Faced with obstacles like gender discrimination, financial security, geographical bias, or availability of funding, entrepreneurs are demanding stronger community support. As a response, a new global movement of ecosystem builders is raising €2.7mn within two years to implement innovation projects that will democratise entrepreneurship and empower founders.

In this article, Startups Magazine speaks to Hugh Gibbs, Co-founder of SearchLand, to find out more about how the all-in-one SaaS data platform is helping businesses streamline their workflow and maximise their portfolios.

In this article, Startups Magazine speaks to Christian Wiens, CEO and Co-founder of Getsafe, to learn more about how the startup is changing the insurance industry.

Freelancing has been a popular source of income for people who like to be their own 'boss' for a long time now. However, when the pandemic came along at the end of 2019, this popularity touched new heights, mainly because full-time workers weren’t able to get to their offices.

Creative workspace and accelerator, Huckletree has announced the launch of its Futures Hub, a redesign of their flagship space in its White City workspace - including three new focused ecosystems for innovative businesses to make their home - Future Living, FoodTech and Creative Labs.

Tanso Technologies, a Munich-based sustainability tech startup has announced the closing of its $1.9m pre-seed financing round. The round was led by UVC Partners, a B2B technology investor with a strong focus on enterprise software, with participation of early-stage investors Picus Capital, Possible Ventures (formerly Inventures), and business angels.

At a time when many people around the UK are making career changes and starting new enterprises, aspiring business owners will be looking for the right business loan to get their companies off the ground. Choosing the right loan partner is an important decision, and it’s crucial that people know what to look for before they commit. The important thing to remember is, it’s about much more than just the money.

WeWork has launched Growth Campus Europe, an initiative targeted to boost economic recovery across nine European countries; Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Czech Republic.

Investment firm, Spex Capital and London’s life sciences cluster organisation, MedCity open today their first joint call as part of their exclusive partnership to identify and fund the next generation of digital health and medtech innovators.

As a generation of digital natives, Tim Berners-Lee’s creation has become an intrinsic part of our lives today and as such, we tend to take most changes to the internet in our stride. That said, the internet as we know it is evolving at a rapid pace from its earlier inception, Web 2.0, with the latest developments making way for a whole new browsing experience.

Microsoft Deputy CTO brings decades of climate science, technology, and business acumen to the Climate Intelligence innovator.

Leaps by Bayer, the impact investment arm of Bayer AG, announced that it has co-led a $15m Series A investment round in agriculture and biotechnology innovator, Andes, with Cavallo Ventures. Other new investors Builders VC, Germin8, Accelr8 and Wilson Sonsini participated, alongside existing investors KdT Ventures and Endurance.

British mental health startup, MYNDUP has raised £300,000 in an oversubscribed third round of seed funding. Founded in February 2020, the company has now received £500,000 in investment and grants since December last year, with investors recognising MYNDUP’s innovative offering and potential for further growth.

Akribian, a Swedish startup, is spearheading the way in which children learn maths through short adventure game-based learning that helps children retain information and encourages long term academic success. Its first product 'Count on me!' is a maths app based on a new concept of Game-Embedded Teaching (GET) which combines science and game design to encourage children to discover the magic of mathematics and accelerate their learning. 

Bobacino, the startup bringing a unique boba experience to a growing audience of boba enthusiasts, announced it is partnering with PopID, the facial recognition payment company, to offer consumers a faster, easier and safer way to pay.

Releaf, an agtech startup that develops proprietary hardware and software solutions that makes African farmers and food factories more efficient and profitable, has raised $2.7m seed funding in a round led by Samurai Incubate Africa, Future Africa and Consonance Investment Managers with participation from Stephen Pagliuca, Chairman of Bain Capital and Justin Kan (Twitch). Releaf also secured $1.5m in grants from The Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) and USAID.

Tech Nation has announced the 32 climate tech companies who have been accepted into Net Zero 2.0 - the second iteration of the Net Zero programme.

FedEx Express has announced the launch of the Small Business Grant Competition in Europe. The competition offers a total grant pool of nearly €250.000 to European small businesses to help them grow and achieve their ambitions. For the first time, the competition will be run as a single pan-European contest, open to small businesses based in 16 countries.

Starting a business is a huge commitment. As a brand-new startup founder, it can be difficult to prioritise your health and wellness when you’re trying to build your client base, create and submit invoices, manage team members, and ensure everything runs smoothly. It can feel like a lot of pressure on your shoulders.

Spearheading operations from home has been the norm for many business owners as of late. Initially, it might have seemed like an impossible challenge. Without your staff around you, communication is slowed down, productivity lessens and everything is altogether more difficult. Yes, we’ve all learned how to adapt our approach over the course of numerous lockdowns but that doesn’t mean it has been easy.

In this article, Startups Magazine, speaks to Adam Smith, Managing Director of Rawnet, a digital agency based in Ascot Berkshire, that defines, designs and delivers products and services that help its clients achieve their business goals to become an industry leader.

It’s not unusual to pick at the odd spot, or to yank out a hair growing in the wrong place. But have you ever felt a burning urge to keep picking at your skin until it bleeds, or felt an uncontrollable need to yank out more and more strands of your hair, eyebrows or lashes?

Nicky Story, a 30 year old from South Yorkshire, started his business from his garage just five years ago. He is now the owner of a multi-million pound business empire and the CEO of Supplies For Candles, The Soap Kitchen and Glassprints.

Has COVID made you complacent to other workplace risks? Adapting to a new way of operating has now become the norm for many small businesses. Demonstrating a fair presentation of all workplace risks could save SMEs money on insurance premiums.

For the self-employed, ‘back to the office’ isn’t quite the same as for those in ‘staff jobs’ – here’s how to manage the feelings and keep connected and connecting.

OLIO, the community sustainability app, has announced a $43m Series B round to fund its fight against the $1.3trn of food waste created globally each year.

Following what INvolve call the biggest set-back for women’s equality in a generation, and as children and workers finally return to school and workplace, Suki Sandhu OBE has called on all companies to ‘stop shelving gender equality and set the precedent’ if we are to solve the gender inequality crisis caused by the pandemic.

Digital technology companies from Greater Manchester are set to receive a free to access two-day masterclass to support with securing funding to help develop innovations and accelerate their growth in the region. 

It all started when I travelled for the first time to be a waitress in Italy. I was 18 years old, travelling for the first time without even knowing what to do or expect.

After rounds of interviews and many applicants, you’ve now found your star candidate and you’re ready to hit the ground running. Onboarding a new graduate should be handled a little bit differently to those who have years of experience. You want to make them feel comfortable and not overwhelm them on the very first day.

As control over the pandemic increases, businesses and their customers balance optimism with curiosity about just what 'normal' will look like going forward. If you’re a startup, taking critical next steps may involve reassessing your marketing strategy. After all, it is indeed a changed world. It only makes sense that your marketing plan could use some adjusting.

Research by DNV and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) reveals that despite the growing attention in the public, among legislators and companies, the shift to business models that design waste out of the system seems to progress slowly, and circular economy is rising on corporate agendas across geographies.

Diversity in entrepreneurship is boosted through the launch of Barclays Eagle Labs' 12-week virtual accelerator programme which helps early-stage tech businesses founded by one or more Black entrepreneurs.

OpenUK has announced its 2021 Kids Digital Glove Giveaway, sharing 5,000 Digital Gloves, sustainably made in the UK, and sponsored by Nominet and the Open Data Institute. With a focus on engaging children in practical open source software coding, whilst teaching the open source definition and the sustainable development goals, the course builds on OpenUK’s 2020 Summer Camp.

Environmental service company, Legasea has been named as a finalist in the Manufacturer MX Awards, in the category of Sustainable Manufacturing Company of the Year.

Digital transformation has been pushed into hyperspeed, moving from a buzzword, to being business critical virtually overnight. From financial services right through to retail and education, the sheer pace of change has created challenges for almost every sector in the hybrid world we find ourselves in.

Xero has unveiled its redesigned flexible work program, giving its growing product and tech teams the opportunity to work where they perform best, at home, in the office or a mix of both.

Algbra, a sustainable and values-focused digital finance provider dedicated to providing ethical finance solutions and promoting financial wellbeing, has attracted a wide range of high-profile backers. The Seed investment round, led by New World Group and SFC Capital earlier this year, was oversubscribed.

According to research by iwoca, almost 80 new businesses were created every hour across the UK in the first half of 2021. Analysis of Companies House data reveals that 340,534 businesses were registered in the UK between January and June 2021, an increase of 32% from 257,243 over the same time period in 2019.

A new study by card payment provider, Dojo, reveals the daily habits of some of successful female entrepreneurs, to see just how their routines contribute to their success. 

Endeavor Nigeria has unveiled the inaugural cohort of entrepreneurs for its ten-week Endeavor ScaleUp Program that aims to support Nigeria’s most promising business leaders. 

UK-based Prsnt, the instant gifting app, is going public later this month after a successful beta testing phase over the past six months during which the search term 'online gift' increased over 80% last year. The app enables users to choose a gift from hundreds of the UK’s high street brands (online or in-store) and sends it directly to another person’s smartphone.

QJumpers, a sourcing and recruitment software provider, has announced it's AI Talent Sourcing. The tool scours publicly available information and uses AI to find, rank and engage highly qualified, passive job candidates that previously could not be found through traditional sourcing and advertising methods.

BP Ventures has €10m in-car digital payments provider, ryd. The company offers a single digital payment solution for drivers, for services such as fuel purchases, EV charging and car washing, via its app or through integration with smart car systems.

