In 2024 it will be 40 years since The Terminator movie hit the cinema screens. Next year another Hollywood icon, The Matrix, will mark its 25-year anniversary. Both films gave birth to decades-long franchises that delivered tremendous commercial success.

Are you stepping into the fundraising ring with the right moves?

Our new report, ‘Venture fundraising landscape Q3-23’ (compiled through interviews with 40 UK-based early-stage investors), has identified some fascinating misalignments between the expectations of investors and realities of what founders are delivering when it comes to early-stage funding.

BGF, one of the largest and most experienced growth capital investors in the UK and Ireland, has become a certified UK B Corporation (B Corp).

In the late 1990s it seemed that only Fortune 500 brands (or those heavily funded) could afford to advertise on television. With TV’s reach being astronomical, no other distribution platform came close. With only a relatively few that wanted TV commercials, it was otherwise quite unheard of in the realms of B2B marketing.

PowerUP Energy Technologies, formerly specialising in portable hydrogen fuel cell generators, announces a strategic pivot to offer a hybrid solution to its clients.

The Royal Countryside Fund, in partnership with Forest Holidays, is excited to announce the opening of applications for the Rural StartUp Fund, now in its fourth year. This year, a total of £5,000 is available, which can be awarded to either a single winning business or divided among several rural startups.

Jargon is divisive, especially in business. Some embrace it – there’s nothing they like more than to touch base, deep dive or circle back. Then there are those who are seemingly revulsed by these workplace idiosyncrasies. Such phrases are readily mocked, easy fodder as they are for any satire of crap management.

AI tools are affecting more and more aspects of our lives. Some problems they can solve are part of the startup creation process. To test the idea of the possibility of launching a startup without a team, only with the help of AI, an experimental acceleration programmeme called “My Roboteam” was held this summer.

Raw Ventures, a Venture Fund in Europe specialising in MediaTech innovation, has unveiled a bi-weekly online pitching programme exclusively for early-stage MediaTech startups.

Return, the Dutch renewable energy project development investor, has announced that they have closed a €100 million investment earmarked for expanding its solar and utility-scale storage pipeline and portfolio.

CorrActions, an Israeli startup specialising in AI-driven driver safety, recently concluded a highly successful Series A funding round, securing $7.25 million.

It’s not an easy time to get investment. Interest rates are stubbornly high and show no sign of coming down soon. Recent ONS data suggests capital formation is at its lowest point since the financial crash in 2008.

Extraordinary women from across the country were unveiled as the 2023 finalists in the everywoman Entrepreneur Awards, UK’s longest-running recognition programme for female entrepreneurs. One of these amazing women was Marie Owen, Founder of LS Productions, who was a finalist in the Scale Up category.

Over 27% of British small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have reported being owed between £5,000 and £20,000 in unpaid invoices, according to research by Payit, NatWest’s award-winning open banking payments solution.

Rachel Delacour, the CEO of Sweep, has compiled a list of her predictions for the Climate Tech sector in 2024. 

Mika, an international digital therapeutics company, and Recordati Rare Diseases, a global pharmaceutical firm, have initiated a partnership focusing on enhancing treatment for patients with idiopathic Multicentric Castleman's Disease (iMCD).

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) announced that Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger will keynote at CES 2024. On 9th January, alongside CNBC Nasdaq correspondent Kristina Partsinevelos, Gelsinger will discuss the critical roles that silicon and software play in making AI more accessible, providing powerful compute and enabling modern economies.

The beginning of December marks the start of advent. For many this a period of joy. However, it also tends to be an incredibly busy, stressful, and worrying time with financial concerns, time pressures, and workload issues proving problematic.

According to research, almost 80% of startup founders say that networking is vital to their entrepreneurial success. Similarly, in a study of small business owners, almost 95% said that having a mentor was a key to their success. For startups especially, the value of building strong industry relationships can’t be understated.

Housr, the startup focusing on student accommodation, recently announced the launch of a £5 million funding round aimed at expanding its operations in the UK and USA.