Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) have retained an enduring appeal for investors, and the 2017/18 fundraising season saw the highest overall market raise for a decade, with £728m raised according to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). 

On International Women’s Day, female representatives of Mercia’s investment team argue that whilst there are shortcomings in the VC industry, some progress is being made but insist that mandating female-led investment levels is not necessary.

London Co-investment Fund's Flavia Richardson comments on why we need to change the landscape for female entrepreneurs.

This week we are celebrating the International Women’s Day, a reminder of the continuous struggle for equality of opportunity. A few major research projects conducted by Atomico VC, Diversity VC, and British Business Bank, have corroborated the narrative felt by many women while fundraising.

While the outcome highlighted hard truths for the investment sector and the innovation economy, it has also provided us with the key to a brighter and more inclusive tomorrow, if we change our approaches.

Find out why Paul McNabb from Episode1 Ventures believes Ori’s edge cloud is enabling the next evolution of computing architecture.

Simon Hopkins, CEO of Milltrust International, believes the university tech  start-up sector has never been so exciting.  Read on to find out why....

Women have long been under served by the financial advisory sector - but this is now changing.  This is the assessment of deVere Switzerland, part of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations, which recently held the ‘Women in Finance’ summit in Zurich.

In a welcome development for global equity investors, the pace of 2019 earnings downgrades has eased markedly during the first three weeks of February. Furthermore, while 2019 consensus corporate profits growth has fallen from initial expectations of around 9-11% in developed markets to 6-8%, and from 12% in emerging markets to 10%, a profits recession now appears less likely.  

Andrew Aldridge from Deepbridge Capital considers why EIS is so vital to the health of the NHS. 

The British Business Bank’s 2019 Small Business Finance Markets report finds that some businesses expect an impact from Brexit, but many remain optimistic about growth.

Graham Bishop, Investment Director at Heartwood Investment Management comments on whether the UK is stockpiling ahead of Brexit. 

This month's Invested Investor's Start-up Spotlight features an interview with entrepreneur Sue Keogh, Director of Cambridge digital marketing agency Sookio.

A specialist in digital content, Sue was a website editor for the BBC, Yahoo and AOL, and Project Manager for ITV.com before founding Sookio in 2008. She regularly shares her expertise on the radio and at conferences, through the Sage Business Expert programme, and in the newly launched Sookio School range of online courses. A finalist two years running in the Best Business Women Awards, she talks us through her growth story and tells us what advice she would share with new entrepreneurs. 

For much of 2018, China’s tariff wars with the US dominated media headlines. In 2019 so far, investors are also witnessing increasing signs of a Chinese slowdown, and with it a new approach to economic stimulus by Chinese policymakers. What does this mean for global trade and investment?