I have always considered startups an underutilised asset in manufacturing when it comes to furthering technological innovation. A survey of 100 manufacturing leaders by the Digital Catapult last year found that only 25% said that collaborating with start-ups was a priority in their short- and long-term business strategies, despite 82% reporting that they considered working with startups a way of accelerating digital transformation. In many situations startups offer access to a level of out-of-the-box thinking that is harder to come by in-house, and this is increasingly relevant in my industry.

The second edition of the global FoodTech Challenge, that seeks to find the next wave of technology innovations on the cusp of transforming traditional agriculture practices, efficiently and sustainably, was launched at the EXPO2020 Dubai, and 4th of April 2022, unveils the competition's pooled prize amount of $2m.

Leading Land Rover Defender specialist Twisted has taken the next step in expanding operations in the Middle East, with the opening of a new assembly workshop in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Twisted USA-LLC Group division of North Yorkshire-based Twisted Automotive, was launched by entrepreneur and CEO Tom Maxwell in April 2020 and owns the licenses for Twisted North America, Twisted Middle East and Twisted EV. 

On Tuesday 26th April, 2022, Playfair Capital and 125 of the world’s leading venture capital funds, including Accel, Atomico, Balderton, Cherry, Creandum, Dawn, Notion, LocalGlobe, Point9, Octopus and Seedcamp will be holding remote office hours for more than 300 female founders from across Europe.

A common pain point for many SMEs is the misalignment between the Sales, Marketing, and Product functions. It usually grows with time and the company's size: Product Management gets attracted by features and technology, Marketing by social engagement, Sales by "quick wins". The ones who lose are the Customers, with a spiralling effect on the company performance.

I still have to pinch myself when I think about the AlphaBetty Doodles NFT project turning over £3m. I’m a mother of two who didn’t think I was good enough to illustrate the children’s books I had written…and yet I’ve been able to donate tens of thousands of pounds to children’s causes after the initial sale of my ‘Betties’ on the AlphaBetty Doodles NFT project.  

Startups are early-stage businesses that attempt to grow with large-scale solutions. With most startup companies, fundraising is a crucial element that transforms them from a small team of entrepreneurs into a large outfit with widespread products or services. When should a startup consider funding? What should startups have before they look for fundraising from venture capitalists or investors?

Founded by James Lemon in 2020, the global hospitality platform Otolo helps professionals from the industry connect, learn from each other, share knowledge, attend events and now sign up for accredited coaching and mentoring CPD courses.

Cloud robotics specialist Vaarst has announced that it has closed on the first $20m of its Series B round led by energy transition investor Legal & General Capital, alongside the venture capital arm of the international energy company Equinor.

Aerospace Xelerated is a three-month, funded accelerator for software startups capable of moving the aerospace industry forward. It is interested in innovative startups within the assured autonomy, autonomous navigation, generative design, smart maintenance, adaptive learning and reduced workload areas. The programme is open to startups around the world.

Disruptive blockchain technology company StrikeX has hit a major milestone with the celebration of its first anniversary. Started in the depths of the UK's third Covid-19 lockdown in March 2021 by co-founders Joe Jowett, CEO, and Kishan Vadgama, CCO, StrikeX was born with a vision to democratise the investment industry and empower retail investors.

Starting a business is a rewarding yet challenging endeavour that requires hard work, dedication and, in many cases, a lot of luck.

R&D is a valuable relief the UK government offers in order to incentivise businesses to innovate and enhance productivity. The scheme is widely underutilised and over the course of several budgets the Chancellor of the Exchequer has sought to widen the scope for claiming this relief.  The most recent changes he made will be implemented from April 2023.

In cooperation with the University of Vienna, Arcletic developed a new technology to measure mental performance. Now they bring these mental trainings from elite sports to all high performers smartphones, as a gamified freemium app.

Azimo, a cross border payment startup founded in 2012, focused on low value remittances from Europe to more than 190 countries, has been bought global payroll management firm Papaya Global

Builder.ai has announced an investment of $100m in a Series C funding round led by Insight Partners, a New York-based global venture capital and private equity firm. The round, which brings the company’s total funding to $195m across three total rounds, includes participation from existing investors in combination with new individual and institutional names that include the IFC & Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo.  

MISSION, the incubator programme for early-stage startups with purpose, today opens for applications.

A collaboration between Garage Beer Co, Vaayu and Seareg Project sees total emissions generated by the production of ‘Blau’ compensated for through local community-led initiatives to protect and regenerate the Mediterranean sea. 

Climate change investor, Climate VC, has launched to exert a gigatonne scale impact on climate change in the next decade and influence a sea change in the way the venture capital sector approaches climate investing.

The vast majority of London tech companies still have hardly any female or BIPOC representation at board level, according to new research released today by Tech London Advocates.