AirBolt, a consumer and enterprise tracking and access company, has announced the closing of its $2m series seed fundraising round, with a majority growth investment led by 72Capital. The investment will accelerate plans to expand AirBolt’s range of connected devices and global partnerships. It will also allow AirBolt to grow more aggressively internationally, expand into new product categories, and enhance its global live tracking service to deliver more peace of mind to its growing community of users.

Cera, a UK based provider of at home healthcare services, has now delivered more than ten million in-person healthcare visits to older and vulnerable people throughout the UK, in their homes, since the outbreak of COVID-19.

World Suicide Prevention Day takes place on the 10th September 2021. Overseas employees face very specific challenges that can differ depending on their host nation. Employers must be aware of the support, or lack of it, available in different countries and ensure their provision leaves no gaps.

Making.com, an online platform that simplifies the connection between people looking for production technology and suppliers that offer it, has launched. It is a platform to group technologies around the products they help make, allowing creators of all sizes access to the ‘hidden network’ of machines, manufacturers, tooling suppliers and therefore the knowledge previously accessible only through long-established private networks.

In 2020, Siemens Smart Infrastructure and WUN H2 partnered up to build a hydrogen production plant in Germany. The plant will run on renewable energy and will be carbon-free, contributing to Germany’s pledge to become gas-neutral by 2050. However exciting the news, Siemens is an established business within automation industry, the road to carbon neutrality is often harder for small manufacturers. Here Neil Ballinger, head of EMEA at automation parts supplier EU Automation, shares some tips.

Over the past year, the coronavirus outbreak left many workers confined to their homes. While this presented several challenges, it also allowed people to enjoy their creature comforts. From regular (perhaps too regular) trips to the fridge, to watching TV or playing video games on lunch breaks. The UK workforce has certainly become accustomed to a more convivial working environment. The question for many businesses, is how does this translate into work-place expectations when so many are now flocking back to offices? Love Energy Savings wanted to find out.

With banks paying just 0.05% on business savings, SMEs have the opportunity to earn much higher returns by investing their surplus cash in the stock market, says Andrey Dobrynin, Managing Director at InvestEngine.

Guy Rigby, Founder and now Chair of the Entrepreneurial Services Group at Smith & Williamson, and his fellow crew member, entrepreneur, investor and sports enthusiast, David Murray – will row across the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in 'The Entrepreneur Ship'. Rigby and Murray will begin their row from the Canaries to Antigua on 12th December 2021, hoping to arrive in February 2022. The completed challenge will see them recognised as the oldest pair in the world to row any ocean.

COVID-19 has shown the power of clinical trials. It took less than 300 days for one vaccine to go from being an idea in a lab to be ready for administering to the general public. The question now is how we can accelerate clinical trials for other diseases, at a time when the healthcare industry is stretched and doesn’t have the capacity to run patient research at the speed or scale that’s needed.

Here, we caught up with Dr Matt Wilson, Founder and CEO of research automation platform, uMed, who is on a mission to help more healthcare providers and their patients take part in clinical studies.

Managing your finances is the most important task to understand as a new business owner, but if you’ve never needed to keep accounts before it can seem like a daunting task. However, by following a few simple steps, you can ensure your accounts are precise and your finances are aligned with your operational goals.

The office is still a vital component of the world of work in 2021, especially for small and medium sized businesses which are leading the way in the return to the workplace. Latest figures from property agent Cushman & Wakefield shows that office lettings are at the highest level since lockdown started, and our own occupancy rates at WorkPad concur with this.

Your startup has entered the market, and you are wondering what to focus on first. When starting any business you must go through certain stages, so startups focus first on product development, then on building a customer base and establishing a positive cash flow.

The way in which consumers are searching for products online has changed. In recent times, there has been a significant increase in question-based searches from consumers looking for quick solutions to their needs, overtaking direct searches for brand names. It’s clear the consumer environment is evolving, so what can be done to ensure existing and emerging businesses can keep up?

It’s a myth that investors expect founders to not pay themselves a salary. Anthony Rose, CEO and Co-founder of SeedLegals, explains why.

Today’s smart cities are transforming the way we live, work and play. But far from being just a 21st-century gimmick, there are significant, even life-changing, advantages to the implementation of smart technology in cities around the world. 

What a year for venture investing. Crunchbase recently released figures that show venture funding soared to a total of $288bn for the first half of 2021. This represents an all-time record high and four times the level of VC spending four years ago! With all this money raised, it seems natural that venture funding would be the first port of call for startup founders. However, that view is based on several myths. Sometimes venture capital is simply not the right fit for many businesses. And I say that as a venture investor myself.

As a small business owner, PR should be considered as a crucial part of your business strategy. Despite our obsession with social media and the glut of information that we consume daily, nothing can take away from the feeling of certitude that traditional press channels provide us. Be it in the form of news, business features or a founder profile piece, if it has the press’s seal of approval, it positively influences the way audiences respond to that piece of news.

Startup OLÉ, a technological event for entrepreneurs, returns with 400 international speakers from 36 different nationalities. The way this edition will be available will be mixed, with the 6th and 7th of September being presented in digital format and the 8th to the 10th in person in Salamanca, Spain. To facilitate access to all the content, Startup OLÉ'21 will be streamed in its entirety, completely free of charge and on their YouTube channel.

Unleash live, an AI video analytics platform, have announced an $8m Series A funding round led by SafetyCulture. Unleash live’s AI powered real time analytics platform, ‘Intelligent Remote Vision’, generates immediate insights that enable enterprises to materially drive down costs, raise productivity, increase accuracy, and improve safety. The company has seen over 500% growth since March 2020.

In this article, we speak to Natalia-Pawlak, COO of My Wardrobe HQ and Co-founder of My Ventures.

According to the NHS, a carer is anyone who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support. The care they provide is unpaid. Staggeringly, 13.6 million people in the UK have unpaid caring responsibilities, most of whom also work.

The economic landscape of the past eighteen months has been interesting to observe, to say the least. While many organisations have been able to carve out a new niche under pandemic conditions; indeed, some have even flourished, a vast swathe of enterprises have been unable to translate their operations to a radically altered business landscape, and have fallen by the wayside.

38% of respondents have been approached over five times for a new job in the last year. That’s according to research from Talent Works, which surveyed software and government professionals to determine their opinions on different working policies and how often they are approached for new job roles. The survey also found that five percent have been approached more than ten times in the past year.

Botify has announced that they have closed $55m in Series C funding led y InfraVia Growth, with participation from Bpifrance through its Large Venture fund, as well as existing investors Eurazeo and Ventech. Nicolas Herschtel from InfraVia and Antoine Izsak from Bpifrance Large Venture will join Botify’s Board of Directors.

Businesses today are expected to take sustainability seriously. This is certainly an ethical responsibility at a time in which society is running headlong into the irreversible effects of climate change. It is also demanded by consumers across generations.

iwoca have launched its cash advance product on Funding Xchange for small business online sellers. iwoca will be using Open Banking to offer automated revenue-based repayments to e-commerce businesses with a business bank account on the marketplace.

Office workers feel less confident in their potential for progression at work than freelancers, according to new data from freelance platform, Fiverr. The COVID-19 pandemic has not been easy for workers, from furlough to job losses, the UK workforce has taken more than just a financial hit.

Sayata has raised $17m in series A funding that will drive expansion into several new insurance lines. Team8 Capital and Vertex Ventures led the round, who joined original investors Elron, Kamet, and OurCrowd.

One of the UK’s most well regarded businesswomen, Angela De Souza and BBC presenter, Janey Lee Grace, will be coming together to celebrate the success of business women across the globe.

AgTech startup Fieldin has completed a $30m Series B funding round, led by Fortissimo Capital, with the participation of Zeev Ventures, Icon Ventures, Luxembourg-based Maor Investments, and Akkadian ventures.

Since Google rolled out its core web vitals update in June 2021, there have been visible ranking changes for many websites. Numerous reputable websites that had previously had top rankings for their targeted keywords saw a decrease in ranking, on the other hand, smaller websites experienced an increase in how Google ranked them in June and July 2021.

As a provider of data cleaning services to businesses large and small, REaD Group is always keen to find out what the needs of our clients are. As such we conducted a survey into SMEs to look at what they knew about GDPR, how they hold and manage their customer data and what they do to keep it clean and up to date.

Fed up with restrictions, isolation, cancelled holidays, not being able to make plans - everyone has suffered through the pandemic, quite aside from those who have been hit by the virus itself.

When running a new brand, your time is extremely limited. You need to make inroads in a market that’s already dominated by big brands, and your resources are far more stretched compared to the existing competition.

SurePay, inventor and provider of Confirmation of Payee (CoP), has raised a €12.2m round led by Connected Capital with Iris Capital, joining Rabo Frontier Ventures to boost the company’s international expansion.

A study shows that 90% of ecommerce stores shut down within 120 days of their launch. While running an estore is a lucrative business, you cannot underestimate the risks associated with it.

As many companies across the UK finally start returning to office life with cautious optimism, workplace inclusivity should remain one of the most important goals for any organisation.

Inspirational entrepreneurs from across the UK are officially kicking off this year’s Small Business Saturday UK, as the campaign gets underway with its 100 day countdown. Aiming to support, celebrate and send out a ‘big thank you’ to small businesses for the important role they play within communities, particularly throughout the pandemic, the 2021 SmallBiz100 is showcasing a diverse range of independent businesses from across the country. 

Play Well For Life (PWFL) are a for-purpose games studio that has developed an approach to the traditional board game. Merging the latest immersive technologies with the power of game-based learning, they offer a fun and engaging table-top game that stimulates social interactions and promotes mental wellbeing. The company is launching a crowdfunding campaign on September 28th to finance the next phase of development.

