Skype, the platform once synonymous with video calls, shocked the world by shutting down after 22 years. How is it possible that a once-dominant business – with more than 300 million users at its peak – could fail?

I still remember learning history in school, memorising dates, cramming timelines, trudging through dry textbook passages. It was boring and ineffective. Mostly, I remember not understanding why any of it mattered.

The modern startup moves fast – testing, iterating, pivoting. But one thing that doesn’t change is the need to connect with customers in simple, scalable ways. And in 2025, there’s one underrated tool that’s quietly becoming essential across industries: the QR code.

UK startups are facing one crisis after another, from the lack of investment opportunities and access to talent, to economic and political uncertainties, scaling a business is becoming increasingly difficult. A recent report found that Series A funding has slumped £500 million over the past 12 months to March 2025 – hitting a seven-year low.

Dan Thomson, Founder and CEO of AI startup Sensay, has urged governments worldwide to deploy AI in their policymaking, as the firm launches the world's first AI-powered government to experiment with new cutting-edge ways of developing policy. 

AI’s reliance on existing material to generate content raises a number of thorny intellectual property issues, both legal and ethical. When sourcing material to complete its tasks, AI does not distinguish between content protected by intellectual property law and content that isn’t. As a result, there is a genuine risk that AI systems could produce infringing material. If your business uses that content, you could face legal action and a claim for financial compensation.

In the March/April 2025 issue of Startups Magazine, we introduced four startups that we believe are the ones to watch in the deeptech space.

Humanoid robots. Whether you love them, or they send a shiver down your spine, they are here to stay. With the release of multiple humanoids from big tech companies, from Tesla’s Optimus to Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, a whole host of startups are coming to the forefront of the humanoid revolution. With faster decision making, and a faster time to market, startups are well-placed to lead the rise of humanoids.

Amos Miller is the CEO and Co-Founder of Glidance, a startup that has developed Glide, the world’s first autonomous, self-guided mobility aid designed for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Imagine being able to control your smart home with a small twitch of your jaw, or being able to control a fighter jet with that same motion. But there’s no longer a need to just imagine. This technology exists, and it’s connecting more people to technology than ever before, thanks to startup Naqi Logix.

Humanoid, a London-based robotics company, has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to accelerate robotic capabilities by integrating NVIDIA accelerated computing, advanced simulation tools, and next-generation Edge processing technologies for developing its humanoid robot.

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, in collaboration with Mergermarket, has released the third edition of its annual Global M&A trends and risks report, examining the trends shaping dealmaking around the world and including a survey of 200 top-level executives that took place across Q1 and Q2 of this year.

Owen Clater, an 18-year-old entrepreneur, is emerging as one of the UK’s youngest employers, as the Founder and CEO of Becks & Clates, a marketing and technology agency.

Autonomous AI is no longer simply a concept of the future – it’s here, and it’s already transforming how we build, test, and deploy software. As the CEO of an AI-powered company, I've seen firsthand how agentic AI, which independently designs, executes, and optimises workflows, can deliver exponential gains. Many of these are in productivity, especially in repetitive, rule-based domains around software testing.

Rimac Technology, a technology supplier to the automotive industry, engineered, designed and seamlessly integrated the cutting-edge battery system, e-axles, and electronic control units for the Bugatti Tourbillon hyper sports cars.

While innovation and ambition are not bound by gender, the systems that support early-stage business growth too often are. Securing investment is a critical milestone for a startup, but the pathway is often uneven for founders.

One of the starkest contrasts between the wealthy and the financially constrained has always been convenience – specifically, the ability to delegate. As people move up the economic ladder, they tend to shift from doing things themselves to paying others to handle them. Today, thanks to artificial intelligence, that same privilege is being democratised.

Silicon Brighton proudly presents EVOLVE [25], one of the largest industry-wide tech summits in the South of England, taking place at the iconic Brighton Dome (4th July 2025). This one-day event is set to become a milestone in the UK’s technology landscape, bringing together the brightest minds and most innovative ideas from across the country in the heart of the UK’s very own Silicon Valley – Silicon Brighton. 

Ask a Brit how much they earn, and you’re likely to be met with awkward laughter or a change of subject. But while we’re famously tight-lipped about pay, that cultural discretion is being quietly eroded, at least on job ads. In fact, UK employers are now leading the way in Europe when it comes to salary transparency in job postings.

As digital healthcare continues to transform patient care, UK medtech companies eyeing the US market must navigate a complex regulatory landscape – chief among them, HIPAA compliance. While the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is well understood in Europe, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) presents a distinct and critical framework for protecting patient data in the United States.