If there’s one thing startup founders can take from 2020, it’s that the future is unpredictable in many ways. With the reminder that unexpected factors can affect plans at any time, a key takeaway is to stay agile and build an organisation that can respond to almost any circumstances.

It goes without saying that in 2020 COVID-19 shook humanity to the very core. Millions lost their lives and even more lost their livelihoods. But even amid all this chaos and uncertainty, there’s one group of people who are somehow still finding possibilities in a pandemic.

The global value of marketplace unicorns has soared by 70% since January 2020, fuelled by a rise in innovation and adoption as a result of COVID and record-breaking levels of VC investment, according to new figures. 

With life in the UK beginning to unlock, many employees will be keen to re-book routine check-ups and medical procedures that were cancelled during the peak of the coronavirus crisis. There is, however, a huge backlog of appointments and GPs are still under an enormous strain.

Absence management platform, e-days, has launched its Absence Risk Profiling Report informed by its work with 5,000+ businesses over the last 10 years. The comprehensive report summarises a decade of anonymised data collected on businesses that are looking to improve absence and compresses years of conversations, analysis, and market statistics into one report.

A brand-new and unique smart banking app that encourages sustainable living is releasing a beta product in the coming weeks to start testing with early users before launching to the wider public this summer.

Here, Startups Magazine speaks to Hristian Nedyalkov, Co-founder and CEO at Novus, the next generation impact-driven sustainable banking app.

Innovation, by its very nature, involves change and disruption. This is undisputed, but many businesses can, naturally, have some reservations about disrupting themselves too much. After all, change can often seem like a scary thing. But businesses have now been forced to change by something well beyond their control. The aptitude to risk has changed and ‘pandemic’ will be referenced in the PESTLE analysis of every university student's dissertation for years to come.

The International Live Events Association (ILEA) has partnered with the first Event Tech Live (ETL) USA and Canada, which takes place next month, spreading show news to its more than 45 branches around the world.

Israeli startup, EVR Motors has unveiled an innovative electric motor, based on a new patented topology, which it calls TSRF (Trapezoidal Stator Radial Flux). The company has successfully developed and tested the first prototypes of its lightweight and compact TSRF motor. EVR expects its new motor architecture will be adapted to a wide range of vehicles in cooperation with automotive OEMs and Tier 1s. A production-ready motor is scheduled to be introduced to the global market later this year.

Addressing climate change requires innovation across the world, across industries, and across startups and multi-national corporations. From distributed energy to storage solutions to efficiency and optimisation software - clean technology investment and innovation is surging.

Today’s consumers are an evolved, diverse and versatile breed with ever-changing expectations. They make educated choices, are equipped with relevant information, and continuously challenge the enterprises they interact with. That said, enterprises that go the extra mile to understand their customers and their customers’ needs have an added advantage.

We’ve all dreamt about handing in our notice and leaving our full-time job to go it alone and start our own business. And, for many, this dream has become a reality, with the world going startup crazy in the last 12-months.

The Hustle Awards 2021 is fast approaching, with applications open and in full swing we have seen so many amazing startups and founders already nominated, but who will be in charge of choosing the best of the best? Well let me introduce you to this years incredible judges...

On any given day, you’ll find Tom, a Deliveroo rider, astride his moped in front of a shuttered unit in an industrial park in Sussex.

These days, finding information is easy since you can always choose to access all of the world’s knowledge from the comfort of your office or house. But getting all that information alone is not sufficient for you to build a profitable venture, discover new investors, and develop an outstanding product.

Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, has awarded a Smart Grant to deep tech startup electronRx to support the development of their novel period pain relief technology, Ohmm.

More than a year after COVID fuelled stockpiling of necessities and grocery staples, we still see empty supermarket shelves. Many assume this is because of an increased focus on online sales by the large grocers, especially in the US.

When my business partner, Jack, and I started UnderPinned in August 2018, we had countless images of what running a startup would look like. Time has shown that many of them were poorly conceived. Some, downright fanciful. It’s only been two and half years, but it feels like aeons ago now, and I’ve often thought back to that time, wondering what I would tell myself if I could hop into a time-machine and talk to a younger, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Albert.

Today (6th May) marks World Password Day. Since 2013, the first Thursday of May each year marks World Password Day, promoting better password habits to stay safe online.