Founded in 2017 by Craig Beddis (CEO), Aidon Hobson-Sayer (CTO) & Miriam Keshani (COO), UK-based Hadean, a metaverse infrastructure startup, has been awarded (with support from Connected Places Catapult) a sizeable grant from UK Research & Innovation. The funding foresees Hedean’s tech being used to generate 3D digital twins, providing road mgmt companies real-time highway data & the capacity to model/ simulate it. Emulating whole corridors of automotive traffic, the platform can be used to plan the right infrastructure upgrades. For e.g. Hadean could benefit engineers working on “e-highways”, one of the most radical upgrades of UK highways in decades, to explore installing overhead eletric power cables on certain routes (which similarly to trolleybus or...

London-based Plexal, a "generalist" coworking space, has acquired a majority stake in Cheltenham-based Hub8, a cyber security-focused coworking space (note: Cheltenham is the natural home of the UK’s cyber ecosystem, thanks to GCHQ’s more than 70-year heritage in the town). Hub8 was founded in 2019 by Bruce Gregory (CEO) & Plexal was founded in 2018 by Andrew Roughan (CEO) - with backing from DV4 (a real estate value added fund managed by Delancey). Plexal already owns similar co-working space in London & Manchester, & this latest acquisition is part of its ongoing mission to build the UK’s most connected cyber ecosystem. Plexal & Hub8 already collaborated in the past, having won in 2021 the National...