Dele Alli-backed esports firm Excel raises £17m from City investors July 2, 2021 Excel, a British esports franchise endorsed by Tottenham Hotspur footballer Dele Alli, has secured millions of pounds in funding from some of the City’s biggest investors. The rapidly growing gaming organisation, which competes in the League of Legends and Fortnite divisions, today announced a £17m funding round. JRJ Group, which bought a minority stake in [...]
Smart devices could expose homes to thousands of cyber attacks a week July 2, 2021 A home filled with smart devices could be exposed to thousands of hacking or unknown scanning attacks from around the world in a single week, according to a new report. A real-world study carried out by consumer group Which recorded more than 12,000 attack attempts in a week, including 2,435 specific attempts to maliciously log [...]
Alibaba founders pledge company stock to secure bank loans July 2, 2021 Chinese tycoons Jack Ma and Joe Tsai have pledged part of their combined $35bn (£25bn) stake in Alibaba in exchange for large loans from investment banks. The share pledges, which were made to lenders including UBS, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, were made by offshore companies that control half of the two billionaire’s stake in [...]
Micro Focus narrows loss as software group slashes costs July 1, 2021 British software firm Micro Focus today reported a narrower loss for the first half of the year as it reaped the rewards of a cost-cutting plan. The London-listed company, which helps customers maintain and update legacy IT systems, posted an operating loss of $154.8m (£112m) for the six months to the end of April. This [...]
Google to crack down on financial scams after City watchdog threat June 30, 2021 Google is set to tighten its advertising rules in the UK in a bid to crack down on financial scams following pressure from the City watchdog. The tech giant said all financial services advertisers will have to prove they are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The new policy will come into force from [...]
Dixons Carphone posts £4.9bn UK revenue, buoyed by ‘explosion’ of gaming June 30, 2021 Dixons Carphone has posted a £4.9bn revenue from electricals in the UK and Ireland today, as it reaped the benefits of the pandemic-induced tech boom. Its revenue climbed eight per cent in the UK in the year to 1 May, up from £4.5bn the year before, the group said in its audited annual results this [...]
Duolingo files for US IPO as lockdown learners lean into languages June 29, 2021 Duolingo has filed for a US initial public offering after bumper demand for its language-learning app during coronavirus lockdowns translated into higher revenue. The Pittsburgh-based company, which was valued at $2.4bn (£1.7bn) following a funding round in November, last night unveiled plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange. It comes after Duolingo’s revenue soared almost [...]
Facebook’s value tops $1 trillion after judge throws out US lawsuits June 29, 2021 Facebook last night joined an exclusive club of companies worth more than $1 trillion after a US judge dismissed two antitrust lawsuits brought against the social media company. A federal judge ruled that the legal challenges, which were brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a coalition of states, were “legally insufficient” and did [...]
British surgical robot firm CMR valued at $3bn after Softbank-led funding June 28, 2021 British surgical robotics group CMR Surgical has raised $600m (£431m) in a Softbank-led funding round as it looks to expand its technology to hospitals worldwide. The Cambridge-based company said the cash injection was the largest ever medtech private financing round and gave it a valuation of $3bn. The funding was led by Softbank’s Vision Fund [...]
Oneweb and BT ink deal for rural broadband rollout June 28, 2021 Oneweb and BT have inked an agreement to use satellites to help roll out broadband in the most remote rural areas across the UK. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore how satellite technology could be used to beam internet services to rural areas that are too difficult or expensive to [...]