Tech Nation have revealed new data on the Tech Nation Global Talent Visa, providing insights into the global talent pool working in the UK’s digital technology sector.

With the return of live music and fans now able to see their favourite artists once again, we caught up with Pascal de Mul, CEO of Exit Live - a tool for artists to monetise live show recordings. A global platform, Exit Live can be utilised by artists to sell current and historic live performances. Its fair and transparent revenue share model allows talent to fully maximise the commercial value of their music. Pascal explains to us how Exit Live works, what it’s all about and what lies ahead.

The last 18 months have been tough for everyone. We have witnessed limitations on all aspects of our everyday lives and experienced things that we never imagined could be possible. But for entrepreneurs, the unprecedented challenges that unfolded following the start of the pandemic have resulted in the unfortunate failure of many businesses and irreversible damage to industries worldwide.

There’s a quotation by Lao Tzu: "A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step." That’s pretty much how the Property Insights story started. Now CEO, Nitin Aggarwal started his own property career and became increasingly frustrated at the hours spent on the internet trying to get the information he needed. And, despite the time he’d invested, he still only had some surface level information.

You’ve got the idea, the business plan, the tech and - some of - the funding. You’re working on your product, iterating features, fine tuning the customer service, revolutionising a sector’s status quo. And you’re moving fast, because of your ecosystem’s need for speed. For most tech startups, those are the pillars they build a business on. But what’s the value of these if no one is paying attention? And if what your offer is so complex and new that people don’t understand it?

At last, Freedom Day is here. We’ve long waited for government restrictions to ease, yet what this will look like within an office environment is still all very new. Companies everywhere are having to make new decisions that will impact the daily lives of their employees.

Sure Valley Ventures, the venture capital firm that invests in deep technology and software startups, is pleased to announce that it has invested in a €3m funding round completed by Ambisense, the IoT and AI enabled environmental risk assessment business. BGF has led the round and, together with Sure Valley Ventures, existing investors Atlantic Bridge and Enterprise Ireland have participated.

A new series shines a spotlight on 25 of the UK’s most innovative entrepreneurs and their ground-breaking businesses that are revolutionising the way we live. An entrepreneur who invented 3D printed personalised gummy vitamins tailored to people’s nutritional needs, lifestyles and goals is just one of the highlights of a new documentary featuring weird and wonderful ideas that will change the world.

WeWork has announced that WeWork On Demand, the company’s pay-as-you-go offering to access workspace and meeting rooms, is now available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, and Australia. 

Instagram have announced the launch of its first Small Business Mentorship programme in the UK, in partnership with Small Business Britain. Aimed at supporting the country’s entrepreneurs and small businesses after an unprecedented 18 months, the mentorship programme will celebrate their creativity and resilience, as many have turned to Instagram to survive and thrive.  

Environmental policies and working towards sustainable practices has been a hot topic among businesses across sectors and, crucially, across scales. While larger established enterprises are naturally responsible for a larger share of the productive overhauls required to attain Britain’s environmental targets, startups and SMEs are also increasingly outlining their commitment to sustainability.

As a business owner, burnout can seem a distant reality or something out of a fairy tale. I have once thought: "How can my life, which I have chosen and is filled with me living and breathing my passion, ever cause me anything but harm?"

Lenders could see the time they spend processing the average loan reduce by more than 85% with the adoption of open banking technology, according to research from Yolt Technology Services (YTS), an open banking provider in Europe.

Research platform, Atheneum have announced they have secured a £110m growth capital funding round led by Guidepost Growth Equity. Existing investors also participated in the round including Crosslantic Capital Management, Michael Brehm, Vogel Communications Group, and the founding management team of Atheneum.

The pandemic has provided a clear illustration that the link between money and our mental health is just as strong as we think. 

Have you got a game-changing idea that could change the way people work and live? Would you like to launch a website or app that would help a greater number of people access your services? You are aware of the possibilities of developing a digital product, but how do you get started?

Cloud hosting provider Krystal has set out a blueprint for the future of businesses and the planet, as they announce their millionth tree has been planted way ahead of its 2022 goal. 

LawtechUK has published a feasibility study and proof of concept for a new technological approach to the late payment challenges facing British business. This would work as an ‘SME online dispute resolution’ platform, produced in partnership with a consortium of legal, technology and alternative dispute resolution experts from the University of Oxford, Oxford Computing Consultants, Resolve Disputes Online and Jur.

UTP have launched a new eBook for SMEs, offering advice about how to future-proof their businesses.

OurCrowd has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Azerbaijan Investment Company (AIC), represented by the Chairman of its Supervisory Board, Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan, Mikayil Jabbarov, to promote strategic cooperation in the field of investment by the Government of Azerbaijan in OurCrowd’s portfolio.

A new survey has revealed that 85% of SMEs in the UK are familiar with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but more than half are still not cleaning their data and therefore not adhering to the GDPR’s legal requirements. 

In celebration of Startups Magazine's 'Women in Tech' issue, Startups Magazine and Inspiration Space have joined forces to host Entrepreneurship Decoded, a live event that brings together ambitious female founders for an honest conversation about what it really takes to start and grow a brand in 2021 and beyond.

Startups Magazine will once again be exhibiting at The Business Show at London’s ExCeL from 24th-25th November.

Remote work has transformed all aspects of our professional lives, and this includes interviewing and recruitment. Video conferencing has enabled businesses and applicants to carry out an interview process in a fairly similar way to in-person interviews, but there is much that businesses need to consider and look out for when recruiting and interviewing for remote positions - the typical interview questions no longer cut it.

Startups looking to enter franchise agreements should pay careful attention to the contracts they enter into, a leading law firm has said. Harper James Solicitors said many franchisors are often willing to include a force majeure clause, which changes the franchisee’s obligations in the event of extraordinary circumstances - like the ones that devastated many businesses in the last 18 months.

Only seven percent of UK business owners have created a truly scalable business model, according to new research from Worcestershire based business support provider, BizSmart.

Tramshed Tech, a startup ecosystem and a fast growing business incubator in Wales is launching a startup academy supported by Google for startups. Workshops will take place every Thursday, beginning 30th September 2021.

iov42, an emerging British startup, which builds blockchain-inspired identification tools, has been chosen over corporate giants including EY, Vodafone and Deloitte to secure a spot as one of only seven tenderers selected to design and develop the next-gen of the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI). The flagship project from the European Commission hopes to leverage blockchain technology to improve standards of cross-border services for public administrations across the EU.

As society reopens and businesses adapt to post-pandemic life, now is the ideal time for growing businesses to consider not only how their audiences may have changed but also the best ways to engage with them. Some of the most exciting changes have occurred in the way events are delivered, and we believe there are four key steps that businesses should take to establish and host impactful post-pandemic event programmes. By following these steps, your events will deliver and exceed their objectives, and help achieve wider business objectives too.

Aerospace Xelerated has announced its call for applications is open. Formerly the ATI Boeing Accelerator, the programme is being led by industry partner Boeing for its third year, with further industry partners to be announced. The programme will be investing into startups building autonomous and AI solutions that advance the way aircraft are built, from the factory floor all the way to the passenger journey.

The largest business festival in the Baltics, sTARTUp Day, will take place on 25th–27th August, creating a startup-minded buzz in the Estonian National Museum and around Tartu. It is also possible to participate in the event online, and a total of 3,000 participants are expected. To celebrate the fifth anniversary year, more than 150 speakers will be performing, the activities will take place on four stages, there are almost 50 seminars, and more than 30 side events to take part in.

When restrictions on travel and working together took hold on the world, it forced events and campaigns (which are essential to marketing) to frantically be reshuffled and moved online where possible. Sales strategies and marketing plans had to be reorganised to adapt to the new normal of the marketing world.

On 11th March, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) to provide much-needed economic relief to the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Much of the bill focuses on the revitalisation of businesses as a whole, as the health crisis had many negative impacts on the economy and typical operations.

Much of my work is focused around helping women to achieve their highest vision for themselves both personally and professionally. So many women, including those conceiving, founding and running their own businesses, have a strong sense of ambition and a vision but when it comes to actioning change or ‘up levelling’ they become overwhelmed and frozen in knowing where to start.

In fast-growing companies, Internal Communication (IC) can often be left on the sideline. Reasons for this could include: limited resources, no one taking charge of it, or simply that it’s not perceived as being as urgent as more strategic tasks. 

Wide-scale disruption has been the one constant of the last 18 months, no more so than in UK businesses and industry. But if we are to 'build back better', then there needs to be a flexible funding infrastructure in place to support pandemic recovery.

This Saturday (21st August) is World Entrepreneurs’ Day – a time for us to celebrate entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership across the globe. It’s also an opportunity to put youth entrepreneurship centre stage.

Author: Sam Smith, CEO of finnCap

Sam Jones, the founder of Gener8 - a free-to-use web browser that lets people take back control and earn from their online data - has announced a £2.1m funding round that closed not long after appearing on Dragons’ Den.

Entrepreneurial business leaders looking for new technologies to help their SMEs to grow and thrive now have a powerful new tool at their fingertips, with the launch of the fully-funded Technology Adoption Service.  

Data privacy is a major issue and that’s only going to increase in importance globally. Companies that take a well thought out approach to market expansion will most certainly want to consider the privacy regulation of each new country they enter. This is because the risk of noncompliance can have substantial consequences. The fine for a violation of GDPR can be up to 4% of annual revenue.

As a digital marketeer, data is king and the cost of ineffective data can be detrimental not only to the success of your campaigns. Still, it could also alienate or deter your audiences. Having incomplete, ineffective, or redundant data can lead you to making bad marketing decisions, causing business-altering mistakes.

