Confidence levels among UK tech startups have dropped significantly over the past three months as the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic takes hold, Studio Graphene’s latest Tech Tracker survey reveals, as Studio Graphene has published the results of its Q1 2020 Tech Tracker survey.

Codota, an AI software for developers, acquired its competitor TabNine last year. The company has also announced the global launch of its complete version for JavaScript, merging Codota's semantic technology with TabNine’s textual one for suitable accuracy for developers.

Job roles within tech increased by 40% in the first third of the year thanks to a surge in-demand within the ‘hybrid-tech sector’ – namely fintech, edtech, healthtech, and agritech – according to global recruiter Robert Walters.

Youth Business International (YBI) has been awarded a $5m grant by Google.org to support over 200,000 underserved micro, small and medium businesses in 32 countries to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. The global economy is suffering from an unprecedented shock as a result of COVID-19. With typically tight margins, micro, small and medium businesses are particularly vulnerable to economic downturn.

Tide, the UK’s leading business banking platform, has launched a new Invoice Protection product in partnership with insurance solutions provider, Hokodo, to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses protect their cash flow against the late and non-payment of invoices.

OVHcloud is extending its virtual private server (VPS) range, designed specifically for DevOps teams and small businesses. This wider and more scalable range is better suited to the requirements of businesses.

Aging is a slow process, and often a very painful one. The truth is the older we get the more assistance we need. Most of the time, the system we live in does not provide the right support for seniors. As the market continues to cater more to the younger, more digital-savvy consumer, there is a hole being created by the large retailers.

Curve, the banking platform that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and app, now allows customers to move past payments onto a different card for up to 90 days after the payment has been made. 

BigChange, the mobile workforce management technology company, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise, one of the highest official honours for companies in the UK.

The Francis Crick Institute today announces that it is deploying a cloud-native simulation engine developed by UK start-up, Hadean Supercomputing, to simulate how COVID-19 spreads both in the body and through the wider population. The Francis Crick Institute and Hadean are working together to accurately forecast how the virus spreads in order to help governments, public health authorities and businesses make fast, informed, and in many cases, life-saving decisions. 

Ingenious has announced that its Infrastructure Ventures EIS Service has led a $4m A-series investment round in Shoreline. The Norway-based startup has built an intelligent field operations and project development platform to help develop profitable wind projects by constructing and operating them efficiently using intelligent schedule optimisation and simulation.

As part of a wider initiative to support businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, a global affiliate network is offering members of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) 30-minute consultations on the benefits of affiliate marketing.

Nottingham University Business School announces May event to help business leaders survive and thrive in the ‘new normal’. Chief Executives, HR, Learning and Development and Talent Management professionals are being brought together by Nottingham University Business School to plot their way forward from the Covid-19 pandemic which is threatening irreversible damage to the UK economy.

The Chancellor’s £1 billion package for startup businesses is another brilliant move to support the UK’s business infrastructure during the COVID-19 crisis, but it will need backing from private investors if it is going to work, say leading tax and advisory form Blick Rothenberg.

We Are F, the social media and creative boutique for female-founded brands, has connected a team of NHS GPs with the PPE they urgently require - following a campaign to raise funds for the NHS.

Autonomous machine vision pioneer, Inspekto, is one step closer to having a strong presence on US soil upon striking up a partnership with the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator.

Applied Blockchain has completed a £2m funding round lead by Hong Kong based venture capital firm, QBN Capital. The newly-injected funds will be invested in developing a platform using privacy enhancing technologies to help companies to collaborate and generate meaningful outcomes together, without having to share any of their data.

Seven Italian startups selected to participate in Israel's first accelerator program for Italian startups could not have imagined in early January that the coronavirus pandemic would spread so rapidly and inflict such deadly damage to their country and around the world during their stay in Eilat.

UK businesses are still missing out on thousands of pounds of unclaimed tax credits, according to new figures from Leyton, the UK’s leading innovation funding consultancy. Leyton’s clients – 85% of which are SMEs – claimed an average of £78,000 in R&D tax credits last year.

UK-founded marketing technology company ContentCal has secured a £2.5 million investment from early and growth stage investor Fuel Ventures with participation from existing shareholders. The new funding will be focussed on driving customer growth, product innovation and doubling the size of the team.