When most people think of startups, they picture hip loft offices, beanbags and charismatic CEOs with boundless enthusiasm and a seat-of-the-pants attitude. While this may be the case for some new businesses, particularly within tech, the picture for many startups is starkly different.

We Are F, the social media and creative boutique for female-founded brands, has connected a team of NHS GPs with the PPE they urgently require - following a campaign to raise funds for the NHS.

Businesses in the UK, and across the world, are facing unprecedented challenges in order to survive and thrive in the wake of COVID-19. Scaling businesses are facing an additional and unique set of challenges, as many will be in the ‘critical growth’ phase which is often loss-making – embarking on a stage of expansion in order to achieve future revenue growth. This makes the current climate daunting to approach.

It’s no secret that being a founder is a tough ask. However, you’d be hard pushed to find an entrepreneur that has had to overcome as much adversity as Nour Mouakke, Founder of Wizme, a meeting and group booking management technology solution for venues, intermediaries and organisations that provides end-to-end automation of the booking process.

Autonomous machine vision pioneer, Inspekto, is one step closer to having a strong presence on US soil upon striking up a partnership with the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator.

Applied Blockchain has completed a £2m funding round lead by Hong Kong based venture capital firm, QBN Capital. The newly-injected funds will be invested in developing a platform using privacy enhancing technologies to help companies to collaborate and generate meaningful outcomes together, without having to share any of their data.

Seven Italian startups selected to participate in Israel's first accelerator program for Italian startups could not have imagined in early January that the coronavirus pandemic would spread so rapidly and inflict such deadly damage to their country and around the world during their stay in Eilat.

The longer the coronavirus lockdown goes on, the more my conversations with startups have varied from the norm. Just another example of ‘the new normal’ maybe, but recently I keep overhearing conversations comparing being in lockdown as being similar to being under siege. 

With COVID-19 continuing to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds it can be hard to prioritise the right things for your startup when it comes to managing money. This is undoubtedly a tough time for everybody, but for startups, freelancers, sole traders and small business owners, it’s hitting particularly hard.

UK businesses are still missing out on thousands of pounds of unclaimed tax credits, according to new figures from Leyton, the UK’s leading innovation funding consultancy. Leyton’s clients – 85% of which are SMEs – claimed an average of £78,000 in R&D tax credits last year.

UK-founded marketing technology company ContentCal has secured a £2.5 million investment from early and growth stage investor Fuel Ventures with participation from existing shareholders. The new funding will be focussed on driving customer growth, product innovation and doubling the size of the team.

Across the globe, companies are introducing innovative ways to help their workforce focus. Wildly unconventional benefits and perks have surfaced over the last few years, with research estimating that increasing happiness can boost productivity by around 12%.

YourLocal.Delivery, a new free online store service, is supporting local businesses to sell their goods online and help them to survive current difficult trading circumstances. Since its launch last month, a number of Kent businesses have signed up to the service and are already experiencing sales. 

In the UK educational technology (or edtech), is currently significantly under-funded, compared to a market like the US. Despite this, London-based company The Profs is shining through and making great strides when it comes to enhancing the offering of one-to-one education. Startups Magazine caught up with Founder Richard Evans.

There is no question that these are unprecedented times, incredibly difficult for everyone mentally, physically, socially and economically.

VibePay has announced its open banking driven offer for businesses. The latest products will allow brands to process frictionless checkout and subscription payments online, increasing transaction success and reducing fees, whilst giving brands a gateway into their engaged Gen Z community.

As a startup there is probably a high possibility you are not currently doing what you planned to do when you were child. ‘When I grow up I want to create my own business’ isn’t heard as often as policeman, astronaut or pilot we surely all have to agree.

Found & Flourish is a female founders and aspiring entrepreneurs online membership, media & events platform. We have over 10,000 women within our network and run on average 40 events a year. Our mission is to empower women in business to launch, grow and scale their dream businesses. We also provide services, resources and community to support the women at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey.

With interest rates constantly changing, it can be difficult to secure the best rates every time the market moves. So how can you make the most of your cash?

A new fintech platform for sustainable investments, Clim8 Invest has launched its first ever Crowdcube campaign.