PitchBook, the data provider for the public and private equity markets, has released 2023 All In: Female Founders in the United States (US) and European Venture Capital (VC) Ecosystems. This is PitchBook’s fifth annual report on the US market and its first European edition, both examining how female founders and investors are stacking up in the broader VC industry.

Ahead of International Women's Day (IWD), new research has uncovered a significant gap in the aspirations and perceived barriers between genders, with girls ten times more likely than boys to feel that their gender would disadvantage them in achieving leadership roles.

Following two years of research and achieving highly positive outcomes across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, FertilAI is set to launch its scientifically validated clinical decision-support platform, Fertilane, along with its patient communication solutions in 10 clinics across the United States.

As the founder of a startup, it’s a scary thought that roughly 60% fail in the first three years. However, the high failure rate of startups can’t be too much of a deterrent for entrepreneurs given that between 2020 and 2022 the number of tech firms in the UK doubled. 

The NHS, and healthcare systems globally, have had to scrutinise how their increasingly scarce resources are being used. At a national level, the NHS is being asked to reduce spending in real terms to bring it closer to pre-pandemic levels, while simultaneously being asked to prioritise tackling the post-pandemic backlog. The system is consistently being expected to strive towards doing more, with less.

As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, startup founders face a growing array of cybersecurity challenges. However, it is often overlooked due to constraints such as budget allocation, time limitations, or expertise required for risk assessments.

Zama, an open-source cryptography company specialising in advanced FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption) solutions to safeguard privacy within the blockchain and AI sectors, announced a £73 million Series A financing round.

Fluent, a data analytics platform transforming the way decision-makers access and use business data, has announced the close of a $7.5 million seed investment round.

Purple Transform, an innovative AI developer focused on enhancing human outcomes, has joined forces with the Olive Ridley Project (ORP) to bolster sea turtle conservation efforts in the Maldives.

Building trust within a workplace is of utmost importance, and managers and business owners need to know how to build trust within their workplace and amongst teams.

Branding can impact a business in all kinds of ways. It can change how your customers and investors see you. It can influence the attitude and approach of your team members. And ultimately, it can shape your personal satisfaction in your business. But for startups, with so much other stuff to pull the attention, branding is easily overlooked, and it can be difficult to know when to start. There are a few key things to keep in mind.

Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, and Mistral AI, a European provider of AI solutions, has announced a global partnership. This collaboration aims to bring Mistral AI’s most powerful language models directly to Snowflake customers in the Data Cloud.

Theia Insights, a deeptech startup based in the UK, founded by former Amazon Alexa scientist and solo entrepreneur, Dr Ye Tian, has secured £6.5 million in funding. This investment is a testament to the growing interest of US venture capital in the UK's innovative technology sector.

If you’re leading a small business or team, time is your most precious commodity.

Vitrue Health, the digital musculoskeletal (MSK) health platform for workplaces, has raised a further $4 millon (£3.2 million) in funding, taking their total raised to $7 million (£5.56 million), to improve the way employers assess, prevent, and treat MSK conditions at work.

Technology which harnesses lightning’s nitrogen-fixing properties could revolutionise fertiliser production and supply, cut carbon emissions and support soil health.

The advertising landscape is undergoing significant changes. Recent data indicates a staggering growth in digital advertising spending, with estimates suggesting it will reach $38 billion in 2024, nearly triple pre-pandemic levels.

In the modern age, large companies are wrestling to leverage their customers’ data to provide ever-better AI-enhanced experiences but a key barrier to leveraging this opportunity is mounting public concern around data privacy, as ever-greater data processing poses risks of data leaks by hackers and malicious insiders.

Up!Rotterdam, alongside over 50 public and private collaborators, is set to host the fifth Upstream Festival on 28th and 29th May 2024.

Businesses continue to face funding difficulties as traditional banks tighten their lending criteria. As a result, business owners will need to stand out from the crowd, and consider their greatest assets, to attract the capital they need to drive growth.