Technology can be a powerful force in solving the many climate challenges we face, and the climate startup ecosystem is large and complex, covering a vast range of themes. Always on the hunt for the best tech out there, our Innovation team have taken a dive into some of the most notable and interesting, so read on to find out more.

This week, London Tech Week took over the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Victoria. This blog delves deeper into one of the key themes - climate change, focusing on the transition to a net zero economy, decarbonisation, biodiversity conservation, and the circular economy.

Soulfresh will be ‘murdering thirst’ in 2024, launching global mega-brand Liquid Death in Australia and New Zealand.

E-commerce investor and former Gymshark Chairman, Paul Richardson, has been appointed President for fit-tech start-up Brawn, the world’s first, connected community strength training platform.

Marketing budgets took a hit in 2023 as businesses looked to reduce costs. That means marketers are more focused than ever on getting the most from their investment, not just in advertising but in talent and technology as well.

Specialist investing appears to be gaining momentum. Atomico’s State of European Tech report 2022 showed roughly 40% of VC funds (and roughly 45% of Pre-Seed and Seed funds) were planning to increase their specialism in investment focus going forwards, second only to growing their networks. Joe Seager-Dupuy, Investment Director at True, explores why Specialist strategies will thrive in uncertain markets, with a focus on the VC strategy he leads alongside Mike Martin.

With retail crime making the headlines, tech companies are coming up with inventive ways to tackle the problem. From security robots to AI camera systems, we partner up with Retail Week to look at four innovative tech solutions to the increasing problem of retail crime.

Two years ago, retailers across the sector were developing or showing an interest in metaverse experiences. Retail Week asks why enthusiasm has waned and what the future holds for immersive tech.

The Cotswold Company enjoyed a bumper Christmas, with the nine weeks to 31st December seeing net orders surge 13% to £16.4m, up £1.8m on the same period last year and 64% on pre-Covid results. Take a look at their winning formula and their plans for 2024.

Milano Vice secures funding to expand its business and scale its operations both within Germany and internationally.

We chat to Orlando Ribas, Co-Founder of Fashable, a proprietary AI generated fashion technology that helps brands reduce the time spent on research, design, and content creation, while limiting the possibility of copyright infringements and allowing designers the time to focus on high-added-value tasks.

By 2030, the average consumer will have creative capabilities beyond what is possible even for large numbers of specialists today. We see the 'consumer as creator' trend as an enabler for three key opportunity areas: the empowerment of consumer creativity, peer-to-peer services, and the democratisation of influence.

Funding infusion accelerates commercial deployments and SeeChange's vision for a smarter, safer retail future.

From supplier negotiations to store operations, AI offers retailers the chance to reap big benefits, believes Matt Truman

Ahead of the UCI Gravel World Championships in October in Veneto, Ribble, launches its new Stone Collection Gravel Bikes which will debut at the competition by four Ribble Collective Riders. One of these riders is Maddy Nutt who shares her journey from working in finance to the podiuming at the Earth Series and being selected for team GB for the Gravel Worlds.

As a future-focused partner for the consumer industry, we’re constantly navigating the intersection of consumer behaviour shifts and emerging technology. That’s why we partnered with TheIndustry.fashion to host an event centred around the topic of ‘The Connected Store’, bringing together key decision-makers from brands and retailers to gain practical advice on how to deliver a true, seamless omnichannel retail experience.

Drinks brand Sneak Energy will launch its own branded ouija board as part of its new Halloween campaign – Satanic Cult – as well as launching a billboard takeover in Manchester tomorrow featuring catchy slogans such as “Hail Satan!” and “It’s sacrilicious!”

Following our recent event, there was a lot of interest around how our portfolio company, Sneak, had built such an engaged community. Our Head of Marketing, Danielle Le Toullec, sat down with Lauren Carroll, Head of Comms at Sneak to delve deeper into their community development and growth off the back of one of the brand’s biggest ever campaigns. The Halloween-themed drop - Satanic Cult - drove enormous community engagement, leading to a UK sellout in just 18 hours & global sellout in 1 week.

You may have noticed Hush has changed a little this month – a new logo, new look and an exciting new collection. Our Head of Marketing, Danielle Le Toullec caught up with Hush's Chief Creative Officer, Melissa Dick to discuss the brand refresh and her inspiration for the new collection, ‘A Moment in Hush’.

Liverpool ONE is looking for innovative solutions to further elevate the customer experience to ensure the open-air destination is a must-visit for those who love to shop, eat, drink, be entertained and relax.