News

Planet42, an Estonian fintech operating in Africa that focuses on providing access to mobility to the underbanked, has raised €2.2M ($2.4M).  The seed round was led by Change Ventures. Private backers include Martin Villig (Bolt), Ragnar Sass (Pipedrive), Marko Virkebau (MeetFrank), Kristjan Vilosius (Katana MRP), and several other Estonian tech entrepreneurs. The company launched as C...
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Bluesona and Bosch form strategic partnership to tackle the problem of distracted driving caused by mobile device usage Great news today for Northern Ireland based InsurTech company Bluesona which has just announced a new strategic partnership with German firm Bosch Connected Devices and Solutions (BCDS). BCDS is a fully owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH and is a globally leading sensor-dev...
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PM called on to place Sustainable Development Goals at the forefront of UK's post COVID-19 recovery This week UK Stakeholders for Sustainable Development (UKSSD) and UN Global Compact UK Network sent a letter to the Prime Minister on behalf of Marvin Rees, the Mayor of Bristol, equal rights campaigner Dr Mya-Rose Craig, sustainability leader Paul Polman, and over 100 renowned companies, char...
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The Seedrs portfolio goes from strength to strength, with five primary exits for businesses in its portfolio so far this year Great news from leading online investment platform, Seedrs, with the announcement that it has seen five primary exits for its portfolio since the start of the year. Each exit has generated positive investor returns and takes Seedrs’ total number of primary exits...
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The latest ‘Ecosystem’ webinar session brought together leading investors and one of world’s largest engineering and manufacturing companies for a conversation on challenging industry perceptions to break down barriers to VC funding and innovation. The 'Ecosystem' under lockdown webinars featured 5 sessions that brought together Europe’s leading investors, innovators, corp...
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Women of Wearables is hosting the 1st global, virtual conference on FemTech on June 25th. The one-day forum, which will be held on Zoom, will address topics like fertility, sexual wellness, data privacy, the gender gap in medical research and more. Investors are starting to recognise the value of this industry, which is estimated to be worth $50 billion by 2025, according to Frost & Sull...
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12 teams of innovators and entrepreneurial future thinkers have progressed to the final of Northern Ireland’s innovation competition INVENT. Organised by Catalyst and supported by Bank of Ireland UK, INVENT’s mission is to discover the next product/service with the greatest commercial potential.  The competition challenges and develops innovators, entrepreneurs, students, scienti...
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Data Tech startups, take note! Lloyd’s are keen to hear from startups who can find and tap into alternative data sets to paint a more accurate picture of risk and help the insurance market underwrite more profitably.  A couple of weeks ago we highlighted that applications were open for the fifth intake of the Lloyd’s Lab - initially with a focus on short, medium and long-term COV...
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Estonian proptech startup EstateGuru secures funding from over 1000 investors in over 37 countries raising €880K investment Great news today for EstateGuru, the leading Pan-European marketplace facilitating property-backed loans for SMEs with the announcement that it has closed a €880K funding round on investment platform Seedrs. This funding forms part of the company’s ...
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Three leading NI technology businesses have come together to support the re-opening of the NI hospitality industry, offering their services free of charge for 3 months. Gig Grafter (scheduling, time and attendance software), Right Revenue (revenue management software), and Lightyear (automated accounts payable software), have joined forces to offer their services free of charge for 3 months to su...
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Ignite NI has concluded its first ever virtual accelerator with an online event that gave its 10 early stage tech startups the chance to pitch their business to almost 200 investors. Tech accelerator specialists Ignite also announced that teams who have taken part in the Northern Ireland programmes in the past two years have collectively raised $15.2 million in funding – a large part source...
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Bright, a new, technology-based energy supplier founded by well-known entrepreneurs Ciaran and Stephen Devine in partnership with Ireland’s largest family-owned forecourt retailer Maxol, aims to disrupt the NI’s and Irish energy markets. Using a unique software platform and a specially designed app, it will offer just one simple tariff and provide customers with affordable green elect...
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