Monolith AI, an Artificial Intelligence Engineering (AIE) software, has announced £8.5m in Series A funding, taking its total capital raised to £10.6m. The round was led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners, with existing investors Pentech and Touchstone supporting the round. Also joining the round is the founder of Formula E and Extreme E, Alejandro Agag, Apex Black and the Stanford Angels of the UK.

It’s true what they say, timing is everything. For some businesses, the pandemic will go down in history as one of the biggest challenges to their supply chain management, human resources, and overall bottom line. But many of the businesses that started up during or post-pandemic will note the last 18 months as the foundation of their success.

Techstars, the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed, announces the launch of two new accelerator programs in Paris and Stockholm. The launch showcases Techstars’ commitment to investing in startup talent in Europe, where it plans to invest in more than 100 startups in 2022 through its various accelerator programs in seven countries. Both programs will be fully funded by Techstars, following the recent July close of a new $150m fund, intended to support more local entrepreneurs looking for global exposure.   

London is the leading destination to grow a technology business outside of Silicon Valley, according to a comprehensive ranking of international startup hubs compiled by Startup Genome for its annual Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021.

Grapevine has won the Business Travel Innovation Faceoff at this year’s Business Travel Show Europe. The hybrid event took place at ExCeL London and online on 30th September and 1st October. It returns as a fully in person event at ExCeL for 2022, running 28-29 June alongside TravelTech Show and The Meetings Show.

Talent Works, the collaborative talent acquisition company, is working with Individual Placement & Support (IPS) specialist IPS Grow to hire 1,500 employment specialists by 2024.

30 early-stage businesses have been selected to take part in the second intake of a startup support programme, establishing the next generation of Manchester’s trailblazing tech firms.

Are you a startup business that’s been initiated since January 2020? IET London: Savoy Place has launched a competition to find one deserving technology or engineering-focused startup business to support throughout 2022.

While the pandemic threatened the survival of small businesses, an unprecedented surge in support from the public has boosted independents, helping to turn fortunes around.

The Positive Beauty Growth Platform has been launched by Unilever. It's an initiative which aims to partner with scaleups and startups to drive innovation and brand growth. 

GIANT Health has officially launched the Digital Therapeutics conference track, co-curated by Research2Guidance, a leading global management consultancy specialising in the digital health market, as part of the GIANT Health Event 2021 held from November 30th until December 1st 2021.

The leading accelerator program for FemTech startups will provide rising stars with the tools and mentorship to help revolutionise the under-prioritised and under-funded women’s health sector.

Martin Hayman, Co-Founder of Twylu, an internal linking tool, commented: “It’s no secret that content is still king when it comes to optimising websites and pages for search engines. Every content marketer knows this all too well and that high-quality content is essential to drive visitors in today’s online world. However, relying on content alone is not enough. Using internal links is also necessary to support your SEO to drive traffic to your pages.

Two housing-related startups are the first companies to be invested in, and supported by, the Venture Studio from Crisis, the national homelessness charity.

Fiverr has announced the launch of Seller Plus, a subscription based loyalty program for freelancers. For $29 a month, freelancers who subscribe to the program can access a suite of benefits that include a dedicated success manager, faster payment clearance, growth program priority, priority support, advanced analytics and customer engagement tools, as well as exclusive events and educational content.

The Imperial College Innovation Fund (ICIF) announced it had led a £1m seed investment round for UK energy storage startup, Cheesecake Energy Ltd (CEL). The round, which includes Perivoli Innovations, and prominent business angels, will fund the development of CEL’s’s manufacturing capabilities and its lead eTanker storage system.

European health startup, Sanome, has raised £2m in its first round of funding from leading UK and European HealthTech specialist investors.

Businesses must take care to keep up with changes in the market as the pandemic has prevented 31% of businesses from innovating, according to research released by Ayming Group, the business performance consultancy specialising in innovation.

LinkedIn has announced their annual 2021 Top UK Startups, a list of the best emerging startups to work for. Using a four pillar methodology, they have measured and ranked employment growth, engagement, job interest and talent attraction. The top companies are fast-growing and have successfully embraced flexible working, thus pioneering a new vision for the future of work in the UK.

A new report from hackajob reveals that while the COVID-19 pandemic has changed tech workers expectations on remote working, it has set them up for a clash with employers.