The COVID-19 pandemic has crippled numerous aspects of our lives, and quickly escalated into one of the most profound healthcare crises’ the world has faced to date. Whilst the health impact has been widely reported across the globe, we are also seeing alarming ripple effects of the pandemic in other areas, which are going unnoticed.

Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK) has unveiled its list of the high growth technology businesses joining the 2020 ‘Scale Up Club’, which celebrates the most ambitious and promising companies in Europe.

The sudden move to working from home has been a challenge for many SMEs. With smaller teams often benefitting from close knit relationships with their colleagues, COVID-19 is forcing many businesses to reconsider their approach to employee wellbeing. In many cases, however, this is easier said than done, with research from Wildgoose finding that nearly half (47%) of employees at SMEs are finding that their mental health has been negatively impacted by the pandemic.

The winners for this year's highly anticipated Diversity in Tech Awards (DITA) in association with Microsoft for Startups have been announced. The virtual event took place yesterday, Tuesday 10th November 2020.

As interest in sustainable investing continues to grow apace, Clim8 Invest (Clim8), a digital investment platform to help consumers invest exclusively in companies focused on tackling the climate crisis, has raised a further £2.4m in funding.

Over 1.5 million UK SMEs have stopped trading internationally this year which could cost the UK £20bn, due to the impacts of COVID-19 and uncertainty around Brexit. New research released by British fintech, Currensea reveals that of the 80% of British SMEs (4.72 million businesses) that trade internationally in any given year, 1.18 million have had to pause directly because of the global pandemic and a further 283,000 because of Brexit.

business mix Limited does two things; we help large organisations operationalise their innovation strategy and, more importantly here, we support startup and SME sized companies with their operational growth. But the sizzle to our sausage is that collaboration is absolutely at the heart of everything we do. We deliver first class services to our clients yes, but we’re a community and network fundamentally. 

Sage has announced five new strategic partnerships that will help small businesses and their accountants stay in control of their business. As a result of the partnerships, the five new and innovative apps, fully integrated with Sage Accounting, will allow small businesses to get compliant, stay organised, get paid fast, gain full visibility of cash flow, and engage their employees.

Looking to start or grow a business? Need to learn the tools and tips for thriving in the digital economy? Want to tap into the exciting world of Startups? If there’s one thing The Festival of Enterprise virtual events are becoming famous for, it’s providing practical suggestions, systems, knowledge and advice that are simply plug’n’play for your business – no matter what you do! 

P4 Precision Medicine Accelerator powered by Barclays Eagle Labs and the UK’s largest healthcare charity, Nuffield Health, has announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the development and adoption of precision medicine innovations into the independent and public sectors of the healthcare system. This partnership aims to deliver better care faster.

The founders of hybe.io are aiming to disrupt the status quo of managed-service mobile programmatic and enable mobile app developers to take control over user acquisition and retargeting through an in-house Demand-Side Platform (DSP). The company utilises the infrastructure and various APIs from its parent company, hybrid.ai, in order to effectively roll out its DSP; which would otherwise be a time-consuming process. Startups Magazine spoke to Vladimir Khudiakov, CEO & Co-Founder of hybe.io to find out more.

Paid is launching to help enterprises transform supplier management with its next-generation procurement platform. Paid announces its £2.2m seed funding round led by top early-stage tech investors Crane Venture Partners, along with participation from Seedcamp, Techstars and notable angel investors, including Angel Invest Ventures’ Jens Lapinski, GoCardless and Nested Founder Matthew Robinson, Outrun Ventures founder Chris Adelsbach (in a personal capacity), and former Microsoft head of corporate strategy, Charles Songhurst.

Despite being arguably one of the UK’s youngest tech sectors, Gaming has risen in prominence in the past five years - employing a combined 47,000 professionals directly and indirectly across related industries (such as merchandising or eSports).

Vantage Health has been selected for the 2020-21 DigitalHealth.London Accelerator programme. One of 20 digital health SMEs selected for the 12-month programme, the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator aims to speed up the adoption of technology in London’s NHS, relieving high pressure on services and empowering patients to manage their health. For every £1 spent on the Accelerator programme, it is estimated £14.50 is saved for the NHS.

The logical place to start when launching a new product is to understand who your customer is and to get inside their heads. What drives them? What excites them or makes their life easier? Where do they hang out, online or in the physical world? What frustrates them?

If your business is doing well in the local market it is normal for the entrepreneur to think of expanding the business internationally to attract new prospects. You will find many advantages of taking your business forward internationally including newer opportunities in the sales and growth sectors and there are more opportunities to make your business more competitive in your niche market.

You’ll have a difficult job browsing content platforms nowadays without coming across articles focusing on - or at least alluding in some way to - the working from home revolution. A whole host of companies, including Twitter, have announced that they will allow staff to continue WFH permanently if they wish, following its success throughout lockdown.

Online payment orchestration innovator, BRIDGE is celebrating success, having been awarded Payment Startup of the Year at the highly-regarded, international Payment Awards 2020.

EIT Digital has awarded the five best European deep tech companies in the online finals of the EIT Digital Challenge scaleup contest 2020.

Amidst a coronavirus second wave, a study has found that 68% of people believe they should ‘reach out’ to carers more often - with 60% of respondents only asking carers how they are ‘now and again’, ‘rarely’ or ‘almost never’; leaving carers at risk of feeling forgotten.