Getting small businesses match fit for economic recovery June 23, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic is having a profound shock on the economy, with UK GDP dropping by a record 20.4 per cent in April. Businesses of all sizes have been shaken, with many — especially smaller ones — struggling to survive. It has also become clear that there is no longer a separate digital economy and [...]
Amazon launches accelerator for UK startups and small businesses June 23, 2020 Amazon has today launched an accelerator programme for the UK’s small businesses and startups, aimed at providing them with digital tools to recover lost income during the coronavirus crisis. Launched in partnership with small business support network Enterprise Nation, the Amazon Small Business Accelerator will operate a free online training programme for 200,000 businesses. The [...]
Apple WWDC 2020: Everything Apple announced June 22, 2020 Tech giant Apple today unveiled its latest product updates at the annual WWDC developer conference, streamed online from the Steve Jobs Theater in California for the first time. Usually a five-day, $1,600 event for tech developers to learn about the latest tools for making apps, the WWDC — which stands for Worldwide Developer Conference — [...]
Virgin Galactic signs private space travel deal with Nasa June 22, 2020 Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic said today it has signed a deal with Nasa to develop a programme to promote private missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Shares in Virgin Galactic spiked more than 14 per cent on the news. Virgin will help identify and train new candidates to become astronauts for commercial space flight, [...]
Startup Checkout.com triples valuation to $5.5bn in Series B funding round June 22, 2020 London fintech startup Checkout.com has tripled its valuation to $5.5bn following a $150m Series B funding round. The online international payments business, which powers the likes of Grab, Revolut, and Klarna, said the steep increase in value reflected a growing demand for its cross-border online payment product. Checkout.com’s online transaction numbers had already increased by [...]
A regulated blockchain can empower governments, corporations, and people June 22, 2020 For too long, blockchain has been regarded as an obscure technology powering an industry that cannot be trusted. According to a recent trust survey by Edelman, three in four people said they were not familiar with blockchain and cryptocurrencies, while 60 per cent believed that these technologies were not regulated enough. So how can we [...]
Katie Hopkins permanently banned from Twitter June 19, 2020 Right-wing commentator and media personality has been permanently banned from Twitter, the social media platform confirmed today. The micro-blogging site had suspended her account, but a spokesperson told the Huffington Post that this time the ban was for good. “In this case, the account has been permanently suspended for violations of our hateful conduct policy”, [...]
Apple says government had not told it about coronavirus app plans June 19, 2020 Apple has said that it was not aware that the UK was developing an NHS contact tracing app using technology the firm built with Google. Yesterday the government announced that it was dropping its own app in favour of using the Apple/Google technology, which is already in use in countries such as Germany. However, speaking [...]
As China gears up on the cyber offensive, we need herd immunity to boost our national resilience June 19, 2020 With a GDP of $13.5 trillion, dwarfing Britain’s by almost $12 trillion, China is the third most economically powerful country in the world after Russia and the US — for now at least. And as the coronavirus outbreak disrupts the world in a way not seen since the Second World War, China is seeking to [...]
Softbank Vision Fund expands minority founder programme to Europe June 18, 2020 Softbank’s Vision Fund has today said it will be expanding its programme to uplift minority founders to Europe, after completing its first cohort in the US. Launched in partnership with Wework Labs, the Emerge programme is an eight-week intensive startup accelerator designed to help early-stage founders from underrepresented backgrounds. Each participating startup must have at [...]