Small Business (SMB) stories - Page 6

From runway to boardroom, Australia's pageant stage doubles as a high-stakes PR lab for purpose-driven personal branding in 2026.

Acronis finds SMBs patch Microsoft flaws in about eight days, but the slowest endpoints stay exposed to known bugs for over five weeks.

QuSecure lands a USD $3.9m AFWERX contract to mature quantum-resilient encryption for sensitive US Air Force Global Strike missions.

KYND appoints Aaron Aanenson to spearhead its North American cyber insurance push, targeting sharper SME risk assessment and underwriting.

Vistra and G-P unveil a single-contract route to shift firms smoothly from EOR hiring to fully fledged entities in overseas markets.

US small firms are leaning on AI to slash admin costs and free staff for higher-value work, avoiding deeper headcount cuts for now.

US small firms saw sales growth sink to a two-year low in late 2025, even as invoice payments sped up and cash flow pressures eased.

YouLend seals multi-year deal with Värde, which may buy up to USD $225 million of US receivables to back its embedded lending growth.

Proofpoint launches AI-first Nuclei suite to simplify archiving and compliance for small firms swamped by complex, multi-channel comms.

ECI names Jack Wood chief technology officer to spearhead platform modernisation and embed secure, workflow-native AI across its products.

ECI acquires Drypowder to embed AI-driven AR and digital payments into its ERP platforms for construction and building materials users.

Rainforest adds PayPal, Venmo and PayPal Pay Later to its unified checkout for vertical software, aiming to shift users from cash and cheques.

Google is rolling out Nano Banana 2 across Gemini, Search, Ads and Cloud, making its faster image model the default in key AI products.

Tech communications win trust when diverse voices shape stories around outcomes and lived experience, not just logic and specs.

Blackline Safety fits sniffer dogs with GPS gas monitors, pairing canine noses with connected tech to track leaks for rural utilities.

AI-fuelled cyber threats are outpacing reactive defences, N-able warns, urging smaller firms to prioritise resilience over traditional security.

Tariff hikes, AI adoption and regional supply chains are redrawing global trade as firms diversify sourcing and tighten working capital.

ShiftCare nets over USD $20,000 from Xero referrals after baking accounting recommendations into onboarding and in-app workflows.

Xero unveils AI-powered invoicing and payment tools, promising to cut late payments and ease cash-flow strain for small businesses.

Xero launches App Store Power Lists to spotlight top referred apps, boosting discovery for small businesses and reach for developers.