including longer timelines, risk-averse investors, and downward shifts in the company valuation.

I will not be the first to tell you how things are for startups. The rising interest and inflation rates and the turbulent geopolitical situation are pressing, and the business environment cannot help but feel it already.

Debt funding can be a crucial form of growth financing for start-ups and scale-ups, many founders do not consider it as an option when raising capital. Yet with the right product – and often when combined with equity investment – debt funding can help supercharge a promising company’s growth opportunities, taking them from startup to a market leader.

GET Protocol, the NFT ticketing innovator, has raised $4.5 million in a seed round to ensure continuity and is poised to significantly disrupt the ticketing industry.

The Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) has opened applications for the 2024 cohort of its award-winning TechX Accelerator programme. Clean energy startups from around the world can now apply for a place on the programme and a share of the £1.2 million grant funding available (up to £100,000 for each startup).

Outverse, the community platform for modern SaaS companies, has announced that it has raised $6 million in a seed round led by Wing VC. Also participating in the round are Notion Capital, Seedcamp, Connect Ventures, and Tiny VC.

Tracxn, a global SaaS-based market intelligence platform, has released its UK Tech Semi-Annual Funding Report - H1 2023. The report, based on Tracxn’s extensive database, provides insights into the UK Tech space.

J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking’s Innovation Economy team has hired almost 20 new client-facing teammates in EMEA to further its efforts to support companies in this sector in the UK, Ireland and DACH region.

The UK Government has announced that it has secured an agreement from nine UK pension funds to invest at least 5% of their funds into the nation’s fast-growing startups and venture capital funds by 2030.

UK Fintech funding has dipped in the first half of 2023, as total cash raised by UK fintech firms reached $2.9 billion in the first six months, showing a 37% decrease compared to the latter half of last year, according to new figures from industry body Innovate Finance.

Swiss FinTech startup Numarics has raised a €10.2M seed round for its automated accounting and administration solution tailored to SMEs.

uMed, the health and research technology company, has raised £9.8 million in its latest venture capital funding round.

In Part Two of this series, Victor Basta, CEO, DAI Magister continues his masterclass on preparing for a successful funding round during an economic downturn and what companies can learn from trends in the African ecosystem.