📈 Zelt Bags £6M to Fix HR Chaos

Shell’s Profits Drop, Investor Payouts Don’t

January 30, 2025

In partnership with

This is Cliff Equity, the UK’s business newsletter that keeps you informed on what’s important in tech, business and finance in less than 5 minutes

In today’s stories:

  • Zelt Bags ÂŁ6M to Fix HR Chaos

  • Shell’s Profits Drop, Investor Payouts Don’t

  • Microsoft’s $7bn Loss: AI Spending Woes

The summary: Zelt is tearing up the HR tech rulebook with a sleek, all-in-one platform that slashes costs, simplifies operations, and proves that the future of work is automated, efficient, and refreshingly inclusive.

The details:

  • Zelt secures ÂŁ6M to streamline HR chaos – London-based Zelt, the all-in-one people ops platform, bags funding from Nauta Capital (early Revolut backers) and others to expand its toolkit, conquer new markets, and make HR, finance, and IT play nicely together.

  • Death to HR software sprawl – Too many clunky, disconnected tools? Zelt’s here to end the madness, merging payroll, expenses, and device security into one sleek, automated hub. Less admin, fewer errors, and a happier workforce.

  • Cost-cutting with a side of automation – Companies using Zelt can slash their software spend by up to 50%, all while making life easier for employees and HR teams alike. One platform, fewer headaches.

  • A female founder’s refreshingly positive take – Co-founder Polina Vorms isn’t keen on being boxed into the “female founder” label but acknowledges the challenges. Her advice? Tech’s more inclusive than you think—jump in and own it.

Why it matters: HR tech is a minefield of overpriced, overcomplicated software, and Zelt is on a mission to declutter the mess, saving companies time, money, and sanity. With fresh funding and a sharp focus on automation, it’s giving businesses a slick, all-in-one alternative to the usual subscription sprawl. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s also proving that the tech world isn’t just for the usual suspects—talented women like Polina Vorms are leading the charge, no labels required.

Simplify with BILL. Get a BrĂŒMate Backpack Cooler.

We love our customers—and the feeling is mutual! Demo BILL Spend & Expense and get $200 to spend with BrĂŒMate.

“BILL gives me the capability to create as many virtual cards as I want. It makes budgeting easy. I use a different card for marketing, office expenses, etc and can set budget for each. All free, no hidden fees. Makes expense tracking extremely simple.” – Dylan Jacob, Founder @ BruMate

BILL gets you:

  • Customizable spending limits

  • Real-time tracking

  • Scalable credit lines

Take a demo and claim $200 to spend with BrĂŒMate.1

1Terms and Conditions apply. See offer page for details. Card issued by Cross River Bank, Member FDIC, and is not a deposit product.

The summary: Despite falling profits, Shell keeps pampering investors while Greenpeace fumes, oil prices wobble, and the UK government faces mounting pressure to make Big Oil pay for its climate mess.

The details:

  • Profits Down, Payouts Up – Shell’s annual profits slid to $23.7bn (ÂŁ19bn), missing forecasts, yet shareholders still bagged a 4% dividend boost and a $3.5bn share buyback. Nice work if you can get it.

  • A Habit of Generosity – That’s 13 straight quarters of $3bn+ in buybacks, even as earnings shrink. Seems like Shell’s loyalty lies firmly with investors, not the balance sheet.

  • Oil Prices Slump, Execs Stay Smug – With oil averaging $80.20 a barrel last year (down from over $100 in 2022), profits were bound to fall. But CEO Wael Sawan insists all is well, thanks to a handy $3bn cost-cutting spree.

  • Greenpeace Sees Red – Campaigners say Shell should spend billions fixing the climate crisis rather than rewarding investors. The UK government, they argue, should make polluters – not taxpayers – foot the bill for flood damage.

Why it matters: Shell’s ability to shower investors with cash despite falling profits shows where its priorities lie – and it’s not with the planet or the public. As oil prices wobble and climate disasters worsen, calls for Big Oil to foot the clean-up bill are only getting louder. Meanwhile, the UK government faces a choice: rein in fossil fuel giants or let taxpayers keep picking up the tab.

The summary: Microsoft’s hefty AI spending is raising eyebrows after DeepSeek’s budget-friendly success, leaving investors wondering if the tech giants are overshooting in their rush to the cloud.

The details:

  • Microsoft’s Wallet Takes a Hit – Shares slid after AI investment spending came in hotter than expected, just as investors were already reeling from DeepSeek’s market shake-up. Timing, as they say, is everything.

  • DeepSeek Disrupts the AI Party – The Chinese chatbot dethroned ChatGPT on Apple’s app store, claiming to do it all on a fraction of the budget. US investors, suddenly questioning their lavish AI spending, had a collective existential crisis.

  • Tech Stocks Take a Tumble – Monday’s market bloodbath wiped over €1trn off Nasdaq’s AI darlings. Microsoft, a major OpenAI backer, saw $7bn vanish into the ether – poetic, given AI’s obsession with the cloud.

  • Cloudy with a Chance of Overspending – Despite Azure’s AI boost, Microsoft’s cloud growth underwhelmed, and its capital expenditure overshot expectations by $1.6bn. Even the news of adding DeepSeek’s model couldn’t stop shares from slipping 4%.

Why it matters: Tech investors have spent the last 18 months throwing money at AI like it’s the second coming, but DeepSeek’s budget-friendly success has them wondering if they’ve been paying champagne prices for lemonade. Microsoft, a cornerstone of the AI gold rush, just got a costly reminder that Wall Street has little patience for big spending—especially when returns aren’t immediate. With market confidence wobbling and trillions at stake, the question now is whether Big Tech will rein in the AI arms race or double down in a very expensive game of one-upmanship.