The Secret Leaders Podcast is now launching its sixth season (starting with John Cleese), Secret Leaders has rapidly grown into one of the UK’s most popular business podcasts (often ranking number 1 according to Apple). Hosted by serial founder Dan Murray-Serter whose entertaining but intimate style allows him to elicit surprising and personal revelations from his guests, and here we get a chance to read about some of the first episode.

Private equity firm, Grafton Capital has invested £7m into Third Financial, the fast growing, innovative investment platform and software provider. Grafton Capital’s investment takes it to majority ownership of the business, with £1.5m of fresh capital being injected onto the balance sheet.

Spike Global, a UK-based PropTech company, has grown it’s client list by an impressive 120% in the last 9 months, despite market difficulties. Alongside new clients, Spike is also expanding into new developments from existing clients including Wardian London, EcoWorld Ballymore’s residential led development in Canary Wharf.

Allica Bank has seen a surge in demand for new business lending since the national lockdown ended, and has just reached the joint milestone of issuing over £250m of approvals in principle in 2020, and over £100m in committed loan offers since June to established SMEs across the UK.

New research published by Sage plc and Capital Economics finds that unlocking SME digital investment will be critical in helping small and medium size businesses remain resilient as a wave of local lockdowns trigger ongoing uncertainty - and could also deliver major benefits to the UK economy.

You might not think that self-promotion has a close connection to innovation. However, research proves that there is a connection between self-promotion, growth mindset and in turn, innovation.

Quizlet, the global learning platform and app known for its engaging AI-powered revision tools, announces the launch of its GCSE Resource Centre - a new and completely free, comprehensive online bank of revision resources based on exam board specifications.

Computer vision has established itself as a worthy addition in a gamut of industries. Including automobile, education, healthcare, e-commerce, agriculture and more. It has managed to create a niche segment for itself, making it an absolute essential for industries to maintain their position staunchly in the market. Here ICarta Technologies delves into the world of computer vision, particularly in automation.

As parts of the UK continue to enter regional lockdown and Government incentives to support the economy start to peter out, SMEs across the country have been making the most of well-established Government schemes by claiming £5.1bn in R&D tax relief.

Flexa is very excited to announce that they have successfully raised £250,000 from a consortium of international and domestic investors, including renowned angel investors Simon Franks and Douglas Choi. The round is being led by venture capital firm, QVentures. The funds will be used to support the scaling up of Flexa’s flexible working platform.

In business, it is always important to react to changing circumstances and this has never been more true than in 2020. Regular readers will know that I have written a lot this year about adapting and pivoting but this week I wanted to look at something that can be an aspect of that but also has an impact on most other aspects of business – speed.

What can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer by up to 50% and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%? It's free, easy to take, has an immediate effect and you don't need a GP to get some. The answer? Exercise. So says the NHS website anyways.

OurCrowd and SALT, a global thought leadership forum and networking platform encompassing finance, technology and geopolitics, will broadcast the SALT Talks: Pandemic Venture Investment Series online starting 29th October.

Vantage Health has announced the full-service launch of AI-powered referral platform, Rego. The first eRS compatible solution to be deployed in the NHS, Rego provides automated GP referrals in one efficient system, which reduces the complexity of outpatient pathway guidance and eliminates manual triage processes.

BrainBox AI has announced a deal with AMP Capital to deploy its Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology across the global investment management company’s entire managed real estate portfolio. AMP Capital, one of the largest investment managers in APAC, now becomes the first organisation in the world to install an autonomous AI HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system across its managed real estate portfolio, which includes central business district office buildings, retail shopping centres and logistics facilities throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Focus group research conducted by e-days, the Nottingham-based global absence intelligence company, has revealed that ‘wellbeing’ is the most popular area of investment for HR leaders as we move into 2021.

Comstor, a Cisco distributor and part of Westcon-Comstor, has announced the immediate availability of the recently launched new Cisco Business Dashboard and Cisco Business Switch solutions as part of its Cisco Designed portfolio.

Bespoke protein and vitamin provider, Personalised Co, has announced the launch of its £300k funding round on Seedrs, to support its rapid growth. Following a successful round in 2019, this latest campaign has already secured over half of its investment target in its early stages.

Knowledgehook, the comprehensive mathematics learning platform, has raised £13.5m Series A equity funding, led by a UK-based EdTech investment fund with participation from Mesoamerica’s Alexandria Corp., Nelson Education, Ideal Ventures, and Nicoya Ventures.