Mental health technology company, Paranimo is expanding its platform offering to the charity sector following its successful launch to the general public. Developed with the support of Bristol-based Amdaris, the move will see Paranimo empower charities to offer tailored mental health support, however, whenever and wherever users choose. 

The coronavirus pandemic has led companies to explore new options and working methods. In fact, many companies have adopted remote working on an absolutely massive scale. While senior management initially varied on this bold new way of doing things, but so far, the results have been pretty positive, to say the least. This is because a hybrid work model basically streamlines many, if not most working processes. It does this by the simple expedient of blending remote and semi-remote employees with their office-based counterparts.

Sapien kicked off its venture ambitions by leading a six-figure funding round for Manchester based sports VR company, Rezzil to support the development of its consumer platform, launching on Facebook’s Oculus Quest platform.

In today’s increasingly digital-led way of life, retailers, service providers and other businesses are digitalising more of their operations and dealing with customers across a range of channels - whether it’s via a website, mobile app, email and other messaging formats, social media, or even the old-fashioned phone call.

Finnish eco-sneaker startup, Rens, has announced its ambition to raise up to $1m via Kickstarter for the manufacture of its new Nomad performance shoe.

Following the inaugural Virtual Interiors Event in February 2021, which saw approximately 4,000 industry professionals from 83 countries gather online, a new thought leadership festival will take place 20th – 24th September named VI:Insights.

As our calendars become populated with the resurgence of corporate events post-lockdown, many event managers will want to strike the right balance between in person and online. 

Xilinx invests in semiconductor startup to drive further collaboration on Open Compute Project-compliant device security for data centres.

Monta, the electric vehicle (EV) charging app, has announced its expansion into the UK today to help meet a national shortage of charge points.

Over the last year or so, as trade shows and retail outlets have closed and footfall in the physical world declined, digital marketing has become a critical way to reach an audience for any product or service that a start-up may be launching or growing, and especially so if you are D2C and want a direct connection with your customers.

You’re finally ready to take the plunge and start your own business. You have great ideas for your startup, but you’re slightly nervous about the risks you’re about to take, and you’re wondering if the dedication and hard work that goes into self-employment are worth it.

Live Tech Games today announces that ITV has injected a £2.5 million investment into the pioneering tech startup, via the Studio 55 Ventures arm, for a minority stake. The ITV team selected Live Tech Games as part of its wider strategy to enhance ITV’s reach amongst 16-34 year olds.

 A recruitment company that's shaking up the international space industry, Britain's first carbon negative ice cream company, and a key disruptor in sustainable fashion-tech are all among the finalists in the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards 2021.

Did you know it takes less than 0.1 seconds for people to form a judgment of a face they are shown in a picture? It’s no surprise when we consider how much information people need to process in today’s society. However, this creates a problem for organisations.

A lot of people these days start to think about targeting a particular market segment, with a very narrow audience. This isn’t the worst idea in 2021, especially for those willing to launch a startup, it could potentially help your business and bring you more revenue than you expected.

The global eCommerce markets experienced a remarkable boom period over the past 18 months, presenting agile firms with an unprecedented opportunity to secure growth from a retail sector which, even in normal trading conditions, had been on an unstoppable rise for several years.

The last year has caused a huge shift in the business landscape, with technology and digital skills being more fundamental than ever for all businesses. Research shows that businesses integrating digital skillsets across the workforce could increase the UK economy by around £92bn.   

European travel startup, Framey has closed a $1M Seed funding round led by ICE Capital from Dubai, and backed by Europe based JECO Capital. The company, planning to disrupt the way people plan their trips, will use the funds to invest in its technology, scale up its operations and launch globally.

A study of 250 business owners in London and Greater South East England by Vistage, the CEO coaching and peer advisory organisation for small and medium sized businesses, has revealed that the majority of respondents remain positive in spite of ongoing challenges, with 84% claiming they are optimistic about the next 12 months.

New data from European small business lender, iwoca, revealed how embedded finance will play a vital role for small businesses as they look to recover from the pandemic.

A British AI tech startup Kortical, which helps companies use Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, has improved 10x their success rate of generating positive outcomes across their organisations vs the industry average.

An online brand protection business, SnapDragon Monitoring has raised £1.2m in its latest funding round, bringing the total raised to just over £3m, from ACF Investors, Mercia, and Scottish Enterprise, to help brand owners identify and remove fakes, copycats and online threats, using intellectual property to do so.

It’s back – the ideas incubator programme that launched the 2021 drinking water initiative of the year and delivered the UK’s reigning top Tech Innovator.

Business credit ratings have been around for a long time and are seen as being directly connected to the financial capability of a company, but despite this many companies don’t maintain an awareness of them and don’t fully understand the impact they can have on day-to-day operations and growth.

Coined by environmental campaigner Jay Westerveld 35 years ago, ‘greenwashing’ refers to activities by businesses that are designed to make them look like they are more environmentally sound than they really are.

As part of a new edition of ICT Spring (September 14th and 15th), the renowned global tech conference organised since 2010, Mastermind Summit & Competition will take place on September 15th at the European Conference Center Luxembourg. This event - dedicated to the startup ecosystem - aims to promote and spread best practices, foster emulation between entrepreneurs and VCs and offer recognition to the best international startups of the ecosystem. Mastermind is composed of a one day conference and a startup competition where three key categories will be represented: FinTech, DeepTech and NewSpace.

Business owners are feeling the pressure to adapt in an ever-changing world. The accelerated pace of change required during the global pandemic has highlighted the need for organisations to place digital transformation at the forefront of their strategies. However, putting those plans into action is another story and the difficult truth is that 70% of digital transformation projects fail.

Innovative business travel company TapTrip has teamed up with Trainline Partner Solutions (TPS), Trainline’s B2B arm and a leading distributor of global rail content, to further elevate and streamline its service to business users as rail becomes the primary source of travel for more and more domestic business customers post-Covid.

Xero has unveiled its most comprehensive improvements to bank reconciliation on the platform in a decade, to help give small business owners more time back in their day.

The latest Microsoft Inspire event proved once again to be an insightful and valuable event for all of Microsoft’s partners. It has proved to be an invaluable tool to measure the company's future and where it sees itself in a post-pandemic world.

 The largest global brands in the technology industry today announce their collective commitment to champion racial equity at Black Tech Fest '21, a live festival celebrating Black culture, showcasing innovation, and creating pathways for underrepresented talent. The three-day event will take place online and in person from 19th to 21st October during UK Black History Month. Last year, over 40,000 people streamed Black Tech Fest content across Black History Month and 3,500 attendees from over 20 countries attended the festival, the biggest celebration of its kind in Europe. See here to pre-register.

Over the last year, many of us have become very familiar with remote working. However, as we begin to return to normality, you’re probably wondering – what now? Is everything going to go back to the way it was pre-pandemic, or are we going to use this experience to change the way we work for good? It’s a decision that your leadership team needs to make together and back 100%, so how do you get them on board?

The commercialisation of your brand through licensing, can help maximise the potential of your trade marks, and is key to generating business revenue and increasing commercial value.

It’s safe to say we've all had more time on our hands during the last 16 months or so. A trio of lockdowns have given us the chance to pause and reflect on what really matters. And, while it’s been a difficult year, important conversations have been sparked leading to the beginnings of some positive change. 

In the wake of the global pandemic, many aspects of our everyday lives have changed, including how we shop - with many of us now choosing to buy primarily online.

Angell was founded more than three years ago on the premise that Europe's major capitals would be free of individual combustion vehicles by 2025. Angell's mission is to improve day-to-day life in cities by designing, creating, and distributing future mobility objects for commuting, fitness, and leisure.

The augmented reality platform which allows shoppers to virtually try clothes on their own personalised avatars via their favourite online stores.

The UK startup is simplifying the world of podcasting and making it more accessible for the storytellers of tomorrow.

The MENA region has undergone major political social and economic changes and improvements over the last 20 years, but when it comes to business, entrepreneurship rates in the MENA region are still significantly lower than other global ecosystems. The number of early stage startups is relatively low.

The impact of the global pandemic on UK M&A has been somewhat mixed. Following an extremely volatile period last year, which saw many businesses struggle to navigate the new norm and many others successfully ride out the storm, we have seen a strong rebound so far in 2021.

Quizlet was founded in 2005 by Andrew Sutherland, while a sophomore studying French at Albany High School in California. Since then, the company has grown into an interactive learning platform and app, used by over 60 million people around the world. We spoke to Rahim Hirji, UK Country Manager at leading online learning platform and app, Quizlet.

HumanForest, a sustainable e-bike sharing app, has announced a marketing partnership with digital wealth manager, Nutmeg.

During the pandemic, virtual events have given everyone a chance to socialise with loved ones during difficult times. It has also helped work events continue in a new dynamic, with many employees favouring the virtual experience over in-person events. But now, in a post Freedom Day world, there is a strong desire to return to physical events.

The commute as we knew it may be gone for good, new research conducted by e-bike subscription service DASH Rides reveals. DASH and Sapio Research surveyed over 2,000 city-dwelling, full-time workers, who used to work primarily in the office and now work primarily at home, and discovered that three quarters of those returning to the office will be actively avoiding public transport or seeking new ways to travel. 

Perci Health, the world’s first online platform that gives people access to support from multidisciplinary cancer teams, has launched today with £1.5m of seed funding. The backers are an assortment of influential oncologists and cancer surgeons from major cancer centres across the UK.

Foodsteps, a food technology startup that allows businesses to easily calculate, reduce, and label the environmental impact of their food, has formally launched in the UK today. The company is the first UK-based tech firm to provide carbon tracking and impact labelling to restaurants and caterers as well as food businesses.

