Abraham and Wilson invest in Andy Murray-backed padel business January 10, 2025 England footballers Tammy Abraham and Callum Wilson have invested in Andy Murray-backed Game4Padel, the biggest UK operator of padel courts. AC Milan striker Abraham and Newcastle United forward were joined by Bournemouth defender Marcus Tavernier in a funding round that values Game4Padel at £27m. Former tennis world No1 Murray and his brother Jamie were among [...]
Let’s celebrate great British start-ups November 18, 2024 Global Entrepreneurship Week is a chance to sing the praises of our start-ups and strengthen the foundations for them to succeed, says Timothy Barnes Today is the start of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the world’s largest festival for entrepreneurs and startup supporters. In nearly 200 countries around the world, some 40,000 events are expected to welcome [...]
Cricket, rugby and football stars invest in health start-up November 4, 2024 England rugby international Courtney Lawes and Arsenal footballer Ben White are also among the 60 professional sportspeople invested in The Players Fund.
EFL calls for businesses as it kicks off innovation programme October 7, 2024 The English Football League (EFL) is calling for businesses to join its first innovation programme and develop their products by working with its 72 professional clubs. The EFL Innovation Lab is a partnership with corporate innovation specialist L Marks aimed at “suppliers, start-ups and scale-ups” and targeted at four key areas of business. They are [...]
Founder Favourites: Brains, guts and startups – what nutrition brands aren’t telling you October 4, 2024 What do brains, guts and startups even have in common? Well, most entrepreneurs tell you to follow your gut instinct – but these founders told Jennifer Sieg and Emmanuel Nwosu to only follow your guts if your brain is healthy. According to their studies, there is a significant connection between both organs. Dan Murray-Serter and [...]
Not many tax rules deserve a birthday party – but the EIS is an exception September 18, 2024 Over the last 30 years the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) has provided £32bn of private investment into 56,000 businesses, says Christiana Stewart-Lockhart This year marks 30 years of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), the tax relief that encourages investors to back risky early-stage companies that might – just might – go on to change the [...]
Innovate UK cuts prove women are still being told entrepreneurship isn’t for them September 6, 2024 As half the promised number of female founders are awarded funding from Innovate UK, women are still facing too many barriers in tech, says Camilla de Coverly Veale Heist movies are famous for the double cross reveal – but last weekend we weren’t at the movies when a heist was revealed and 1450 female founders found themselves [...]
Venture capital firm launches UK’s only fund for British pensions September 2, 2024 A venture capital firm has launched the first-ever fund devoted to helping UK pension funds invest in British start-ups and scale-ups. Future Planet Capital’s new British Co-Investment Fund (BCF) will channel pension investment into some of the UK’s fastest growing and most innovative businesses in a move that has been praised as “much-needed” by start-ups [...]
Reddit backer funds weapons start-up focused on ‘budget missiles’ August 26, 2024 Start-up incubator Y Combinator, which has backed companies such as Airbnb, Reddit and Coinbase, has made its first ever investment in a weapons company, which plans to produce “budget missiles” for the US military. Ares Industries, which is based in California, aims to produce “smaller, less expensive cruise missiles” for the US Department of Defence [...]
University spinouts could be the answer to the UK’s growth problem August 20, 2024 University spinouts are vital to retain the UK’s innovation crown, writes Simon Bumfrey, tech chief at HSBC Innovation Banking UK.