In 2023, the agri-tech landscape experienced a significant contraction, with investments plummeting to $7.1 billion—nearly 40% below the previous year’s $11.8 billion. This downturn, indicative of a broader decline in venture capital enthusiasm, was particularly pronounced in indoor farming, where investment fell sharply from over $2 billion in 2022 to less than $500 million, as reported by PitchBook…
Africa’s mid-market businesses, the backbone of the continent’s economic growth, face a massive $3 billion financing gap. With annual revenues over $10 million, these companies are too large for microfinance but too small or risky for traditional banks. This untapped opportunity…
As digital payments soar, so do sophisticated scams – UK fraud topped £1.2B in 2022. Regulators are mandating stricter security, driving the fraud prevention market to $67B by 2028…
Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have ignited a revolution in journalism, pushing AI into the heart of the newsroom. No longer relegated to an experimental technology or passing fad, many news industry leaders now recognise AI as a powerful force capable of reshaping the competitive and fragmented news sector.
At the core of our economy and the preservation of life on Earth lies an often-underappreciated asset, natural capital. Natural capital consists of Earth’s renewable and non-renewable resources; trees, soil, air, water, and all living organisms that provide essential ecosystem services such as CO2 capture, protection against soil erosion and flood risk, wildlife habitats, and pollination.
Digital twin technology offers a way of revolutionising our approach to energy efficiency and will be a powerful complementary force alongside developments in the physical technologies driving the energy transition. These digital replicas of physical assets and processes, built on sophisticated mathematical models, go beyond static simulations by incorporating live data and allowing highly complex systems to be evaluated in real-time.
FemTech encompasses a diverse range of companies addressing critical aspects of women’s well-being, a $28 billion sector that extends well beyond reproductive health. However, despite its growth, FemTech receives only 1 to 2% of total health tech funding due to a lack of understanding in the investor community.
The travel tech sector is witnessing noteworthy developments. Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are still capitalising on the shift from traditional to digital platforms, gaining a greater share of the travel and tourism market. In more developed markets, OTAs are increasingly focusing on improving the user experience by leveraging generative AI…
Digital Asset Management (DAM) providers are becoming indispensable, offering a centralised, secure, and efficient way to manage digital assets. Propelled by artificial intelligence (AI), machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and computer vision integrations, the DAM market is predicted to quadruple from $4 billion today to over $12 billion by 2030.
In 2023, the European venture capital landscape veered away from the exuberant valuations and frenetic deal-making that characterised 2021, signifying a reassessment of investor expectations.
The once-standard benchmark of becoming a unicorn (achieving a $1 billion valuation or exit) was suddenly overly optimistic as the tightening of fundraising avenues spurred a hunt for more modest yet viable exit strategies…
2023 proved a challenging year for the climate vertical. European climate investments succumbed to the broader market downturn, experiencing a 39% drop in deals and capital, in line with the rest of the European market. Whilst severe, this decline is less acute than the US, where VC funding plummeted by 60% year-on-year.
The African business landscape is consolidating as it evolves toward a more mature phase. In recent years, including 2023, we’ve seen the initial ripples of this through a wave of smaller M&A deals. These deals have been driven by companies seeking geographic expansion, diversification of their client base, or opportunistic acquisitions of distressed assets.
Digital identification leverages advanced technologies like biometrics, cryptographic methods, and secure authentication protocols to establish a robust and tamper-resistant means of verifying an individual’s identity. By incorporating multi-factor authentication, facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, or other biometric markers, digital IDs significantly enhance the security and accuracy of identity verification.
Despite the funding downturn, anticipation was palpable as COP28 commenced, bringing a weighty agenda filled with critical issues and decisions. One central point of discussion revolved around the proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which received backing from numerous Global South countries and the European Parliament.