London-listed Draper Esprit to double down on European tech with £100m share placing January 21, 2019 Venture capital firm Draper Esprit has today announced it will acquire a larger stake in funds managed by its European counterpart Earlybird, with the intention of raising £100m through a fresh share placing to finance the move. The London-listed tech investor first partnered with Earlybird in July last year, committing up to £76m into the German firm's [...]
Augmentum Fintech backs London will-writing startup Farewill in £7.5m round January 21, 2019 London-listed venture fund Augmentum Fintech has today announced a £4m injection into probate startup Farewill, leading the firm's £7.5m series A fundraise alongside the venture arms of the Daily Mail and M&C Saatchi. Other investors in the round included Transferwise chief executive Taavet Hinrikus, Innocent Smoothies parent firm Jamjar, Kindred Capital, Tiny VC and Venture Founders. Farewill claims [...]
The European Court of Justice must answer two key questions on the right to be forgotten January 21, 2019 A search on someone’s name in Google reveals a great deal about them. This might include where they work or went to school, as well as more private information such as their religion, sex life, or criminal convictions. In 2014, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) decided that individuals can protect their privacy by delisting [...]
Full speed ahead for motor insurers on the legal road to self-driving cars January 21, 2019 In the last twelve months alone, the government has spoken loudly about the direction in which it wants advances in self-driving cars to go. And yet, though these developments are certainly innovative, and exciting, speed bumps remain – especially for the motor insurance industry – on the road to autonomous vehicles becoming an everyday reality. [...]
Davos is a chance for the UK to step-up and collaborate in the digital revolution January 21, 2019 After the drama of last week in Westminster, it’s the 49th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum that will take centre stage over the next few days. I will join more than 100 heads of government, as well the globe’s leading companies, international organisations, and NGOs in making the annual visit to Davos. Brexit [...]
AI deployment rockets as businesses seek competitive edge January 21, 2019 The number of organisations using AI has rocketed 270 per cent since 2015, a survey out today reveals. Firms across all industries are increasingly using artificial intelligence as they seek to gain an edge over competitors, research firm Gartner's 2019 CIO Survey found. Read more: Automation and AI are leading the UK into a new industrial [...]
Monica Vinader-backer Beringea leads £6.5m round for data startup Exonar January 21, 2019 London-based venture capital firm Beringea has led a £6.5m funding round into UK data privacy and cybersecurity startup Exonar. The round was completed by Beringea alongside Downing Ventures, and existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners and Winton Ventures. Exonar aims to help firms comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and other legislation by creating an overview [...]
UK tech sector growth cools to slowest pace since 2015 amid political uncertainty January 21, 2019 Growth in the UK tech sector cooled to its slowest pace in three years in the final quarter of 2018 as political uncertainty and global trade frictions dented industry confidence. Tech companies also reported the sharpest fall for seven years in backlogs of work, suggesting a lack of new work to replace completed projects at [...]
London fintech Marketinvoice lands £56m in funding from Barclays and Santander January 21, 2019 London-based fintech business lender Marketinvoice has today closed a £56m round made up of equity and debt funding, led by Barclays and Santander's venture arm Innoventures. The series B-stage equity funding, which amounted to £26m, also received significant participation from European venture capital firm Northzone, which has previously backed the likes of Spotify, Trustpilot and fellow fintech lender Zopa. [...]
Former SSE boss Ian Marchant invests in London smart home startup January 21, 2019 A London-based smart home technology startup, backed by the former chief of SSE Ian Marchant, today announced that it has raised £2m in a new funding round. Den, which has now raised a total of £5m, is also backed by Mark Davies, a founder of Betfair. Read more: Stay on top of your resolutions with the [...]