One hundred tech startups and scaleups across the UK, Ireland, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand have been announced as innovation finalists in the annual Super Connect for Good Competition.

His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE, and President of DIFC, today announced the launch of the Dubai FinTech Summit, a global event that will bring together more than 5,000 experts, thought leaders, policymakers and decision-makers in Dubai to discuss how they can shape a new wave of innovation, enterprise and growth for the international financial industry.

New research1 from the UK’s leading insurance premium finance company, Premium Credit, shows SMEs are most likely to raise prices for customers as they attempt to address soaring energy bills.

The current environment is one of increased regulation and scrutiny, which has led to increased pressure on firms’ CFOs and COOs to manage their risks more effectively. This posed many interesting points of discussion and questions that were answered by seasoned experts, Christopher Parmo, Mirela Brox Montell, Bernd Eckel, Martin Kodar, Andrew Hampshire, Maximilian Fleitmann, and Christopher Conradi.

The UK Government’s 2022 tech scale-ups programme, the Tech Rocketship Awards, reached its conclusion today. The Awards identified the brightest and best tech companies and will accelerate the global growth of its winners, through curated programmes connecting them with the UK’s ecosystem of investors, incubators and High Potential Opportunity (HPO) clusters.

With many UK singletons looking to ‘reset’ their relationship and dating lives, amongst a sea of challenging online behaviour, fake profiles, and inauthentic connection, ZiP Video Dating app has launched with a promise of ‘what you see, is what you get’ - via in-app video profiling designed to combat ‘catfishing’, inaccurate imagery and promote inclusivity and safety.

The nature of software as a service (SaaS) means software businesses of all sizes can launch subscriptions or digital services to a global audience from day one, quickly leading to hyper-growth if done successfully.

Samir Parkash, interim CEO of UKEF, has today announced that Virgin Money is the latest financial institution to be onboarded onto the General Export Facility (GEF), opening up access to financial support to their business customers.

SonX is a content platform that enables musicians to monetise and grow their existing fanbase via premium content subscriptions.

Impact Brixton, a community-led co-working space dedicated to creating real social impact, is pleased to announce the launch of its Virtual Office. To celebrate, it's giving local entrepreneurs up to 12 months free. 

SPORTSESSION.COM has launched a sports coaching platform which provides simple and streamlined access to find a sports coach in a sport of your choice. It is available across the UK and enables access to over 1,400 coaches across 64 different sports. 

If anyone had suggested only a few years ago that it is a realistic proposition to float a psychedelics company on any of the London markets that suggestion would likely have been met with derision. Commentators would have pointed to a lack of understanding and therefore acceptance of psychedelics in the investment community and to potential problems under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

constellr, a space data and services company building the world’s first globally scalable crop water monitoring system to help ensure global food security, today announces $10M in seed funding. Lakestar and VSquared co-led the financing round, with participation from early and new supporters FTTF, IQT, Amathaon Capital, Natural Ventures, EIT Food, OHB Venture Capital, Next Humanity, and Seraphim. With this investment, constellr will develop its first two satellites, conclude its existing pilot programs and develop its processing platform. 

In advance of Stress Awareness Week (7-11 November), one Brighton-based business is sharing their experience of allowing dogs in the office to help reduce stress.

A government call for the UK to future-proof its economy by investing in cutting-edge green technologies has been welcomed by the boss of a solutions company.

iDenfy, the AI-powered identity verification and fraud prevention software provider, announced that it will be joining forces with MGID, a global advertising platform. With iDenfy’s IDV solution, MGID will ensure a secure onboarding process for its growing customer base.

HumanForest are pleased to reconnect its environmentally conscious community with Earth & Wheat, to promote the need to reduce food waste and the positive impact it can have on the planet.


 

Morrison Foerster, a leading global law firm, today announced the results of its annual Tech M&A Survey, which reveals dealmakers are cautiously optimistic about 2023 and view 2022 as a year of reset. Through the first three quarters of 2022, tech, media, and telecom (TMT) deals announced worldwide were worth a combined $887.4 billion, which is behind 2021’s historic run but well ahead of 2020 and the years preceding. The new Morrison Foerster survey report, Cutting Edge: Tech M&A Is Powering Deal Markets, in conjunction with Mergermarket, also shows that the top driver for tech M&A deals over the next 12 months will be keeping pace with technological advances, mitigating risk through joint venture and club deals, and addressing concerns around antitrust, ESG, and shareholder activism.

Today (2nd November), cloud-based business phone system, CircleLoop, releases the ‘Recession-proof Index’, a new ONS data analysis which finds that businesses launching within the Health industry are likely to have the best chance of surviving the current recession, according to trends uncovered during the 2008 recession.

Plexal, the innovation company and co-working space, has opened a new office space in Shoreditch to support the growth of Hackney’s local business community.