Small Business (SMB) stories

Accenture and WaveMaker strike AI partnership to help mid-sized firms modernise legacy apps and curb costs, risks and technical debt.

Acronis rolls out GenAI Protection for managed service providers to spot shadow AI, curb data leakage and block prompt injection.

Tenzo lands USD $5 million and appoints Jane O'Riordan as Chair as the hospitality data group targets US growth and new product launches.

Xero rolls out AI-powered business health scorecards as 4.6 million subscribers gain deeper KPI tracking, cash flow forecasts and sharing tools.

Newo names Jason Luo Chief Executive Officer after USD $25 million funding round as it targets small businesses missing inbound calls.

AI adoption among small business leaders is delivering measurable time savings, with Tech.co finding one in five save six to 10 hours a week.

American Express acquires Hyper to bolster AI-powered expense tools for business customers as it expands commercial services automation.

Intuit's QuickBooks is under pressure as AI start-ups push automated bookkeeping, forcing accounting software to prove it can do more than digitise ledgers.

Xero unveils AI-native finance platform and JAX assistant to cut admin for small firms, with accountants and bookkeepers also in line for gains.

ESET survey finds North American SMBs increasingly buying cyber cover, with insurers shaping controls and managed detection services after repeated breaches.

Slash lands USD $100 million Series C at USD $1.4 billion valuation as Ribbit backs its rapid expansion into broader business finance.

Atomgate's Renee Lovell says education, testing and partnerships are helping the South African MSSP turn SonicWall upgrades into measurable business gains.

Apple rolls out unified business hub in 200 markets as signs mount that local ads in Maps will debut across North America this summer.

Canva and Constant Contact add a one-click route from design to campaign, letting small firms and nonprofits publish across email and social media.

Maestra says brands are ditching fragmented marketing stacks as quarterly new ARR more than doubled plan, with inbound sales topping half of new business.

Emergent unveils Wingman, an always-on AI agent for email, scheduling and sales support as Australian firms seek to ease admin pressure.

Emergent's Wingman puts autonomous AI agents to work across email, calendars and chats, with human approval for higher-risk actions.

Rockwell's Plex wins Major Player status in six IDC MarketScape reports as AI-enabled ERP and finance tools gain ground among manufacturers.

Splashtop bets on AI-assisted patching and security alerts in a single console as it targets lean IT teams and MSPs with a new endpoint platform.

N-able widens Cove Data Protection with cloud-hosted Disaster Recovery as a Service for MSPs and IT teams facing cyberattacks and outages.