Not a people person? Prefer animals to folks? Does the prospect of networking leave you cold? You’re not alone. A study by Harvard academics found that networking made some people feel dirty with an aching desire to brush their teeth!

There are several tactics and approaches which can help leverage a smooth scaleup process even in unpredictable times. Taking a business from startup to a rapid-growth-scaleup has always been challenging. There is a reason that not every startup can become a ‘unicorn’.

In response to the pandemic, the traditional schooling method was transformed. As children transitioned to home learning, technology had to step up its game to support parents and teachers in continuing their children’s education at a regular pace. 

With this year taking a slightly different format to previous programmes, the CRL 2021 cohort sponsored by Mouser Electronics was spilt into two phases. Phase one saw 20 startups take part for six weeks, work in depth with the team to learn where they are at, what they need help with, and where they want to take things. From here the startups got the chance to pitch to the CRL community, partners and investors, to compete for the final six positions which will find themselves in phase two developing their products and businesses further.

There are many upgrades you can make to your workplace that make your startup a great place to work. However, there aren’t many workplace upgrades like the following tech items that improve the quality of your service while enhancing productivity and company profitability.

At this year’s Online Growth Summit hosted by Blooming Founders, Inga Driksne, operations advisor to early-stage founders, with a wealth of experience in supporting founders during the hiring process, shared her thoughts on recruitment best practice for startups and small businesses who are looking to embark on their first hires. Startups Magazine reports.

Vira Health, a digital health company focused on improving long term health for women, has raised £1.5m in seed funding from LocalGlobe, MMC Ventures, and angel investors including Megumi Ikeda, Managing Director, Hearst Ventures, Andrea Zitna of Elvie, former Spotify executive Sofia Bendz, founder of GoCardless Matt Robinson, and Simon Lambert, former CTO, MOO.com, and Treatwell.

Scaling your business, whilst maintaining efficiency, is possibly one of the hardest things to do in performance advertising. The reason for that is down to the way the platforms are set up. There are two traditional scaling methods - horizontal scaling and vertical scaling.

In 2020, UK venture capital firms invested £12bn into businesses across the nation. By far the largest total value of investment across the whole of Europe, with Germany ranking second, but some way behind at £5.6bn.

Startups are looking to make their mark in the busy online world as everyone competes to be more visible to their audiences. Traditional PR is an essential part of the strategy to manage online reputation, brand awareness and promotion of a business but have you thought about combining this with SEO to level up your presence? Businesses often separate PR and SEO, but why? Blending PR and SEO together achieves better results as PR promotes the brand and SEO concentrates on ranking and traffic.

NEXUS have a £3,000,000 fund to invest in 2021 and are open to consider all innovative Creative, Tech and Digital UK startup business ideas with priority interest in the following sectors: Tech, VR, Gaming, Digital, Media, Smart Screen/TV, Music, Fashion & Textiles, Events, Film and Dance.

The billions promised by the government for catch-up tuition sounds like a lot of money, but when you work it out on an individual basis it’s barely enough to cover a few hours of one-to-one tuition per student. I believe that edtech rather than tuition provides the answer to meet the catch-up challenge, and his micro-tuition experiment proves that this approach can work.

The European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth will make her first official visit to Spain on 9th and 10th September 2021, inaugurating the Startup OLÉ technology event in Salamanca on the 9th. 

It’s no secret that the pandemic has significantly challenged the events industry. Even with lockdown restrictions lifted, a hesitancy to return to large indoor events is predicted to continue for some time. In order to meet these changing customer needs and help to revive corporate events safely, Eventurous Ltd, a full-service events agency near Atherstone in the West Midlands, has launched an exciting new tipi hire service - creating an unusual and inspiring venue solution for business use.

As lockdown restrictions ease and public mobility increases, new research reveals three-quarters (75%) of people have health, safety and security concerns when visiting their nearest city, signalling a need for new security innovations and greater public reassurance on their return to UK cities.

TOCA Football, the world’s only technology-enabled soccer experiences and entertainment company, today announced the completion of its Series E funding round, totaling $40m. Leading the round are current investors WestRiver Group (WRG), RNS TOCA Partners LLC, and D2 Futbol Investors, LLC., who are joined by a group of new investors including Jared Smith, co-founder and former COO of Experience Management (XM) company Qualtrics. This round brings TOCA’s total capital raised to $105m.

ABB Electrification’s Startup Challenge, in collaboration with Microsoft and SynerLeap, has announced its 2021 winning line-up, as Machine Learning, advanced AI and 3D modelling scale-up safe, smart and sustainable solutions.

LEADING independent property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard marked this year’s International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) with the release of a special podcast, interviewing civil engineer Natalie Clemson about her journey from sandwich year placement to national director at the firm.

2021 has seen more new businesses being registered by women than ever before. I believe that when you truly set your intention to build your own business, and when you determine that nothing is going to stand in your way, you are already one solid step on the road to success. However, for women hoping to become mothers, or who already have families, the challenge of running your own business and bringing up a family at the same time is a complex one. Unless you have a stay-at-home and supportive partner, there will always be additional challenges.

Five innovative UK start-ups have been shortlisted for the Top Tier Impact (TTI) Group’s inaugural Global Impact Awards, celebrating entrepreneurs around the world at the cutting edge of sustainability and positive impact.

You might have, in fact you most likely have, been hearing a lot of stuff about Clubhouse over the last few months. Although this audio-first social media platform actually came into existence well over a year ago, it has featured in the marketing and branding world’s Zeitgeist most heavily since the beginning of 2021.

The business world is changing at a fast pace. In this climate, industry giants are forced to quickly re-evaluate how they work and to be able to face the new challenges in their markets: startups. 

New data released by Tech Nation and Dealroom analyses the UK’s position on the global tech stage in comparison to the US and China. Analysis finds that the UK ranks third in the world for its number of tech businesses valued above $10bn.

Expanding the business abroad is one of the most important goals and the most sought after ones for young entrepreneurs. It gives them a significant rise in their customers and also increases their popularity manifolds.

Sanofi’s acquisition of Cambridge UK-based, Kymab in early 2021, in a deal worth up to $1.45bn, was the largest sale of a UK biotech company on record, but was soon dwarfed by the $6.9bn acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals by Jazz. These announcements drew global attention to the UK life science and healthtech sectors, and form part of a growing trend in these industries for increased funding, commercial and M&A activity.

Rising numbers of people are returning to trains and buses to get work, newly released figures reveal. The data found that in some parts of London footfall was up almost 300% last week compared to the same time in June 2020.

Whether you are running a fledgling startup from a home office or heading up an international company employing tens of thousands of employees across the world, the challenge over the past 16 months has been the same. Those business owners who successfully navigated their business through the COVID-19 pandemic should take pride in coming through such an uncertain period in one piece.

Marketing is a pivotal area of functionality for all businesses and brands. While the ultimate objective of every business is to drive sales and profits, marketing is a means to it. Marketing takes a business among people, attracts the target audience, and endorses products and services to influence call-to-action and buying.

Now that just about everything happens online, cyber security has taken on a new significance. Unfortunately, hackers and other nefarious actors have leapt at the opportunity of the pandemic, and cyber crime is on the rise.

It’s fair to say that over the past 16 months or so, we’ve become more digitally-connected than ever before. We can’t underestimate the roles that data and digital technologies continue to play in helping small businesses survive during the pandemic. Almost every interaction we all undertake every day produces data. This creates endless opportunities, but with opportunity comes responsibility - particularly when it comes to how data is used.

It's common for startups to experience growing pains and go through trial and error when getting their ideas off the ground. There are some misconceptions attached to running a startup, too - including the idea that finding the funding to successfully launch your startup is no easy task.

If your business is still using out-of-date systems and servers, then it’s high time that you started thinking about moving it over to the cloud. Not only will this help to reduce costs, but it can also make your life a whole lot easier.

As we say goodbye to lockdown restrictions, new research from Sky Connect, Sky’s new B2B telecoms business, celebrates the strength and adaptability of British small businesses with a third revealing that the secret to their resilience over the past year is sheer hard work and motivation. The majority of the UK’s SMEs (80%) - which make up over 99% of the business population - believe they have shown resilience at its best throughout the pandemic.

As we successfully hosted the 2021 Hustle Awards last night at the Finsbury Business Centre (in-person finally!) and had a virtual livestream too, we saw five incredible startups take the prize across the five different categories, plus an array of talent that was also shortlisted and five amazing runner-ups. But not only that we saw our community again, and what an amazing feeling that was to be able to speak to some of you face-to-face!

If you imagine a business like a body, company culture is the lifeblood that circulates, revives and powers everything. It’s a fundamental component of commercial success and without it, you and your team are likely to become rudderless and disorganised.

Language and communication tools are continuously developing. Human beings have an amazing ability to find new ways of understanding one another and the world around us. 

Schools, colleges and universities may have finally got back into rhythm following numerous lockdowns, but in embracing new technology, there are elements of the shift to remote learning that will surely continue long after the pandemic is over.

The UK’s first-ever ‘Laptop Library’ has launched to help support and educate the nation’s most underprivileged children. The initiative, launched by grassroots charity CC Foundation in partnership with leading IT service provider Totality Services, will give hundreds of children access to use and borrow laptops.

Digital Catapult’s Machine Intelligence Garage programme is onboarding 10 new pioneering startups who are pushing the limits of machine and artificial intelligence to solve everyday problems. 

According to a recent survey, just 29% of the UK’s manufacturing and engineering workforce is made up of women. Now, while this highlights a step in the right direction when compared to figures from previous years, leading multi-disciplinary engineering firm, adi Group, believes more must be done to secure the industry’s workforce for tomorrow.

