After Gatwick, how do we prevent future drone chaos? April 8, 2019 Last year’s disruption at Gatwick airport is estimated to have cost over £50m. The incident points to the urgent need for significant action to ensure that drones are used safely and securely in the UK. The government has begun to regulate the sector: it is currently an offence to endanger aircraft, drone pilots are not permitted [...]
Anti-social media: Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark on social media harm after the Christchurch terror attacks April 8, 2019 I Interrupt the former leader of my native New Zealand, Helen Clark, in the middle of a Twitter and Facebook purge. “Social media management” she says, dictating a response to one of the provocateurs or well-wishers. It’s all part of overseeing a social media following of more than 200,000, I’m sure, but especially fitting since [...]
London tech startup Attest closes $16m from Groupon investor NEA April 8, 2019 Consumer growth platform Attest has secured a $16m (£12.3m) series A funding round from Silicon Valley-based investment firm NEA. Existing investors Oxford Capital and Episode 1 Ventures also participated in the round. London Bridge-based Attest said it would use the fresh funding to expand its technology platform, which is used by businesses to learn, measure [...]
Social media giants face fines in ‘online harms’ crackdown, says government April 8, 2019 Social media sites face financial penalties or blocking if they fail to tackle “online harms”, says a government white paper published today. Under a code of practice set out by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), an independent watchdog would police the sector, possibly funded by the industry. Read more: Social media giants [...]
Barclays plugs $6m into London financial tech startup Simudyne April 8, 2019 Financial simulation technology firm Simudyne will today announce the close of a $6m (£4.6m) series A funding round, led by Barclays. Early Snap and Lyft investor Graphene Ventures also joined the round, alongside Gauss Ventures which has previously backed digital banks Revolut and Tandem. The round raises Simudyne’s total amount of investment to date to [...]
Monzo set to overtake Revolut as fresh funding lifts valuation to £2bn April 7, 2019 Digital bank Monzo is set to double its valuation to almost £2bn after securing hefty backing in its latest fundraising round. The bank will reportedly close a £100m funding round, led by a new US investor, that will take its valuation to $2.5bn (£1.9bn) and make it the UK’s second-largest fintech startup. Read more: Oaknorth [...]
Drones, Gatwick, and the future: how this new aerial technology can benefit the UK economy and the public good April 7, 2019 New technologies always stir emotion, and as we’ve seen with the drone incidents at Heathrow and Gatwick, they can even result in new legislation. Following the announcement by the government and Civil Aviation Authority regarding an extended no-fly zone and stop-and-search powers for police, it is clear that the time is right to increase our [...]
Growing number of cyber attacks ‘damaging’ critical UK infrastructure April 5, 2019 An increasing number of key infrastructure sites have been hit by cyber attacks in recent years, sparking fears the UK is vulnerable to a “crippling” large-scale attack. Nine out of ten security professionals working in the critical infrastructure sector said their sites had been damaged by at least one cyber attack over the last two [...]
Morgan Stanley selected to steer Uber through $120bn IPO April 5, 2019 Morgan Stanley has reportedly been chosen to ensure Uber has a smooth ride through its initial public offering (IPO) after a string of volatile tech floats have set nerves jangling. The ride-hailing app has named the US investment bank as stabilisation agent for its eagerly-awaited IPO, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Read [...]
Samsung warns of 60 per cent drop in quarterly profits as smartphone sales slide April 5, 2019 Samsung Electronics has warned its first quarter profits are likely to plunge 60 per cent compared to the same period last year. The South Korean tech firm said its profit for the first three months of the year was likely to be between 6.1 trillion and 6.2 trillion won (£4.1bn), down from 13.6 trillion won [...]