Culture

The very same day that I had arranged a chat with Santeri Koivisto the Co-owner and CEO of TeacherGaming LLC, the company behind MinecraftEdu, fellow Co-Founder Joel Levin had tweeted “For reference, $2.5 Billion is what it cost to send the Curiosity Rover to Mars.”  That tweet was in reference to the news that Minecraft had been reportedly acquired by Microsoft (heard of ‘...
Read Post »

Welcome to the Startacus monthly financial news round-up, brought to you by Sophie Turton of Crunch Accounting. Scotland decided to stay in the UK and the media moved their clairvoyance elsewhere. Meanwhile, September saw more growth for small and micro-businesses, who, it is predicted, will change the face of British enterprise. Ed Miliband also showed his support for the self-employed ‘ar...
Read Post »

We are positively over the moon to announce the extension and expansion of our partnership with the lovely folks at General Assembly. From June of this year Startacus members have been able to avail of a brilliant deal allowing us all 3 months free access to GA’s online video learning platform ‘Front Row’ - with no strings whatsoever! For those of you who have never come a...
Read Post »

Our Sheffield startup month is whizzing by and we have been blown away (metaphorically of course) by the level of talented and innovative self starters we have been lucky enough to come across… like Celina and Laura from Freshly Squeezed Events Company. They have had quite a year of it so far, and were only too pleased to share some of their experience of starting a business in Sheffield w...
Read Post »

Crowdfunding is bloomin’ marvellous isn’t it? And if Indiegogo is to have its way, it could be about to take yet another giant leap forward, through its pioneering development of a new ongoing funding scheme. Thus far, all crowdfunding platforms have offered eager campaigners a splendidly simple proposition - reach your funding target, and the money is yours, fail to reach it and it's...
Read Post »

They’re at it again… Seedcamp that is, who have once again announced big funding for 7 exciting UK startups! Seedcamp (for those of you giving your screen a puzzled head-tilt) is an early-stage startup seed investment fund and mentoring programme, which completes a round of funding at various locations across Europe annually. They dish out investment of up to £150,000 in exch...
Read Post »

If you’re London based and you’d like to help your community have access to more sustainably produced food, then the Startup Programme from Growing Communities would be well worth a look. For 20 years now, the Hackney group have been running a community-led box scheme with produce coming direct from local, sustainable farms and from their own growing sites. They’ve also help...
Read Post »

Why not start up a takeaway? For advocates of an uber healthy organic approach to eating, it might come as an unwelcome surprise that takeaway food remains one of the fastest growing areas of the UK economy. The appeal of the quick, easy and tasty shows no sign of abating, and for many fast food / takeaways seem the most obvious and appealing option to satisfy our inner grumblings. This is fant...
Read Post »

Whilst formal education has its place, there can be no denying that the internet has opened up a whole new way of learning for us all. Whether that entails watching a YouTube video or looking at a Slideshare presentation, the possibilities are pretty much endless. Of course with the plethora of resources which exist, trawling through to find the right content for you can be both daunting and ...
Read Post »

Ever come across something and it makes you feel that warm glow of philanthropy and good will inside? No? Maybe that twinge of empathy you get from a really nice idea?Well, we think you’re about to. KonneKT has a simple premise; it's a way for sick children, who have to spend their days in an isolation unit, to play with others. It’s simply a set of magnetic shapes and pieces that can...
Read Post »

In the world of startups and Collaboration, what better form of philanthropy is there than trading favours? We talk to Startacus Collaborators, the OweYaaTeam, and find out about their new platform for helping the world. For anyone who hasn’t seen the platform, what is “OweYaa”? “OweYaa is a place for people to trade favours and connect with each other better. In shor...
Read Post »

It’s Sheffield Startup Month here at Startacus, a great opportunity to showcase the city as the hotbed of entrepreneurial talent that it is. We have been especially impressed with the number and variety of creative Startups which are sprouting up and spreading their creative ways all over the city… like a wonderful rainbow of creativity. It seems we are not the only ones who have no...
Read Post »