Greyparrot, the London based tech company disrupting the recycling industry by providing waste analytics to monitor, sort, and audit waste at scale, was selected among hundreds of candidates as one of the World Economic Forum’s “Technology Pioneers”. Previous to founding Greyparrot in 2019, co-founders Mikela Druckman, Ambarish Mitra and Nikola Sivacki had built some of the most cutting edge deep-learning computer vision systems in the world. Now they are committed to applying this technology to the recycling sector, extracting the value of materials that would otherwise end up in landfills, oceans or incinerated.

The commute as we knew it may be gone for good, new research conducted by e-bike subscription service DASH Rides reveals. DASH and Sapio Research surveyed over 2,000 city-dwelling, full-time workers, who used to work primarily in the office and now work primarily at home, and discovered that three quarters of those returning to the office will be actively avoiding public transport or seeking new ways to travel. 

Digital insurer Getsafe recently reached two significant milestones: With 10,000 customers in the United Kingdom and close to 200,000 customers in its native market, Germany, Getsafe is now the largest neo-insurer in Europe. The company currently offers contents insurance with five extensions in the UK and a larger product portfolio in Germany.

Over the course of the last year and a half, online shopping and e-commerce has, at times, been the only way consumers have been able to shop, leading to record breaking rises in people engaging with online retailers. This record volume of e-commerce purchases in 2020 has resulted in a corresponding surge in returns made by consumers who have either changed their minds or aren’t satisfied with their purchase after delivery.

If you have ever replied to a ‘what was the number one song on the day you were born?’ viral post, taken a personality quiz without checking the terms and conditions or just accepted a friend request from a stranger then you could have opened yourself up to fraud.

There are three essential elements to a startup’s communication toolkit. All help to sum up what you do in an instant, engage potential partners, customers and investors, and intrigue them into starting a conversation about working with you.

The Hustle Awards 2021 is very nearly here and we cannot wait to celebrate with you all next week - whether that be from the lovely Finsbury Business Centre and Clerkenworks or from the comfort of your own sofa. From startups to freelancers, The Hustle Awards aims to recognise all the founders, co-founders and team members that have disrupted, impacted and taken a risk or a leap of faith with their business. But who has made the shortlist...

WeVee, the first fully-integrated electric vehicle leasing platform, which launched in the UK (home to Cazoo, Cinch and Carwow), is now valued at $14m after its latest investment injection to support the global expansion of the eMobility lifestyle platform, allowing it to broaden its service lines.

“It's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than think your way into a new way of acting.” said Jerry Sternin in The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World's Toughest Problems.

New customer demands and fierce competition: the pressure on companies to innovate is high across all sectors – and established companies and young startups alike are struggling to meet these demands. Increasingly, this is leading to cooperation between corporates and startups. In this way, the speed and agility of young companies meet the professional structures and long-standing know-how of established companies. Both startups and corporates can benefit from each other's strengths in such a collaboration and ignite a firework of innovation together. 

With government changes from 19 July, the question being thrust into the limelight more than ever for many is 'Should we go back to the office?'

Kuano.ai, a software platform for rapid, cost effective quantum modelling of enzymes, has raised £1m in seed funding from ACF Investors, o2h Ventures and a syndicate of Cambridge-based angel investors. The funding will accelerate the company’s growth as it moves further towards commercialisation.

As a startup founder, it’s easy to view your business solely from your own perspective. Your startup idea is surely unrivalled in its brilliance, bordering on genius, beyond comparison.

Unibuddy, the number one peer-to-peer university recruitment platform that has helped 770,000 students from over 180 countries make better decisions about their higher education journey, has raised $20m in funding. The Series B round was led by Highland Europe with additional participation from Stride.VC. Unibuddy has raised a total of $32m since its inception in 2017.

It has been a record first half of the year for VC investment into London’s fintech sector, with new research from Dealroom.co and London & Partners revealing London-based fintech firms have already raised more VC investment than any other year, in only six months.

European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund is investing €5m in the Israeli medical startup, NanoVation, for accelerating the development of its high accuracy respiratory monitor and for launching initial marketing efforts in the EU. The investment is part of the EIC’s strategy to identify and support high impact startups and small companies and assist them in scaling up game changing technologies.

Bia Care has launched its virtual clinic to improve menopause care by combining technology with personalised treatments. The remote care solution ensures that women are provided with the knowledge needed to control their symptoms, access clinically-validated treatment options, and are given the ability to share their experiences in a confidential setting.

As you can imagine, here at Startups Magazine HQ, we speak to an awful lot of early-stage businesses. Every so often however, one really stands out and lingers long in the memory.

Chocolate is probably not the first thing that springs to mind at the mention of blockchain technology. However, it’s that precise combination that is helping to bring an end to over 50 years of civil war in Colombia which has killed over 200,000 people and internally displaced millions.

It’s a challenge, being a challenger brand today. The relative ease and speed with which you can bring a company or product to market means the volume of brands in any given space is huge, so conveying genuine differentiation is hard. And staying the course, building a challenger that lasts, is even harder.

The Government’s policy on face-masks will create 'misery and confusion' for workers using trains, a transport expert said today. Dash Tabor warned Boris Johnson’s plan to scrap mandatory coverings may also lead to millions of employees steering clear of public transport. 

An entrepreneur is often so in love with their idea, so confident in its perfection, that they begin to sin. And if it continues, they can torture their child with this selfish love.

MSDUK, an organisation that champions the inclusion of Ethnic Minority Businesses (EMBs) and founders in corporate supply chains, has partnered with Unilever, WPP, Google and Dow to launch the UK’s first accelerator programme focused on helping 300 EMBs to become supply chain ready.

An ambitious UK tech firm is aiming to take on US celebrity video calling service Cameo - by launching a 'bigger and better' platform.

Specialist M&A advisory firm Ciesco has confirmed that Chip[s] Board, which develops bioplastics from food waste, has completed fundraising to support the next stage of its development.

Let’s face it, “business as usual” is killing us. Short-term thinking, corporate greed, mass consumption, and endless extraction and exploitation in the pursuit of profit has put us on a fast-track to climate breakdown and human misery.

Events mean business, with industry events actively driving markets forward by bringing key industry professionals together to share ideas, create new opportunities, and forge new business deals.

Fertility, menopause, maternity and gender confirmation benefits are often only available from health and wellbeing packages for the very largest corporations. As a specialist in supporting SMEs and startups, Towergate Health & Protection is now making this level of progressive care accessible to companies of all sizes.

Desana, a startup transforming how global employers utilise workspace, has announced that it has raised a $4m seed round. The oversubscribed round was led by Berlin-based PropTech 1 Ventures, BGF and existing investor Techstart Ventures, with participation from GroundBreak Ventures and the Accel Scout programme.

eBay UK has announced the launch of the 5th eBay for Business Awards, designed to celebrate the growing talent of entrepreneurs across the country. 

In the world of digital agencies, and more widely across industries, there’s a growing conversation around diversity and inclusion in the workplace. And rightly so. In 2020, 165 ad agencies in the US took part in a survey to better understand the demographics that make up the industry.

Europe's greatest festival of Health Tech Innovation in returning - save the date: 30th November - 1st December 2021.

Picture life a while back, before COVID-19 hit – I know a little difficult isn’t it? Well for most companies and office workers, life before COVID meant most people using their office calendar, where meetings were created and stored. 

When you start your own business, it is your own idea and pretty much becomes your baby; the decisions, choices and growth are all within your own making. Most entrepreneurs will spend the first few months of business fully focused on their vision and what needs doing, but once you start growing a team you need to lead and be there for them.

When it comes to punching above your weight, the UK’s startups know all there is to know. These ambitious and entrepreneurial small businesses are vital to the overall health of the UK economy, contributing some £196 billion each year.

For most people, technology has become an indispensable part of their lives. A trend that the pandemic has accelerated even more. 

Now in its second year, the ABB Electrification Startup challenge saw an unprecedented level of entries from global startups across 28 countries. Competing applicants took up the challenge to seek out and develop next generation solutions using IIoT and digitalisation to enable a low-carbon society and provide sustainable practices.

Israeli startup, AiVF has unveiled a scientific study which shows for the first time that genetic characteristics in embryos can be extracted using novel AI-based computer vision technologies. The study, presented this week at the prestigious ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) annual conference, was carried out by researchers at AiVF, which specialises in AI technology for digitising IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) clinics, together with researchers led by Dr. Marcos Meseguer from the IVIRMA clinic in Valencia, Spain.

The future for business owners has been talked about a lot in recent months. Whilst most articles have looked at the immediate 12 months, there are some changes that will remain for the long term.

Picture this: an employee sits down at their desk at 10am from their home office setup. They are welcomed by their personal digital assistant, which provides a quick brief about the day ahead. Upcoming meetings and projects are flagged, reminding them to make the necessary preparations, and seek out the information needed to ensure they can confidently put their questions, ideas and suggestions forward.

The values of tech companies are skyrocketing, and generally outperforming the rest of the market. With plenty of cash looking for a sound home in growing businesses, the time is now for tech companies. So, how can they bag the best investors to back their technology?

Inclusive leadership is climbing the business agenda and is now the most requested management coaching topic, according to the latest feedback figures from Talking Talent, a specialist coaching consultancy. While more than a quarter (27%) of business executives have requested more coaching on being an ‘inclusive leader’ there is still significant strides to be made to tackle diversity, equity, and inclusion issues within business.

People in the UK’s most deprived areas could play a greater role in the post pandemic recovery than was previously realised and give the Government’s levelling up agenda a significant shot in the arm.

