New fintech strategy group will help Scotland capitalise on sector growth August 14, 2016 | City Talk A new national fintech strategy group has been launched by Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) in Edinburgh, to help Scotland capitalise on the growth within the sector. The SFE Fintech Strategy Group has brought together over 30 leading figures from the world of fintech in Scotland and met for the first time this May in Scotland's [...]
How Edinburgh-based firm Krotos gave Avengers: Age of Ultron a monster August 14, 2016 | City Talk An Edinburgh-based audio software specialist is attracting increasing interest from film, TV and game studios thanks to its innovative vocal processor software. Krotos has developed audio software that is now being used by Hollywood film and game studios. The company’s software – Dehumaniser – is a vocal processor which allows the production of high quality [...]
How Edinburgh is driving the fintech revolution August 14, 2016 | City Talk According to recent figures published by Innovate Finance, global investment in fintech has rocketed from $930m in 2008 to $12.5bn in 2015, with recognised tech clusters such as Edinburgh supporting London’s global dominance. Fintech is, to coin a phrase, white hot right now. It’s not only empowering new start-ups with the ability to launch disruptive [...]
Business and entrepreneurs pile pressure on Sadiq over Uber red tape August 14, 2016 Business groups and entrepreneurs have piled the pressure on the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, warning that new rules clamping down on Uber will stifle innovation in the capital and its multi-billion pound digital economy as he attempts brand the city "open for business". New rules have drawn the ire of business groups and tech entrepreneurs, who labelled them a backwards step that threatened the [...]
Deliveroo drives into pay row with warning on minimum wage August 14, 2016 Deliveroo has ridden into trouble with changes to the way it pays delivery drivers, prompting a warning from the government over adhering to rules on the minimum wage. Drivers last week took to the London streets to protest the changes, which they argue leaves them being paid less than the £7.20 National Living Wage (NLW), and which the [...]
This insurer is calling the shots in the war for tech talent August 11, 2016 Finding appropriately skilled staff for technology projects is a problem which plagues many businesses, but one insurance company has told Morning Wire it seems to have it sussed. Gary Hoffman, chief executive officer of Hastings Group Holdings, revealed the company was increasingly looking beyond other insurance firms to sniff out the best talent and turning to tech giants, such [...]
Microsoft splashes cash on video game streaming startup Beam August 11, 2016 Microsoft is getting in on the live games streaming action with its latest acquisition. The tech giant – fresh from snapping up LinkedIn in a $26bn (£20.1bn) deal – has acquired Beam, a Seattle-based startup which live streams video games. Read more: YouTube has launched its own live gaming service It will be rolled into Microsoft's Xbox operations, and [...]
Digital challenger bank Mondo just got its banking licence August 11, 2016 Another new challenger bank has been given the green light by the financial regulator in an attempt to give the big banks a run for their money. Digital challenger Mondo, a smartphone-only app, has been granted a banking licence which gives it free-reign to offer customers the full range of services offered by the traditional high street banks – although it [...]
Former business minister calls for BT Openreach split August 11, 2016 BT is not doing enough to give customers access to high speed internet and should be split up, according to the former business minister Anna Soubry who has called for "radical action" to deliver super fast broadband across Britain. The telecoms firm last week dodged a bullet when the regulator, which pushed further reforms of Openreach [...]
A Leonardo DiCaprio-backed startup is bringing mattress innovation to the UK August 11, 2016 Prepare for your sleep to be disrupted – but in a good way. A US startup with celebrity backing has launched in the UK and is hoping to shake up how Brits buy mattresses and the way we sleep. Casper, a two-year-old startup with multi-million dollar investment from Leonardo DiCaprio as well as venture capital [...]