This year’s Growth Programme is the largest and most international yet

Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day at Startups Magazine, and we’re taking the opportunity to rank the top 10 relationship apps for all aspects of your life, with all your connections.

“One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don't choose your passions; your passions choose you.” These are stirring words from Jeff Bezos, one of the richest and most successful entrepreneurs in the world. And although I don’t doubt that passion was a big part of his decision to build the Amazon brand or become one of the few people to travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere – I don’t consider passion as the main driver in achieving success.

Many startups think PR is out of reach for them – they think that they need big budgets for a PR agency, or a little black book of contacts, a huge amount of time or they need to wait until their business is bigger. But in my experience, this isn’t the case – there are ways that start-up businesses can bootstrap their PR whilst achieving great results that help to build their brand, drive sales, help their SEO, create trust triggers and get them talked about by the right people in front of their target audience.

With nearly a third of employees expected to look for a new job in the first half of this year1, and employment confidence continuing to soar2, competition for the best talent is rife.

Peppy, the digital health platform has analysed Google search data to determine the most frequently Googled queries relating to menopause and the workplace during 2021.

Anthony Collias and Jacob Wedderburn-Day’s entrepreneurial journey began with sending an ambitious cold email (which they found online) to one of the UK’s top CEOs.

Treepoints, the startup hoping to revolutionise the fight against climate change has raised £150,000 in a round led by Charlotte Street Capital and including decorated Olympians Alistair Brownlee and Jonny Brownlee. 

The additional funding from Octopus Ventures will be used to additional growth funding to support continued international and market expansion 

Growth continues to be the top reason for SMEs accessing finance, with even more brokers (43%) citing this as the most common SME loan purpose.

SuperSeed is a London based seed-stage venture capital firm investing in startups focusing on business and industrial automation. The firm has now completed the first closing at £31m of its Fund II, which will target a final close of £50m.

60% are likely to change jobs within the year; but many could be convinced to stay with flex schedules or hybrid work options

In anticipation of the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper, BidNow the end to end procurement service offering unlimited bid writing service for SMEs, has launched.

With Cloud Software and SaaS set to dominate 70% of the market by 2025, Notion Capital’s Cloud Challengers report highlights the boom in Cloud and SaaS adoption, and the extent of the war for talent

Using advanced computer vision and machine learning, the agricultural platform is expanding Wavemaker Labs’ AgTech portfolio  

There is no denying that the modern workforce is more generationally diverse than ever before - As Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) starts to enter the workforce at speed, companies will need to adapt in order to support, recruit and retain this new wave of talent.

‘Flexible working’ has moved from buzzword to fundamental for SMEs in 2022. We have seen that the physical office still holds a crucial role in facilitating this norm.

53% of people won’t work for an employer they thought was unethical

The ever-increasing evolution of technology over the last several years has made it more possible than ever for companies to transition to a remote workforce. While it may have been daunting at first, many businesses are beginning to see the cost-effective and positive environmental benefits of a digital workspace, so it appears that this setup is here to stay.

During the summer over 400,000 people found new roles within the UK. Whether it is taking advantage of the booming job market and moving on into higher positions, making a career switch following the pandemic, or simply leaving the workforce, millions are changing jobs or have plans to over the coming months.