The flexible working landscape continues to evolve and shift here in the UK. With that comes fresh opportunities, but also challenges for startups and SMEs, says Firmin Zocchetto, CEO at PayFit.

Founders and small business owners are burning out at alarming rates. According to a report by Startup Snapshot in April 2023, 72% of startup founders reported a detrimental impact on their mental health.

Streamkap, a real-time data streaming provider, secured $3.3 million in seed and pre-seed funding led by InReach Ventures, with contributions from TEN13, Haatch Ventures, and Begin Capital. The funding round also saw participation from angel investors with roles at Datadog, Anthropic, and Clickhouse.

Checkly, a company in synthetic monitoring powered by Monitoring as Code (MaC) and Playwright, has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Balderton Capital. Notable contributions also came from existing investors Accel, CRV, and Paul H. Müller.

At an event in Paris, Alibaba.com announced its partnership as the first worldwide Olympic and Paralympic e-commerce partner to join the Athlete365 Business Accelerator programme's fourth edition. This International Olympic Committee (IOC) led initiative aimed to aid athletes in their dual-career and career-transition phases by equipping them with entrepreneurial skills.

Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly becoming the new black. We are seeing how numerous businesses across the world are racing to win in the AI game by inventing their own solutions or integrating existing ones in operations. But here’s the twist.

The startup landscape in the UK is experiencing a resurgence, with UK startups raising $3.9 billion in Q1 of 2024. This marks a significant recovery, positioning the UK as one of the best scaleups and startup hubs in Europe.

Cardiff-based travel platform Lovetovisit, which aids users in discovering and booking local attractions, experiences, and events, has secured £3.2 million in venture capital funding to facilitate its growth. Leading the funding round were Venrex and Redrice Ventures, with participation from Active Partners, Velocity Partners, and angel investors.

A lover of the natural world and a lifelong academic of the quantum field, Sabrina Maniscalco stands at the forefront of quantum technologies as one of its brightest minds. Alongside fellow researchers Guillermo García-Perez, Matteo Rossi, and Boris Sokolov, she founded Algorithmiq to solve life sciences’ biggest questions utilising quantum computing.

Diversity is a word we hear a lot in the context of business and unfortunately, it’s still often used as a tick box exercise for what a company 'should' be doing. This typically means a business and its leaders do not recognise the value a diverse, multicultural team can bring to the business.

South Summit, the benchmark meeting for the entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem, continues to take steps to ensure that innovation and entrepreneurship are available to everyone. In this sense, South Summit has updated its website so that people with disabilities can navigate with full accessibility and without barriers.

Almost £1.5 trillion of global economic value is lost every year through poor contract management. Simply put, the way firms manage their agreements is broken. Small businesses should review how they create, commit, and manage documents as part of their agreement processes if they want to reclaim opportunities for efficiency and growth.

SMEs often face the challenge of generating quality leads to fuel their growth. Unlike large corporations with vast marketing budgets, SMEs must be savvy and strategic to attract potential customers. Here are some practical and effective strategies SMEs can implement to boost their lead generation.

Social media is one of the leading ways that small businesses can generate customers and sales. In fact, recent research revealed that over a quarter (28%) of small businesses in the UK now generate more sales from social media than from any other channel, including e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar stores.

New analysis by the O3 platform, an AI-powered venture classification tool from the University of Oxford and OpenOcean, has uncovered surprising trends in the UK's AI startup funding landscape. Contrary to popular belief, between 2012 and 2021, AI startups outside London received higher average funding than those within the capital.

Definely, a LegalTech firm based in the UK, recently secured a £585,000 grant from Innovate UK to propel its AI-driven solutions for the legal sector.

Network X, the world’s most comprehensive event for the telecommunications industry, will return this October to bring together industry experts to network, connect, and discuss some of the biggest issues and innovations in the field to date.

Network X – the world’s most comprehensive event for the B2B telco industry – has released the first look at the agenda, sessions, and big names joining the highly anticipated Network X Headliners Stage 2024. The Network X Headliners offers a unique opportunity for attendees to gain insights from leading figures and stay informed on emerging technologies and their impact on the future of telecoms.

Network X, the global event for the B2B telecommunications industry, returns to Paris this October, uniting the brightest minds and biggest innovators shaping the future of connectivity.

Flo Health, one of the most downloaded women's health apps globally, has secured over $200M in a Series C funding round from General Atlantic. This investment boosts Flo's valuation beyond $1 billion, making it the first digital women's health app to achieve unicorn status.