Regardless of what business you are in,  a data security breach is an increasingly likely scenario that all businesses must mitigate.  With escalating cybercrime, the widespread growth in Cloud computing, and the explosion in mobile devices and varying tech and app use amongst employees and partners; key aspects of enterprise security are now, and will forever be, beyond our control.

Purina has announced the six startups that have been selected as the winners of the UNLEASHED 2021 Accelerator Lab Programme. The winning companies are actively engaged in advancing pet care by creating fully digitised solutions, based in sustainability and pet wellbeing.

Sustainability in business practice is becoming more of a necessity than ever before. Customers are making moves to living a more sustainable lifestyle and therefore expect business leaders and their companies to follow suit. It can be a minefield knowing where to begin when it comes to acting sustainably, it’s an incredibly broad term and can be confusing to know what steps to take first.

Small business sales suggest a gradual return to pre-COVID sales rates, the Small Business Index from Xero, reveals. The Index was unchanged at 86 points in May, reflecting that overall conditions in small businesses were steady despite the winding back of some business trading restrictions.

Five healthtech startups have officially become the first cohort of the Edison Accelerator in EMEA - a healthcare startup and scaleup acceleration programme designed by GE Healthcare in partnership with innovation organisation, Wayra UK. 

Arguably there has never been a better time to start your own salon business, with more bricks and mortar locations becoming available throughout lockdown, the timing for finding that prime location to set up your salon business could be ideal.

Less than a quarter of UK tech leaders find it easy to find quality tech candidates. That’s according to a recent survey by Talent Works, which surveyed 400 tech leaders in the UK and US to determine the state of hiring tech talent in both markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has done no favours to charities in terms of funding, with a study in late 2020 showing over 80% of charities will have a lower income this year, impacting those they help the most.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an inevitable eCommerce boom as consumers were forced to rely on online shopping throughout the various lockdowns rather than venture to shops - and this trend was particularly noticeable when it came to Grocery shopping. The question now, is whether the boom will be sustained, even as lockdown restrictions ease and more adults continue to receive vaccinations.

New research has revealed that more British businesses have been set up at the start of this year than any first quarter in history. The study by cloud accounting company, Ember found that from January to March this year, 211,368 companies were incorporated at Companies House.

At St. James’s Place, we work with a large number of fund managers within the UK venture capital industry, notably in the tax-advantaged space, investing across many different sectors. This provides us with a unique insight into the small business ecosystem.

The world’s leading event technology expo, Event Tech Live (ETL) returns to the Old Truman Brewery on November 3rd until 4th with the virtual show running for a full five days, from November 1st to 5th.

Our new-found, post-pandemic ability to work from home has certainly brought benefits for many of us. No more long commute, no more interruptions at your desk and the ability to work from anywhere...

When I hear that female founders have been the hardest hit due to the effects of COVID-19 and the UK’s numerous lockdowns, it pains me greatly, not least because, studies such as The Rose Review estimate that if women in the UK were founding businesses at similar rates as they are in other countries, about £200bn would be added to the UK economy!

The UK’s largest ecommerce investor and a leading digital insights specialist have joined forces to help accelerate business transition online.

A new survey of 750 UK business leaders has revealed how the pandemic has affected long-term digital transformation plans.

Over a third (35%) of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) believe the pandemic has been a positive catalyst for change as digital skills soared during lockdown, according to the findings of PayPal’s inaugural report, The Business of Change: Recovery and Rebuild.

Startup OLÉ is becoming the first deep tech startup event in Europe. This ground-breaking event is associated with the fourth wave of innovation on the European continent, as Startup OLÉ is the event for universities and university startups, which are the cradle of science.

As Loneliness Awareness Week just took place (14-18th June), Naomi Thompson, Head of Organisational Development at Benenden Health, wanted to explain how employers can support team members struggling with loneliness as we slowly move away from COVID-19 restrictions.

According to MoneySuperMarket, around 22% of the UK’s two million freelancers are busy delivering essential business support. As more companies embrace hybrid working models, recruiting external consultants can complement the skills of in-house staff. Here Ashmita Das, CEO of Kolabtree, the freelance platform for scientists, explains how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can integrate freelancers successfully.

ReLondon is set to convene leaders and innovators from across the capital and beyond for the fourth Circular Economy Week (#CEweekLDN), which took place 14th – 18th June. The week showcased some of London’s most promising circular economy approaches to inspire action and encourage organisations and individuals to waste less and reuse, repair, share and recycle more. The aim is to promote polices, practices and behaviours that can accelerate the growth of the circular economy and place it firmly on the agenda for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November.

A technology hub has launched two unique business incubation programmes in response to post-COVID needs by building a peer powered community and bringing world-class innovation and growth opportunities to the region’s most promising entrepreneurs.

TravelTech Show, taking place virtually on 14-15 September 2021, has committed to supporting startups in the travel technology space by creating a £25,000 fund that startups can apply to access. The fund supports startups from across the globe founded with the last 48 months and have not raised more than £2M in funding with subsidised exhibiting options and additional marketing and PR support.

UK-based healthtech firm Kiteline, formerly known as Liminal Health, has secured £370,000 in funding to meet the demand for support for those living with chronic conditions, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and, most recently, long COVID.

CRL have shortlisted 16 startups as potential participants for the CRL Accelerator programme. Over the past six weeks, the CRL team have been working with the group, supporting them to identify the biggest questions and assumptions that need to be understood before they could progress their business to the next stage.

What exactly is an Advisory Board and why is it so important to growing your business? This is a question that I am often asked by founders of early stage businesses.  Thankfully, as questions go, it is one of the easiest to answer and, indeed, one of those topics that can make a fundamental difference to your business.

Putting a sustainable spin on laundry, Oxwash, the UK-based startup backed by Twitter Co-founder Biz Stone has raised £2.08m ($3M) in seed expansion investment, to clean up the traditional and environmentally costly washing and dry cleaning sector with its space-age technology.

According to government data, SMEs made up over 99% of the total business population at the start of 2020 - and this is the reason why thriving SMEs remain the backbone of rebuilding our economy. Across the UK, SMEs are getting back on their feet, employing workers and providing important services which fuel our local economies.

Over the tumultuous year we've just faced, productivity has been challenged in ways most had never considered. The strain of financial, career and health uncertainty has been a formidable foe for employees and employers alike. As we celebrate World Productivity Day this year, we do so with the learnings of the past 12 months under our belt.

Environment-savvy small firms have been stirred into action by the pandemic and propelled saving the planet to the top of their agenda. And business owners now see sustainability as a critical issue and want to take action as lockdown restrictions ease.

Eleven startup companies from Bristol’s world-leading tech scene have been shortlisted to pitch and demo their innovative products at SETsquared Bristol’s flagship Tech-Xpo 2021 event on 30 June.

Starting over with a new business idea or career path is never easy, but sometimes it is absolutely necessary (this applies to other things in life as well). I have started over multiple times. I quit a stable job in HR to start my own business. People called me crazy, but I followed my dreams and persevered. It was anything but easy, but it brought me to where I am today and I wouldn’t change that for the world.

The UK’s National Health Service has been designed primarily by men, for men. Even in 2021, the majority of those in senior leadership positions (63%) are male, a startling figure when you consider that almost 80% of the NHS workforce are female.

If office space providers are to survive the shift to greater flexible working, they need to keep up with the increasing demand from businesses for shorter, flexible contracts. Long term, restrictive office commitments no longer appeal to SMEs, who are increasingly looking for complete flexibility in their requirements, to scale up and down as required, and remain agile.

Insurtech startup Urban Jungle, famous for its £5 per month renters insurance, has announced the launch of its new Building and Contents insurance product - targeted at younger homeowners, who it says have been ‘ignored’ by the big insurance companies. 

A major new resource to showcase the opportunities for investing in the UK creative industries sector is being unveiled at a National launch event on 21st June. 

Launching this month, British brand The Good Level offers high quality, full spectrum CBD oils, balms and jellies all made with UK-grown hemp. Born of the founders’ frustration in trying to find consistently high-quality CBD products for themselves, The Good Level’s range of cold-pressed CBD products offer a natural choice to support daily mental and physical wellbeing.  

Israeli agritech startup, Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture, which has thus far focused on developing a technological solution for artificial pollination of insect-pollinated crops such as almonds, is expanding its services to wind-pollinated crops. They will start with pistachios, one of the world's fastest growing crops.

Next September 14th and 15th, more than 100 international experts will participate in a new edition of ICT Spring, the renowned tech summit. The event, organised since 2010, will take place at the European Convention Center Luxembourg, at the very heart of Europe: ICT Spring will therefore be the first largest in-person event of the year. Today, the organisers are announcing the various topics that will be discussed during the different summits, as well as the first experts who will share their knowledge and best practices, during what promises to be an exceptional edition.

Businesses are increasingly optimistic about emerging from COVID-19 - and say that utilising social media and new technology will be key to that recovery.

A company’s brand is so important. It’s the business philosophy, its culture and ethos, its products, its team, the customer service, its corporate reputation.

Writing a compelling job ad to entice graduates can be challenging, especially if writing isn’t your strong suit. How can you create the best possible job ad to attract the best talent to your business? Based on many years of experience, I have put together the perfect formula to attract stellar talent.

Kaelo is a design company on a mission to create a brand new global product category, providing the drinking experience of the future. Founded by serial inventor, Kevin Jabou, the company’s first product is described as an open bottle host; a fully patented dry-cold chamber that can be integrated into any table or countertop, to serve a drink perfectly chilled.

"It is predicted that the resale market will be bigger than fast fashion by 2029 as traditional charity shops sell more items and the for-profit resale market balloons." Thred Up stated recently.

