Some uncertainty remains with businesses who deal with the EU on the provision relating to data after the end of the transition period on 31st December. The UK government stance is that GDPR is and will remain engrained in UK law during the transition period and into 2021.

StartUp Studio, a growth programme for early stage tech startups in the South West of England, has been launched. Tech South West has teamed up with virtual accelerator, Activate and startup advisor, Skowt Consulting to provide fully-funded opportunities for up to 30 pre-seed companies a year to progress their business through the programme, and then pitch to regional, UK and global investors.

Angel Business Club will address the mental impact of laying the foundations for business success as its Insights Series returns on Wednesday, 13th January. The webinar, titled ‘The Mental Cost of Building a Business’ will be hosted by CEO of fintech app, SimplyPayMe, Kent Vorland.

In this article, Tim Hardcastle, CEO and Co-founder of INSTANDA, shares what he thinks will be top of mind for insurers in 2021 and why technology will be critical.

Manufacturers supported by Made Smarter, the movement helping SMEs join the Industry 4.0 revolution, are forecasting the creation of more than 750 new jobs from £12.6m of technology investment.

Cyprus is wooing would-be investors to the island by massively speeding up the process allowing third-country nationals to establish new businesses there.

SME fleet telematics specialist, Vimcar, has been ranked the 20th fastest-growing technology company in Germany by global professional services network, Deloitte.

InMotion, Jaguar Land Rover’s venture capital and mobility services arm, has invested in blockchain technology firm, Circulor.

The data from Close Brothers Asset Finance’s latest research of 900 senior members of the SME business community is now available on its free-to-use SME Data Hub.

Recycleye, the intelligent waste management startup, has secured £1.2m in seed funding, led by venture capital investors MMC Ventures and Playfair Capital, with participation from leading funds Atypical Ventures, Creator Fund, and eolos.

Healthcare technology company, Vantage Health has announced that its AI-powered platform, Rego, has been shortlisted for ‘Local COVID-19 Response Partnership Award’ at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2021. The shortlisting recognises Vantage Health’s dedication to improving healthcare and effective collaboration with the NHS, through Rego’s role in managing hospital outpatient attendances during the pandemic.

Three in five bosses (60%) say that the pandemic has unexpectedly impacted the productivity of their workforce in a positive way, according to new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance, with one in five saying their staff are now more independent since working from home (20%). 

A growing digital marketing analytics platform has been crowned as one of the winners of a prestigious award recognising the very best innovations that the tech industry has to offer.

As COVID-19 continues to impact mental health and access to treatment in the UK, medical device company Flow is reporting a 247% increase in sales of its at-home, brain stimulation headset treatment for depression with 30% of its users overcoming depression during the pandemic.

Running a startup is challenging - it involves wearing many different hats and having to deal with multiple decisions and challenges every day. If we work in a cluttered and disorganised environment on top of this, it can make us feel overwhelmed and stressed. Disorganisation can make it harder to prioritise tasks, focus on important decisions and think creatively.

The current epidemic has created a world of isolation we are rapidly becoming rather familiar with. The use of words like quarantine, face masks and social distancing are part of our daily vocabulary and with that both business and consumer behaviour has seen a dramatic change in activity. With all that said, none of us want to sit back and let our businesses idle. In this very moment we are seeing new startups launch the world over (The Guardian, 19 Nov) as many take advantage of government advice to stay at home as an opportunity to pick up dormant inventions, push for new patents and contribute back to society in these tough and trying times.

A/O PropTech, Europe’s largest proptech VC, will be the first venture capital firm to join the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a member of its Global Innovators Community.

Carbon13 is the venture builder for the climate emergency, supporting startups geared at reducing CO2e emissions; by 2025, its mission is to help 1,000 entrepreneurs build 150 startups, each of which has the potential to reduce emissions by at least 10 million tonnes per annum.

One of the common mistakes of start-up founders is trying to micromanage by insisting everything is controlled internally. This has the effect of slowing down progress. Busy start-ups need to decide what activities are important to conduct in-house by their employees and others that can be safely outsourced to a third-party.

FirstGroup has selected BRIDGE’s payment orchestration platform to achieve greater resilience and control in managing e-payment transactions. BRIDGE technology has initially been deployed across the FirstGroup’s online ticketing for UK bus travel, with plans to encompass the company’s mobile app channel and rail ticketing systems.