The most influential startup conference in the Alps-Adriatic and Western Balkans region, PODIM, taking place in Maribor, Slovenia, from May 12 to 14, 2025, is entering an exciting new chapter. This year marks a strategic milestone, as Silicon Gardens - a prominent venture capital firm led by entrepreneurs who have scaled and sold their own companies - joins as a co-organiser. The shared vision is clear: to elevate PODIM into a globally recognised platform that connects the region’s most promising startups with top-tier international investors.

Gaming has traditionally been seen as a source of entertainment, competition, or escapism. However, a growing trend is challenging these perceptions: therapeutic gaming. With mixed reality (MR) technology at the forefront, gaming is emerging as a powerful tool for stress relief and self-care – redefining how people approach "me time" in today’s fast-paced world.

New research from iwoca reveals the overwhelming majority of UK SMEs are leveraging social media, as 97% say they use platforms to boost their business.

No one includes this in the business plan, but being an entrepreneur can be emotionally intense. Even the most capable founders doubt their ideas, question their decisions, and wonder if they are truly cut out for the journey.

Bees are revered for their hard work and ‘busy as a bee’ is a common theme throughout culture and society worldwide. To create a single 500 gram jar of honey, honey bees will have collectively visited approximately 2,000,000 flowers. They will have flown 88,000 kilometres and visited up to 100 flowers in a single day. Bees live their lives at a fast pace, and in the summer that’s only about thirty-four days.

Litera, in association with the Technology in M&A Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s M&A Committee, has released new data revealing UK firms currently use AI-based technologies to complete around half (49%) of their Merger & Acquisition (M&A) engagements and 61% at firms where M&A is the majority of their work.

Bridgio Tech Accelerator, in collaboration with Infineon Technologies, is announcing the launch of the second batch of the Industry-Focused Pre-Acceleration Program.

A major cyberattack can send shockwaves through a business, causing severe financial, operational, and reputational damage. While some companies have managed to claw their way back, others may never fully recover. But in a world where cyber threats are a matter of "when, not if," can businesses truly bounce back from a devastating breach?

April is Stress Awareness Month, and this year’s theme is about approaching people with kindness, compassion, and acceptance, no matter what challenges they face. Dr Glenn Mason, Head of Adult Psychological Therapies, Onebright, discusses supporting employees with stress in the workplace

UK fintech startup Altery has announced its partnership with UnionPay International as a principal member, following the official approval on 13th September 2024.

For ambitious startups, 2025 is set to be remembered as a year of regulation whiplash, where rules around the world shift faster than a Series A pitch deck. The pace of AI development is shaking up business, while political turnover from London to D.C. is rewriting the rules, too.

Global marketplace and destination for branded pre-loved fashion, eBay, is investing $300,000 into Refiberd in its ongoing efforts to support fashion startups to scale circular solutions through its global Circular Fashion Fund programme. 

What happens when a software engineer is also an amateur DJ? Dancefloor, the platform that encourages dance music fans to discover new DJs and club nights in their city! “We exist to get people dancing,” explained Ben King, the Founder and CEO of Dancefloor.

As salaries continue to be stretched thin by a high cost of living and with National Insurance tax hikes placing more pressure on company budgets – many professionals are being driven to clock into a ‘5-9’ after their ‘9-5’.

Every great startup begins with a “why.” For viAct, that why echoed loudly across dusty construction sites, roaring factory floors and oil rigs lost on the horizon – “Why are we still risking lives in the age of AI?”

Revenir, the UK fintech specialising in automated tax reclaim solutions, has announced a new partnership with US-based financial technology company, Karta, representing Revenir’s first partnership outside of Europe.

The startup Atacama Biomaterials was the winner of the fourth edition of the Startup Competition of South Summit Brazil, the leading meeting of the entrepreneurial ecosystem co-organised by IE University and the Government of Rio Grande do Sul, which was held between April 9 and 11 in the city of Porto Alegre.

It started with severe insomnia. At my worst, I was only getting two hours of continuous sleep a night, and that’s on the good days. This went on for 18 months. 18 months of broken nights, waking up more exhausted than I’d gone to bed, and trying to navigate my life through a fog of fatigue so intense, I sometimes couldn’t even remember what day it was.

The UK Government is investing £121 million in quantum technology, a novel technology with huge potential, to tackle crime, fraud and money laundering, bolstering the UK’s world-leading research programmes.  

Billions of dollars, pounds, euros, and yen are being poured into the development and productisation of quantum computing, with China hosting an estimated funding of £13.3 billion, Europe at £7.2 billion, the US at £2.1 billion, Japan at £1.8 billion, and the UK at £1.3 billion in 2022.