Learn how startup studios, accelerators, and incubators differ and why a startup studio could be the ideal partner for your startup's growth journey.

As we move into the last months of 2024, and with the UK election now behind us, it's an opportune moment to reflect on the current investment landscape, particularly for early-stage companies.

My SMASH Media has recently celebrated a major triumph - securing over £370k in their latest funding round and earning accolades. Read more about how the new funds will fuel My SMASH Media’s next growth phase.

As we step into the year of 2024, the startup ecosystem looks to be poised for a resurgence after facing the challenges of a difficult investment environment last year. The lessons learned from 2023 have paved the way for a more discerning and resilient ecosystem. But what to expect for the year of 2024? Check our insights on what lies ahead for the broader startup community.

How will the vacuum left in the startup ecosystem by the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse be filled, and how do we move forward from here? It depends on where you are both in your location and journey. Here’s what to expect if you are an early-stage startup based in the UK.

The first hires of a startup are critical for growth and have an important impact on the company culture, simply because they make up a significant part of the organisation. So determining when and who to hire is an important decision in your journey.

On top of creating a brand new business and realising wonderful ideas into actual software products, startups have another challenge: hiring. Read about the software development talent shortage and how Activate Studio removes this headache.

Raising capital for an early-stage business is hard work, and whilst there are no tricks that will allow you to cut corners, we want to share some of the lessons that we have learned over the years.

For those founders amongst you who are credible and come with good business propositions, deals will still get done. Yes, the bar is now higher as compared to a few months ago, but you could also argue that this is a correction from the bar being set too low over the previous year.

Every journey from an idea to a successful product is unique. It will depend on many factors, including luck. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all recipe, here are some of the most common steps in the journey of most founders from idea to a sustainable product.

A startup studio can help accelerate your business by providing access to funds, expertise and resources, such as people, processes, tools and networks.

Activate's portfolio startup Hello Tomo acquired by ICAS World.

Do you really have the time to read all the newspapers every day? Ten years ago, Beniamino Pagliaro, founder of Good Morning Italia, was working as a journalist in a leading Italian news agency and pondered: if even journalists have a hard time reading the newspapers, why wouldn’t regular readers?

Let’s be honest, a startup journey can be brutal. We know that. You know that. And the stats confirm it: 90% of all startups fail. No one is born a tech giant. For that reason, we decided to write about our portfolio startups and tell you more about their journey. Check it out.