Alquity, the pioneering asset management business built on ESG principles, has released its first impact report, tracking the company’s growth and progress over the past eight years.  The report presents clear metrics on the three core elements of the Alquity shared values business model:

Silicon Valley Bank has released its State of the Markets Q4 2018 Report, which examines the European venture landscape and fundraising potential for UK firms. The report also covers Germany and the US in a more general look at the health and productivity of the global innovation economy.

SmallBusinessPrices.co.uk has delved into exclusive data to highlight the extent of the UK gender imbalance disparity.  The research shows data such as the disparity in higher education, women’s roles in certain professions and the proportion of women in high-power roles amongst different industries. 

Bitcoin’s influence and dominance of the cryptocurrency sector will “drastically reduce” in its second decade, with the crypto market likely to expand by “at least” 5000% in the next 10 years.

With Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia named 3 of the top 7 most innovative EU member states, Lithuanian startup Debitum Network is poised to reshape the alternative lending business with blockchain technology

In recent years, the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have gained a reputation in financial and technological circles as being somewhat of a fintech powerhouse. In 2017, the three countries were ranked by the World Economic Forum as three of the top seven most innovative countries in the European Union alongside the United Kingdom and Sweden.

Research finds the Entertainment, E-commerce and Media sector has the highest valued startups with companies such as Uber ($68 billion) and AirBnb ($29.3 billion)

British Business Investments published its Annual Reports and Accounts for 2017/18, its fourth year of operation. 

UK dividends rose 4.1% to £32.3bn in Q3, breaking a third-quarter record, according to the latest UK Dividend Monitor from Link Asset Services. Underlying payouts, which exclude special dividends, reached £31.6bn, a rise of 6.9% year-on-year. 

The UK’s leading tech clusters are competing head to head with European capitals, according to new analysis of company growth, in a sign that the success of the UK tech sector is pushing far beyond its London heartland.

Following the IPOs of Farfetch and Funding Circle, the UK is now home to 15 unicorns and six cities have produced so-called unicorns - $1bn tech companies - according to research prepared for Tech Nation and the Government’s Digital Economy Council by venture capital analytics company Dealroom.co. This latest research is published ahead of the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s first meeting with the Digital Economy Council on 24 October 2018.

Beauhurst has acquired Spinouts UK, the project and dataset run and collected by Jonathan Harris, to become a one-stop-shop for information on all of the UK’s spinout companies.

 A 2018 OECD report has shown that alternative investment companies are thriving, as increasing numbers of small and medium-sized businesses turn to alternative finance as opposed to traditional bank-loans to cover their costs. The report al

Further to an extensive national study commissioned by The UKBAA and The British Business Bank, nationwide data reveals clear regional disparity across the UK, with a staggering 63% of business angels based in London and the South East. Further insights include: 

• 63% of Business Angel investments made in London and the South East
• 75% of Business Angels aged over 45 and 21% aged over 65
• Healthcare, Life Sciences, Fintech and Software as a Service most popular sectors for investment 

The British Business Bank’s UK Business Angels Market report - produced with the UKBAA - reveals a clear regional disparity in terms of where Angel investors are based and where they invest. Supported by a further independent body of data commissioned by the UKBAA on regional, ethnic minority and gender based perceptions on what it is to be an angel investor, an overriding and acutely skewed assumption that SME investment is preserved for ultra-wealthy, white, male Londoners has emerged. While potential investors of differing regional demographics may feel isolated from the investing arena, the repercussions for regional SMEs reliant on this kind of funding may limit innovation and employment growth outside of the capital.