Banks should watch out – the fintech era has barely begun November 20, 2018 The fintech sector makes a lot of noise in London. There’s an endless stream of news about open banking and challenger banks, while the traditional finance sector watches on with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. Banks have come under attack, not only from the hype-machine, but more meaningfully from startups. Traditional finance providers that assumed [...]
Google and DeepMind are playing fast and loose with society’s trust November 20, 2018 Last week, we were greeted by the disturbing news that DeepMind, an artificial intelligence subsidiary owned by Google’ s parent company Alphabet, is moving some of its healthcare activities into the newly formed Google Health. This isn’t the first time that one of the tech giants has been accused of making misrepresentations to consumers, using [...]
The UK’s technology startups are raising the bar in European venture capital November 20, 2018 The UK's share of the European venture capital industry has grown exponentially over the last decade, as investors turn towards larger and later-stage deals in a focus on the country’s growing startups. Data compiled by Octopus Ventures has today revealed that the UK now receives 42 per cent of all venture capital funding in Europe, [...]
Draper Esprit and Barclays back London fintech Form3 in $13m funding round November 20, 2018 Payments technology fintech startup Form3 will today reveal the close of a $13m (£10.1m) series B fundraising round, led by Graze and Perkbox-backer Draper Esprit. Existing investors Barclays Bank, Angel Cofund and several other individual backers also participated in the round. Established in 2016, the Monument-based startup builds payments-processing technology for banks and fintech firms [...]
London leads the way as an artificial intelligence tech talent hub November 15, 2018 Investment in London’s artificial intelligence (AI) sector from venture capital firms skyrocketed more than 200 per cent between 2015 and 2017, with funding for the capital’s startups so far this year already surpassing last year’s numbers. New figures released today by Pitchbook revealed the fast growth of London’s AI scene, which is home to more [...]
Transferwise repackages its business banking with a debit card November 14, 2018 Fintech unicorn Transferwise is today relaunching its business banking effort to include a debit card, integration with accounting platform Xero and an open access developer channel. The newly-revised business product will provide a Transferwise Business debit card for spending both online and in-store in 45 currencies, in addition to its previous offering of local bank details [...]
Fintech startup Revolut is in talks to raise $500m from Softbank November 12, 2018 British fintech startup Revolut is raising a $500m (£389m) series D round from the likes of Japanese mega-investor Softbank, in order to fuel its aggressive expansion plans. Several sources have told Morning Wire that the deal is set to close early next year, as Revolut tries to launch its banking app in the US, one of [...]
Stop blaming Brexit for a brain drain November 12, 2018 Brain drain. Talent drain. The only thing that is truly draining ahead of March 2019 is hearing tech leaders use Brexit as an excuse for not being able to build a great team. As any founder knows, staff are the beating heart of the company and the most vital asset that you have. Tech Nation’s [...]
How London’s high streets can weather the brewing retail storm November 12, 2018 London rightly bears the distinction of being one of the world’s most attractive places to live and work. But with that label comes risks as well as opportunities – and often, trends that we see across the country play out far more dramatically when it comes to our capital. Take our latest research into the [...]
Pitch at Buckingham Palace: Meet the startups in the Duke of York’s tech accelerator November 8, 2018 Startups, entrepreneurs and business leaders will gather at Buckingham Palace tonight to hear from the twelve finalists of the Duke of York's Pitch@Palace startup accelerator programme. Coming from across the spectrum of biotech, accessibility, construction and video, these UK startups will be given a chance to pitch the room with their specific "ask", whether that's [...]