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.