I was delighted to attend The Invested Investor's book launch party in Cambridge. Here we share their recent podcast of mini speeches recorded on the day.
SAGE podcasts and vodcasts span a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences, and science, technology, and medicine.
Therefore I was delighted to be a guest on the @SageNAmerica Advice Podcast with @edkless to talk about why I invest in early stage growth companies.
Each week, the Invested Investor focus on a theme discussed by their entrepreneurs and Invested Investors.
This week, they are celebrating the achievements of their women investors and entrepreneurs despite the many challenges!
'I don't think it's the girls aren't interested, I think it's schools and parents are not encouraging girls to think that these subjects are relevant,' explains Simon Thorpe, the serial investor who champions for more Women in investment!
Estonia is a small country with a population of just over 1.3 million. Since its separation from the Soviet Union in 1991, the independent nation has been revolutionary in becoming a leader of digital innovation in Europe by allowing entrepreneurs to set up a digital identity without having to visit its country.
Image credit: e-Residency: Estonia
What is e-Residency?
The e-Residency programme was first launched by the Estonian Government on 1 Dec 2014, to create a borderless digital environment and has used more digital signatures than the rest of the EU combined. It has facilitated the growth of virtual businesses by offering trust, transparency, inclusion and legitimacy to establish a truly global digital society. 98% of Estonian’s own an ID card.
Blockchain technology can facilitate trustless consensus across all industries. Amber Magson (Yr12 student) whilst on Work Experience from the Bishop Stortford College decided to look into how Charities can benefit from this technology and Ethereum's Smart Contracts.
Whilst on work experience Year 11 student Emily Bond from the Bishop Stortford College researched the future possibilities of Space technology. She has produced a timely article in light of recent news that the UK Space Agency is giving Highlands and Islands Enterprise £2.5m towards the development of the first UK spaceport to be hosted in Sutherland, Scotland.
Recent reports show that 4 billion people (over half the world's population) are now online, with 250 million joining for the first time in 2017. Whilst on work experience Year 12 student Molly Dorman from Birchwood High School explored the way technology has revolutionised how we now communicate and its global implications.
Microsoft research has highlighted that there is just a 5 year window to ignite STEM passion in UK schoolgirls before interest markedly drops off (between the ages of 16-17). Charlotte Brown from the Bishops Stortford High School is a keen Yr12 Maths student; she has recognised in her studies that girls are significantly underrepresented in STEM, therefore wanted to research why and what is being done to help rectify the situation.
Companies from all industry sectors understand the importance of investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI). It has the potential to transform the way we live and the ability to tackle inherent societal challenges. Whilst on work experience from the Herts and Essex High School, Yr10 student Emily Hollins explored its future impact and opportunities.
Olivia Singh (Yr10 student) from the Herts and Essex High School explored the levels of technological development in Japan and China whilst on work experience, to ascertain which is the emergent superpower competing with the USA.
Despite the slow down of global internet growth, half the population are now online (3.6bn).
Mary Meeker's annual internet trends report is always a highly anticipated slide deck (294 slides) on understanding the tech industry.
TL;DR- Here we share 20 key takeaways from this year's report summarised by Techcrunch.
The full report can be downloaded here
The Rise of a Superpower
Over the past two decades China has successfully transformed itself into a global technology superpower. It now accounts for 20% of total world R&D spending, publishes more academic papers than any country apart from the United States, and is home to the world’s most valuable unicorn.
Amidst China’s technology boom a list of titans have emerged including Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. China’s Titans’, although dwarfed by the US Tech Giants in terms of revenue and users, continue to post exceptional growth figures with much potential still to fulfil. In this article, we explore China’s technology ecosystem, the infrastructure and how some of China’s most promising companies compare to those in the US.