AI health firm Healx bags $56m funding as it looks to fast track rare disease treatments October 16, 2019 Health tech firm Healx has secured $56m (£44m) in a Series B funding round as it looks to launch a new accelerator programme to find treatments for rare diseases. The Cambridge-based company said it raised the funds from European venture capital giant Atomico, Global Brain and Btov Partners, as well as its existing investors. Read [...]
DEBATE: Is the G7 warning the end for Facebook’s libra? October 16, 2019 Now that the G7 has issued a warning against the cryptocurrency, is this it for Facebook’s libra? YES, says Ana Bencic, president of Nexthash. Facebook’s libra is the most high-profile example of a centralised cryptocurrency and is a living example of how it will be perhaps the last one to exist. The G7’s warning to [...]
Google unveils new Pixel 4 phone as it looks to take on Apple October 15, 2019 Google has unveiled its new series of Pixel phones with a host of upgraded features as the tech giant looks to challenge the dominance of rival Apple in the smartphone market. Read more: Google Safari lawsuit: iPhone users win appeal to seek £3bn in damages The new Pixel 4 phones, which come in two sizes, [...]
Wework set to sack 2,000 employees as bosses weigh up rescue plans October 15, 2019 Wework is said to be preparing as many as 2,000 layoffs in the coming weeks as its new bosses battle to keep the company afloat. The troubled co-working giant is looking to cut roughly 13 per cent of its global workforce starting as early as this week, the Guardian reported. Read more: Softbank seeks control [...]
Polystyrene: The turnaround from misperception to circularity success October 15, 2019 | Sponsored Image: Polystyrene’s circularity in action with Agilyx’s recycling technology at the Regenyx facility in Tigard (photo by Agilyx). Polystyrene is very widely used, with approximately 800.000 tons sold into the European Union packaging market every year and several million tonnes of virgin polystyrene produced globally every year. It lends itself well to safe food packaging, [...]
Booking.com owner becomes latest to abandon Facebook Libra October 14, 2019 Booking Holdings, the company behind websites including Booking.com, has become the latest firm to quit Facebook Libra, the social media giant’s embattled cryptocurrency project. Libra confirmed that Booking – which also operates sites including Opentable and Kayak – is withdrawing from the Libra Association, the stablecoin’s Swiss-based independent governing body. Read more: Facebook cryptocurrency Libra [...]
Hiro Capital launches with €100m fund as it sets sights on gaming boom October 14, 2019 A team of gaming entrepreneurs has set up a brand new venture capital firm to pump €100m (£87.6m) into the booming games and esports industries. Hiro Capital launched today with the aim of targeting what it describes as a funding gap in the market, splitting its investments between creative games studios and industry technology. Read [...]
Facebook cryptocurrency Libra dealt fresh regulatory blow by G7 October 14, 2019 Facebook’s Libra digital currency project must not go ahead until the social media giant demonstrates it is safe and secure, according to a G7 report. The world’s largest economies warned that cryptocurrencies such as Libra pose a threat to the global financial system and backers must ensure the coins are not used to launder money [...]
KKR acquires majority stake in broadband provider Hyperoptic in £500m deal October 14, 2019 Global investment firm KKR has acquired a majority stake in the UK’s largest residential gigabit broadband provider. KKR bought the stake from funds managed by investment firm Newlight Partners and Mubadala, the UAE sovereign wealth fund. The companies have not announced the details of the deal, but it is understood to be worth £500m. Read [...]
Sophos shares jump as it announces £3bn US private equity buyout October 14, 2019 Cyber security group Sophos shares spiked this morning as it announced it is to be bought out by a US private equity firm, in a deal that values it at £3.1bn. Thoma Bravo said this morning it would take Sophos private, as it dives deeper into the booming cyber security sector. Read more: Sophos share [...]