Failed tech startup Blippar to relaunch as Nick Candy’s venture firm comes to its rescue January 23, 2019 Property tycoon Nick Candy has bought up the remaining assets of failed technology startup Blippar after it collapsed into administration last month. Already a major shareholder in the business, Candy now owns the intellectual property assets of Blippar and its various brands, which his venture firm said would be deployed into a new business. Blippar's chief [...]
London startup supporter Tech Hub grabs new Shoreditch venue in City expansion January 23, 2019 Europe’s longest-running tech workspace and startup support organisation Tech Hub has made a fresh commitment to London, revealing a £2.2m investment in a brand new home in Shoreditch. Launched in 2010 with Google as a founding sponsor, Tech Hub will move its 400 resident companies from its current spaces in London’s Silicon Roundabout and in [...]
Ebay shares spike as Elliott reveals stake and demands Stubhub spin-off January 22, 2019 Activist investor Elliott Management has revealed it has amassed a stake in Ebay worth roughly $1.4bn (£1.1bn), causing the retailer's share price to spike. In an open letter, Elliott urged Ebay to spin off or sell its ticket-sales franchise Stubhub and its classified ads business. It said Ebay could more than double its market value [...]
Mastercard slapped with €570m fine by EU antitrust watchdog over fee limits January 22, 2019 The European Commission has hit Mastercard with a €570.6m (£501.2m) fine for limiting the ability of banks to shop around for lower fee structures among member states. "By preventing merchants from shopping around for better conditions offered by banks in other member states, Mastercard's rules artificially raised the costs of card payments, harming consumers and [...]
Huawei chair calls for speedy resolution of case against its detained executive January 22, 2019 The chairman of Chinese tech company Huawei said the company will call for a speedy resolution of the case of its detained chief financial officer who is being held in Canada accused of breaking US sanctions on Iran. Liang Hua, who has been appointed as acting chief financial officer, was speaking to media on the [...]
Electrifying: Toyota and Panasonic to launch a joint venture for making electric car batteries January 22, 2019 Toyota and Panasonic will launch a joint venture next year to make electric vehicle batteries, bringing together the two firms in a push on innovation. The joint venture will be majority-owned by Toyota with a 51 per cent stake, while Panasonic will take up the remainder, the firms said in a joint statement this morning. [...]
Robinhood rival Freetrade moves into US stocks as transatlantic retail investing battle hots up January 22, 2019 London fintech startup Freetrade has today launched US stock trading on its app, in the midst of growing rivalry in the commission-free trading space. The app, which offers users the ability to invest in stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) directly without paying commission, said it will start with a curated list of 120 US stocks, including the likes [...]
Why collaboration, not competition, will digitalise banking January 21, 2019 Across every sector, businesses are looking to technology to reduce costs and improve their products and services. But most big financial services firms simply aren’t set up to create, drive, and wield new tech innovation – certainly not to the degree that a startup can. Big companies are hampered by legacy IT systems and complex [...]
Google hit with €50m fine by French data regulator in GDPR battle January 21, 2019 Google has been served with a €50m (£44.1m) fine by the French data regulator for breaching the EU's rules on consumer data protection. CNIL's restricted committee laid down the judgement this afternoon, finding Google responsible for a "lack of transparency, inadequate information and lack of valid consent regarding ads personalisation" under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) [...]
Whatsapp to fight fake news by limiting forwarded text messages January 21, 2019 Facebook's Whatsapp has said it will roll out curbs on the amount of times a user can forward the same message on its platform, in a bid to fight the spread of global "misinformation and rumours". Whatsapp's vice president for policy and communications Victoria Grand said the app would impose a limit of five messages [...]