Elon Musk’s Tesla to snap up the US’ biggest solar energy provider June 22, 2016 Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk shocked markets yesterday by announcing plans to merge his electric car maker with America's biggest solar provider. Tesla Motors wrote in a blog post late last night that it has offered to buy SolarCity in an all-stock deal worth as much as $2.8bn (£1.9bn), more than the solar provider's market capitalisation of $2.1bn. Read more: Ikea [...]
These money transfer startups are restricting services on referendum day June 22, 2016 Several of the UK's fast growing online money transfer companies have said they will restrict their services on the day of the EU referendum. The unprecedented step is due to the potential volatility of currency markets on Friday. Startup Azimo has said it will temporarily suspend money transfers from 6am on Thursday morning when polls open, until "things have settled [...]
The European Union wants to give robots “electronic persons” status June 22, 2016 Say what you like about the European Union, but its timing is impeccable. The EU – yes, the organisation currently on trial by the population of its third-largest member – has just issued a draft report on robotics. Spoiler: it's nuts. The report, designed to provide recommendations to the EU's Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics, [...]
Blockchain could soon be settling gold transactions June 22, 2016 Gold trading in London could soon be settled using blockchain technology in a new initiative between Euroclear and itBit. The settlement house is working with the New York startup to introduce its private distributed ledger Bankchain to the London gold market in a bid to make it more efficient. Read more: London startup claims first working blockchain platform launch "Precious metals [...]
Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures invests $11m in London startup Lystable June 22, 2016 Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures has ploughed more cash into a startup founded in London which boasts Google among its clients. Lystable has landed $11m (£7.5m) from Thiel's fund, Goldcrest Capital and Spring Partners to fund its expansion in the US. The year-old startup provides software for companies to easily manage their contract and freelance workers, [...]
Half of workers think better tech skills could land them a better job June 22, 2016 The majority of UK workers think that they could boost their job prospects simply by learning some IT skills, research out today has found. However, while the study by Monster discovered that 54 per cent of UK employees thought they could land a better job if they were better with tech, just 15 per cent [...]
London is reaching breaking point when it comes to tech talent June 21, 2016 After the fanfare of yesterday’s launch, the second day of London Technology Week has taken a long, hard look at the challenges and strengths of the capital’s digital industries. The truth is that whilst celebration attracts investment, the long-term success of technology will only be secured by united action from the private sector to address [...]
These are the seven fintech startups being backed by Mastercard June 21, 2016 Mastercard is backing seven fintech startups hoping to change the way we use money and disrupt the finance world. London startups Revolut and Everledger are among the tech firms chosen for Mastercard's six month Start Path programme from among more than 500 applications from 60 countries. The startups, from as far afield as Israel and Argentina and announced at London [...]
Another corporate finance firm is launching a fintech venture arm June 21, 2016 German exchange owner Deutsche Boerse is wrapping up its investments in financial technology companies into a standalone venture capital fund and will ramp up its funding in fintech firms, joining the rush of corporates eyeing a slice of disruptive startups. DB1 Ventures will include a handful of existing investments, including a stake in Blythe Masters' blockchain startup Digital Asset Holdings, some [...]
The Queen has tweeted for the second time ever to say thank you for her 90th birthday wishes June 21, 2016 The British monarchy is tearing up the rule-book on thank you letters. Queen Elizabeth II may be 90, but she's a trailblazer when it comes to modernising the etiquette around birthday wishes. The Queen tweeted for the second time on Tuesday, thanking her subjects for their "messages of goodwill" as she celebrated her 90th birthday this year. [...]