In a matter of weeks, COVID-19 altered the world, bringing the historic Post-Great Recession bull market to a grinding halt. Consumers are losing confidence in the economy and unemployment has shot up. However, amongst the outpouring of grim news, there are good news stories that deserve to be highlighted. Stories of neighborhood cafes donating food to NHS staff and companies stepping up and adapting to help their customers affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government now has a unique opportunity, and challenge, to ease the COVID-19 induced financial strain felt by SMES and consumers, who will no doubt be at the center of any economic recovery.

The machines are here. Well, they’ve been here for a little while now.

Digital transformation has been steadily making its way across sectors and geographies for the past thirty years, however, latest advancing AI and cloud technologies, and now an unprecedented global health pandemic have recently forged an accelerated path of modern technology integration even with companies and industries (such as the education system) that until now, had yet to revolutionize their operations.

Countingup’s mission is to relentlessly focus on making it easier to run a small business. It’s April 2020 and right now it’s extremely tough running a small business. The team at Countingup took some time out from building our banking and accounting app to think up ways we could help during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Andrew Hunter co-founded job search engine Adzuna in 2011. He has raised over £12m in VC funding and built a successful, global business. Coping with a worldwide pandemic and unprecedented changes to the way we work were not on the agenda.

“We are living in a strange and scary world.

The coronavirus outbreak has forced us indoors – working, studying and socialising remotely. What’s clear is that society has never been better equipped for such a significant change to our daily lives. Technology is keeping people connected when they are physically forced apart.

This week ‘Unmind Live’ launched on YouTube. Unmind CEO and Co-Founder Dr Nick Taylor explains what will be involved, the experts contributing, and the added importance of nurturing mental wellbeing through self-isolation.

Last night the prime minister announced new measures to help us keep away from one another and stem the rise of the coronavirus.

Technology funds have had a problem – exciting global tech investment opportunities were only accessible by large institutional investors with the right contacts. Platform funds-of-funds are changing that.

I have always been fascinated with how new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning could be used to accelerate the discovery and development of disease treatments.

Regulation is absolutely NOT the enemy of innovation: rather, the two exist in a reciprocal relationship. New technology will always be the driver of evolving regulatory requirements – if something is truly innovative, it rarely fits into existing regulatory frameworks.

The explosion of the subscription economy

The last decade has seen the rise of the subscription economy. Whilst advancements in technology and the explosion of social media both play a huge role in the democratisation of subscription businesses, they are not the underlying reasons why subscription is becoming the norm. They are catalysts. The explosion of the subscription economy is simply a reflection of demographics of the customer base it’s attracting.