In a world filled with incredible innovative technology that everyday enables people to do what they otherwise could not, it seems nonsensical that there is still such an outrageous employment gap for disabled people, and Paralympic champion Elizabeth Johnson, agrees.

COVID-19 has drastically changed the landscape for businesses across all industries, forcing immediate changes - but ones that will have long term consequences. In the newest report by Lux Research, 'The Impact of COVID-19 on Tech Innovation', Lux outlines five key trends that will define how the world beyond the pandemic will be different.

An online game developed by a startup business in response to the recent COVID-19 lockdown is now being used to train the Artificial Intelligence (AI) component of its new legal contract management system.

A few years ago, journalists at The Daily Telegraph arrived at their London office on a Monday morning to discover that ‘Occupeye’ sensors had been installed over the weekend on the underside of each of their desks. The management team defended the installation ‘…as part of the Telegraph's commitment to green energy measures,’ claiming they were simply conducting a four-week study aimed at optimising the building’s use of lighting, heating and air conditioning. The study’s subjects were not impressed.

Ask anyone which location they’d associate with startups, and my money would be on “Silicon Valley” being their answer. But in the past few years, global investors have been shifting their collective gaze to Europe. Forbes reports that the first half of 2019 broke the record for tech investment in Europe: £17.2bn was invested in the continent’s tech startups. Similarly, Europe was pretty much on par with the United States when it came to the existence of startups backed by venture capitalists. 

Many startups would have been forgiven for spending the last three months focusing purely on survival. Yet, as lockdown restrictions lift, an alternative story is beginning to emerge.

Startups Magazine recently spoke to Nicky Pasquier, CEO Virtuoso Assistant, the digital marketing for entrepreneurs and small business. 

Launching a new business is not for the faint hearted even when market conditions are ‘perfect’. Doing that in the midst of the worst global pandemic in over a century is, by any standards, rather bold.

Bagboard, the creation of former credit trader Ben Ayres, advertising executive Ashleigh Bishop, and startup specialist Charlie Ayres, has hit over 100% funded with 13 days remaining. Bagboard marries major brand advertising campaigns and environmental impact, with a mission to empower consumers to use their collective spending power as a force for good.

Neuroscience-based people development company, Sesh has announced that it has secured $1.6m in pre-seed funding. The funding will enable Sesh to accelerate the development of its human comprehension AI, ​Empath​, that identifies states of mind and emotional mood of people in any video source.

Technology has come a long way in the past decade, and the telecoms industry is no exception. Since 2010, this sector has seen incredible advancements and the worldwide revenue of telecoms services is estimated to be £1,026bn.

Online investment platform, Seedrs has announced record-breaking activity levels on its Secondary Market, following the introduction of variable pricing in the August trading window. The introduction of variable pricing offered sellers the opportunity to list their shares at either a premium or a discount of 10%, 20% or 30%, relative to the mark-to-market share price and was developed in consultation with Seedrs entrepreneur and investor communities.

The Women On Top Podcast has announced its exciting brand expansion. This new direction will see the podcast evolve into a multimedia digital platform including online magazine, email newsletter, podcast and virtual events later in the year.

Nova, the Liverpool-based tech cofoundery have provided us with another great startup to speak to. This time we chat to Georgia Wheadon, Founder of Umii, the app designed to tackle lonliness at uni.

Right now, your customers are likely continuing to be bombarded with emails about COVID-19 — from their local supermarket, pet store, doctor, restaurant, gym, the list goes on — particularly as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.  

The startup bootcamp Renegade Academy from Huckletree is back this September. It’s a 6-day (evenings only) interactive bootcamp for people with a business idea or concept, to help them get it off the ground.

A London-based business growth agency is offering free coaching and mentoring sessions for aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to launch their own startup.

Investment syndicate, Equity Gap is celebrating 10 years as one of Scotland’s most successful angel investment groups with record investment figures and a healthy pipeline of new deals. Meeting the challenge of COVID-19 head on, the syndicate completed 22 investments in the first half of 2020, with total member funds invested since inception topping £20m.

Crowdcube has launched a new flagship secondary product, the Direct Community Offer (DCO). The DCO gives later-stage businesses a way of offering early investors a return on their investment while simultaneously giving new investors a chance to buy a stake in a business they believe in.

Taking single use plastics out of circulation is no easy feat, but the answer might lie closer than we think.