The Startup World Cup regional finals have crowned a new champion. Lithuanian startup Traxlo, with its platform “Tasku.app” – a short-term gig work portal offering flexible tasks in local stores, has won the opportunity to represent Central and Eastern Europe in Silicon Valley’s grand finale and compete for the $1 million prize. The event took place during the Engaged Investments conference, hosted by DEPO Ventures and J&T Ventures in Prague, Czech Republic.

The Access Group, a provider of business management software to mid-market organisations in Europe, USA and Asia Pacific, has announced that it has acquired HireAra, a UK based AI-powered candidate presentation platform that automates the process of formatting and presenting candidate CVs/resumes for recruiters.

UK small business sales growth continued to slow over the last quarter (July to September), not helped by rising late payments times, according to the latest Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) data from Xero, the global small business platform.

Startups often face rapid changes and resource limitations. To grow, and in many cases grow fast, they increasingly rely on external expertise to bridge the gap between in-house capabilities and specific, high-demand skills. Think of trying to build a plane while flying it! This is where freelancers come in.

More than half of C-level leaders (58%) want to ‘completely overhaul’ their approach to data in 2025. That’s according to new research from data streaming platform Confluent.

Xiphera, provider of highly-optimised, hardware-based cryptographic security, has announced its partnership with Crypto Quantique, a provider of quantum-driven IoT device security.

Bendi, the AI-driven platform that helps businesses manage and mitigate business disruption, sustainability challenges and reputational risks in their supply chains, has announced it has raised $1.04 million in pre-seed funding.

Avenue HQ, a flexible workspace provider, has marked its fifth anniversary at St Paul’s Square. A major milestone celebrating half a decade of innovation and growth within the city’s booming business district. The anniversary was commemorated with a whole week of events, bringing together Avenue HQ’s community of current members, alumni and supporters from the local ecosystem.

For yet another edition, Tourism Innovation Summit (TIS) has held the world's largest entrepreneurship competition in the tourism industry. More than 400 startup companies have applied as candidates for the Touristech Startup Fest 2024, of which 40 have been the finalists and have presented their business models in front of investors in Travel Tech in Seville, Spain. This year, the international participation of entrepreneurs has grown with projects from countries such as Spain, Argentina, the United States, Slovakia, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Mexico, Bhutan and Italy.

HP commissioned a survey via YouGov, polling around 1,200 UK workers to understand what keeps them busy at work, and how often they’re able to take lunch breaks. It found that 2 in 5 (40%) surveyed never take an hour-long lunch break, and almost 1 in 3 (30%) would skip lunch to catch up on admin tasks such as compiling meeting notes and filling in time sheets.

70% of UK professionals are struggling to ‘switch off’ from work, an issue which is leaving many unable to relax and even lose sleep over. 

Entrepreneur, early-stage investor and philanthropist Dr Ewan Kirk has called on the Government to introduce a blanket 10-year visa for all STEM graduates in a move to boost entrepreneurship, drive growth, and encourage more of the world’s brightest and best to choose the UK for their graduate and post-graduate STEM education

Auquan, an AI innovator for financial services, has announced a $4.5 million addition to its seed round, led by Peak XV with continued participation from Neotribe Ventures, bringing total seed funding to $8 million.

Fintech startups in recent years have garnered quite a reputation for being the major drivers of financial transformation on the global scale. However, the reality is that far more startups collapse early on then achieve success and make any lasting impact. Even if they survive their first year, around 70% of ventures fall through before reaching the half-a-decade mark.

As an industry analyst and thought leadership advisor, I find that most startups share a form of purposeful myopia – a belief in the inevitability of a product or service. If only buyers and investors understood the vision, they would put their money behind it.

With 51,017 new tech businesses registered in the UK last year, Britain has emerged as a leader of innovation in Europe. In fact, government data from 2021-2022 positions our country as the second-leading nation for startups, preceded only by the US and potentially, by China.

Legacy Compass launches a new crowdfunding campaign to help kick-start its mission to redefine end-of-life planning and support. Harnessing the power of story-telling through an innovative online platform, this Legacy-Tech startup can streamline and unburden end-of-life planning for individuals and families.

ekko and Market Harborough Building Society (MHBS) have joined forces to launch PlanetSaver in a first-of-its kind move for building societies and sustainability focused financial products.

Logical Biological, a provider of biological critical materials for diagnostics, therapeutic research, and IVD reagent manufacture, has settled into larger, upgraded laboratory space at Discovery Park, marking its third move within the science and innovation campus. This expansion reflects the company's remarkable growth, which has seen a 170% increase in international trade over the past three years.

The UK business landscape has a significant number of small and medium-sized businesses. They may not be household names, but they are the invisible hand driving growth, innovation, and productivity. Why, then, do they often miss out on the opportunities offered by global markets?