Author: Akin Naphtal

UK tech businesses raised £24bn in 2022, the most of any country in Europe, but down on the £29.4bn raised last year as economic headwinds caused a significant drop in the second half of the year. According to Research from Dealroom, on behalf of the UK’s Digital Economy Council, part of DCMS, showed that Britain was followed by France (£11.8bn) and Germany (£9.1bn). In 2022 the UK was home to 85,000 startups and scaleups and to date has made 144 unicorns. There were 28 companies that reached a $1bn private valuation in 2022, including AI talent platform Beamery which became…

Ericsson and Airtel Niger have deployed Ericsson’s dual-band three-sector Radio 6626 to provide a 5G-ready network, designed to reduce energy consumption and deliver what the companies say will be state-of-the-art performance. Combining three sectors and two frequencies in a single radio unit, Ericsson’s Radio 6626 will enable Airtel Niger to radiate all three sectors in their towers through just one radio unit “thereby achieving significant energy reductions and operating expenditure savings.” Field results have demonstrated a reduction in power consumption greater than 60%, a reduction approximately 0.4 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per site per year and a 60% reduced…

The Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI), the training arm of the Central Bank of Egypt, has launched the first round of “EBI Executive Program” for the African banking sector. According to information released to the media, the program aims at developing the executive leadership talents and competencies as well as enriching technical knowledge for the senior executives from the African banking and financial sectors by raising the efficiency of human cadres working in these sectors. The program was conducted during the period from 23-27 October in Cairo with the participation of a number of senior executives from four banks in Tanzania…

Kellogg Company says that it has become the first food company in the US to introduce NaviLens on packaging, helping people who are visually impaired to perform everyday tasks. The NaviLens technology will be used on the packaging of Corn Flakes, Special K, Rice Krispies and Crispix. The front and side of the cereal boxes will now feature an optical smart code that can be detected and read by the NaviLens and NaviLens Go apps. The apps enable consumers to locate the boxes from several feet away, hear their names, package sizes and nutritional information, in up to 36 languages.…

At times the threat landscape looks bleak, but it’s also driving greater collaboration between vendors and organizations. At least that’s what Microsoft security leaders are suggesting in their 2023 cybersecurity predictions. Just recently, VentureBeat connected with some of Microsoft’s top security leaders and researchers, who shared their predictions for 2023. Some of the analyst’s predictions included cross-industry collaboration to address new threats, a growth in data-driven intelligence, an uptick in ransomware attacks and new extortion techniques. 1. Advancement for the security industry and collaboration “I expect 2023 to be a year of great advancement for the security industry as a…

I’m delighted to share the news that Melanie Nakagawa will join Microsoft in January as our new Chief Sustainability Officer. Reporting directly to me as a Corporate Vice President, Melanie will partner with teams across Microsoft and take on the leadership role for our company-wide environmental sustainability work. Melanie brings to Microsoft almost two decades of environmental sustainability experience at the nexus of policy, business and technology, which will be vital as we continue our sustainability journey. She most recently served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Climate and Energy on the National Security Council at…

Diesel generators are staples at construction sites, movie sets, or anywhere portable power is needed. But they are dirty, emitting carbon dioxide as any other fuel-burning engine does. While big legacy companies like Generac and Caterpillar are beginning to offer small battery-powered units in addition to their larger diesel generator lines, California-based startup Moxion Power is focused entirely on this new power frontier. It is building high-powered, mobile energy storage technology that can be used pretty much anywhere. “We design, engineer and manufacture all of the core technologies that we use. So we’re not buying someone else’s battery module. We…

Microchip Technology Incorporated, a leading provider of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions, has announced that Robert Rango, formerly the President and Chief Executive Officer of Enevate Corporation and Executive Vice President of Broadcom’s Mobile and Wireless Group, will join the Board of Directors of Microchip effective January 3, 2023. With this appointment, Microchip’s Board will be comprised of 8 members. Commenting on Robert Rango’s appointment to the board, Microchip’s Executive Chair, Steve Sanghi, said, “Mr. Rango most recently served as the CEO of Enevate Corporation, a privately held technology company. As a leader with over 40 years of…

In a bid to creating a rich and diverse working environment, Phoenix Group, the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business, has stated its plan in investing in mentoring technology with Connectr to elevate its employee learning and progression. Phoenix Group was seeking a progression, development and retention tool that delivered impact at scale across their pension savings and life insurance brands.Adopting Connectr’s technology, Phoenix Group will deliver agile, always-on support that connects employees across the entire business to grow their knowledge and expertise through peer-to-peer mentoring programmes. Leveraging Connectr’s platform, Phoenix Group is creating a unified culture of support…

Updraft, an open banking-powered app designed to form positive financial habits, has raised £108m in a joint equity and debt funding round. According to the company founder and CEO, Aseem Munshi, Updraft is trying to “provide real solutions to customers to help them find their financial freedom”. Updraft provides what it describes as fair loans at a lower cost to users’ credit. The app also provides information to help improve customers’ financial habits. Updraft uses open banking to connect to customers’ banks to approve loan applications. “We have big ambitions planned for 2023, and this recent fundraiser puts us in…