Starting any business comes with risk. However, for startups in the technology sector those risks can be significantly different from mainstream organisations due to the frequent rapid growth in what is often a new product or service offering.

With an already booming tech and innovation sector, Cyprus has its eyes on becoming the next multicultural hub for innovation, startups and technology.

Government plans to give millions of staff a default right to work from home are 'not feasible' and will be 'very damaging' to businesses, an expert in employment law has warned. 

Cash flow is king. It is the lifeblood of any business. If any recent trading period has underlined this to the nation’s SME businesses, it is the last twelve months.

With another month to wait before lockdown eases, this doesn't need to be bad news for businesses. Instead, leaders can use this as an opportunity to refresh the way their workplace operates.

Perlego, the world’s largest online subscription service for educational books, has announced its launch in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France, further cementing its position as one of the UK’s fastest growing EdTech startups.

Oslo Innovation Week welcomes you to the core of Nordic innovation - a platform for facilitating actions and thought-provoking concepts for bold and new innovation.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it seems that people are even more concerned about the environment. A survey of over 3,000 people across eight countries found that 70% of people were more aware of the impact human activity is having on the environment than before the pandemic.

The Newton Venture Program is unveiling its first diverse cohort of investment trainees set to make the worlds of tech and venture capital more representative and is opening applications for its next program.

Early Stage investors can often seem like mythical animals hidden in parts of the city you have little access to. When you do finally catch yourself face to face in a crowded networking event, or on a brief phone call that you’ve been preparing for all week, it can often feel like an uncomfortably one-sided encounter.

London-based tech startup, UtterBerry has recently developed innovative 5G technology, which will transform Welsh farming and tourism thanks to funding and support from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Welsh Government. Now the technology is ready, UtterBerry will begin revolutionising farming and tourism through the DCMS 5G Testbed Project.

The UK has seen a huge rise in the number of independent businesses being set up over the past year. New analysis from The University of Law Business school shows 854,948 independent businesses have been established since 23rd March 2020, representing a 43% increase compared to the same period a year before (594,957).

Finding insurance for your startup is essential for protecting your finances and employees. However, choosing a plan that works for your team and budget can be tricky. Luckily, there are several options available for small businesses.

Tractable, the AI company helping insurers with accident and disaster recovery, has announced a $60m Series D investment led by Insight Partners and Georgian. The round doubles the total raised by Tractable from $55m to $115m and values the company at $1bn - making it the UK’s first computer vision unicorn. 

NatWest’s landmark money-laundering case has dealt a huge blow to consumer trust in online banking; an industry that more than three quarters (76%) of UK consumers already admit they don’t fully trust, according to research from anti-money laundering specialists, SmartSearch.

New data reveals that almost one in five (17%) of small business owners expect their revenues to grow by 10% in the first six months after lockdown guidelines are completely relaxed.

Research from Ezra, provider of digital coaching, has found that UK employees are working longer hours than ever thanks to remote working. However, the lack of structured office hours is having a detrimental effect on employee work-life balance and wellbeing and, therefore, the quality of their work.

The first Event Tech Live (ETL) US and Canada wrapped on Thursday 10th June, content keeping to the high mark set on days one and two, Top Tech to Embrace to Achieve Effective Gamification and Back to the Future, Perhaps among the sessions and Canapii winning gold in the coveted StartUp Competition.

National enterprise charity Hatch Enterprise has launched three new impact programmes, with support from the players of the People's Postcode Lottery, NatWest and Adobe, which aims to help hundreds of UK entrepreneurs launch and grow businesses that have a social or environmental impact.

A happy and healthy workplace is a rich environment and there’s mounting evidence that workplace culture fosters a more productive organisation. In light of recent events of the pandemic, mental health has been at the forefront of the discussion.

If you’re a business owner, the chances are you will want to know how to increase the value of your business. It’s important for any entrepreneur or business owner to have an idea of what their company is worth, especially if they are looking to either raise investment or plan an exit.

After over a year of anticipating the return of travel and tourism, it seems this summer we’ll finally start to see local attractions in cities across the US return in near full-swing. However, the tourism landscape that we’re returning to is not the same one that we left frozen at the starting line last summer: travelers’ priorities and needs have changed to reflect the new safety-conscious environment, and with the surge of new tech solutions released over the past year, their preferences have evolved to expect more seamless, automated, contactless systems and processes.

Read any guide on the best way to market your business and you’re bound to find social media high up the list — and sometimes, the only thing on the list. But what if the thought of all this posting, sharing, liking, boosting, engaging, following and whatnot else leaves you cold? Should you suppress these feelings and slog over social media anyway?

Beyond HERizons, a new initiative from London & Partners’ Silicon Valley comes to the UK (SVC2UK) programme designed to specifically tackle the funding gap that exists in the investment landscape, launches its inaugural cohort of female founders today.

Tech Nation launches the Diversity & Inclusion Toolkit; a comprehensive guide to address diversity challenges in tech companies and the UK tech sector, in order to help build a strong, diverse and inclusive tech sector.

Sunbit, the preferred buy now, pay later (BNPL) technology for everyday needs and services, today announced a $130 million series D round of funding. The round was led by returning investor Group 11, a leading venture capital firm known for backing some of the most disruptive fintech companies.

Most people would agree that things like nutrition and exercise lead to a healthier and happier individual. This same principle applies to the financial health of your business. In order to maintain a successful and thriving business, it’s important to stay healthy when it comes to your finances.

As we recently celebrated Local Business Week - a time to highlight the businesses that make up our UK economy. Local Business Week gives us the opportunity for us to share learnings. Here are some top tips on how UK businesses can build back better following the pandemic from UK-owned SMEs and business leaders.

The DEEP Startup Ecosystem Accelerator is up and running. They selected the first generation of ecosystem projects coming from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

We’re on the cusp of a new wave of innovation, with deep tech leading the way to a better future for our society and its home planet.

There are high barriers to funding for Black founders, especially first-time ones. I know this because I’m a first-time Black founder who has raised (and is still raising) money. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but also a lot of progress. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way.

Hays Technology, the recruiting experts and global super connectors, Empact Ventures, have launched ’Super Connect for Good’ for the second year running, a European ‘Tech for Good’ competition in a bid to uncover the best emerging tech startups and scaleups creating a positive impact on people’s lives through technology.

A northern startup powering up an advanced generation of data-driven luxe sportswear has secured £7.5M to take wearable health technology to new heights.

The UK needs a new order of chivalry specifically to recognise invention and innovation and elevate the status of entrepreneurship, science, and technology in the eyes of the public, according to think tank, The Entrepreneurs Network. The proposal - outlined in a new report, Honours for Innovators, and supported by MPs and leading figures from the UK entrepreneurship and technology community - would see the 'Elizabethan Order' honour up to 273 individuals each year for their achievements and contribution to innovation.

The marketing space has seen drastic changes since the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020, and marketers have had to pivot quickly to successfully navigate marketing through the great Covid crisis.

Following the ongoing discussion that youth unemployment is so high, Richard Evans, a professional careers mentor and Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur 2019 shares his thoughts on why the issues run much deeper than the recent pandemic. Richard has conducted over 600 interviews throughout his career and mentored over 100 students into the UK’s most competitive universities and companies as a careers mentor at The Profs.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a year full of disruption, both in our personal and professional lives. Companies all over the UK were forced to close their offices in-line with government restrictions and 57% of all employees were told to work from home.

Fintech Week London is taking place at a number of select venues in London and online between 12th and 16th July 2021.

Businesses specialising in providing sustainable and eco-services today urge the government to use the G7 talks to turbocharge Britain’s green revolution. 

The mobile tax assistant, Taxfix strengthens its management level with expertise from Silicon Valley and the banking sector. The two new additions, Bjoern Heckel and Franziska von Arnim, will support the Taxfix leadership team and take strategic growth to new heights in the next phase of Taxfix’s development.

Businesses are often preoccupied with 'innovation'. Far from being merely a buzzword, the concept in fact reflects the necessary and consistent iteration that drives markets forwards and allows those who invest smartly a robust edge over their competitors. The trouble is, truly game-changing innovations are vanishingly rare.

New research has revealed that half of the UK’s newest entrepreneurs are Millennials. The study found that people between the ages of 25 and 40 have set up 49% of new businesses in the country since July 2020.

Metro Bank has just launched a startup accelerator programme in partnership with corporate innovation specialists, L Marks with the aim of finding innovative solutions to help the bank support its customers and local businesses.

The kings of search Google will often improve their algorithm around SEO. This can be based on emerging tech like voice search or changes in human behaviour like the use of mobile. 2021 sees some very big changes that could easily derail your current strategy; it’s almost a clean slate.

Deeptech Labs (DTL), a new post-seed accelerator aimed at deep technology (deeptech) startups, has been founded in Cambridge to bring the benefits of its innovation ecosystem to post-Seed deeptech companies from the UK and Europe.

VenueScanner has secured a $1.5m funding round led by Rianta Capital and ACF Investors. Launched to enable individuals, businesses and event organisers to find better and more affordable venues, it is helping undiscovered and independent venues reimagine how they use their space and fill their down-time.

“Build a product to scratch your own itch” says entrepreneur Guy Stern after founding his own legal technology solution, Legal Connection, to improve communication and offer an ‘umbrella platform’ for the legal industry.

The Modern Milkman, a fast-growing sustainable grocery startup that offers doorstep grocery delivery in return and reuse packaging without single-use plastics, has announced the closing of a funding round led by global venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners. Existing investors ETF Partners and Serial Investor Simon Murphy also participated in the round.