AI is growing: How do we create fair technology we can trust in, and minimise the risks of gender bias? May 7, 2021 | City Talk This year marks 20 years since Spielberg’s sci-fi / drama movie came to our screens: A.I. Artificial Intelligence – and in 2021, AI is no longer the work of science fiction. In the last 20 years, AI uses have been explored for human benefits in numerous industries. AI has played a key role in developing vaccines against [...]
Travel finance start-up raises £10m to build up US operations May 5, 2021 A new fintech firm offering users the chance to split the cost of travel over 12 months has raised another £10m in funding, it was announced today. Start-up Fly Now Pay Later has now raised a total of £45m in funding following the close of its latest round, co-led by asset management firms Revenio Capital and [...]
Exclusive: A heavy metal drummer working to infuse rhythmic harmony into the payments space May 3, 2021 Meet Tom Cregan, a heavy metal drummer and martial arts enthusiast who is on a mission to infuse rhythmic harmony into the world of global payments. The managing director and CEO of digital payments giant EML’s favourite part of any day as chief executive is, what he calls, finding a ”1+1=5 moment” by thinking and [...]
Darktrace races out of the blocks: A boost for London’s IPO market after Deliveroo’s flop April 30, 2021 In a welcome boost for the London IPO market after the Deliveroo flop, UK cybersecurity company Darktrace launched this morning well above its initial price of 250p per share, jumping sharply to 350p in opening trade. There were early indications that the initial valuation might be higher than this, at around £3bn, however it appears that [...]
Pandemic-resilient companies employ higher-paid, higher educated staff April 26, 2021 Companies that coped better through the pandemic were more likely to employ people who were paid better, had higher education and were born in Poland or India. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that workers in industries classed as “resilient” to the pandemic were paid £628.89 per week on average, compared with [...]
Yougov acquires open banking start-up Lean App April 26, 2021 Data analytics firm Yougov has acquired open banking start-up Lean App to help improve its services with financial transaction data. Lean App has been acquired by Yougov on a three year earn-out, tied to enriching and expanding the research company’s data in the UK and the US. Lean App’s founders – Luke Dugdale, Tom Stuart, [...]
Pensionbee valued at £365m ahead of London IPO April 21, 2021 Pensionbee has priced its IPO at 165 pence per share valuing the company at £365m ahead of its listing this month. The pension consolidation business is set to join the high growth segment of the London Stock Exchange. Last week it announced an offer price range of between 155p and 175p per share. The offer [...]
Treasury to move forward with recommendations set out in listings review April 19, 2021 The Treasury will move forward with recommendations made by Lord Hill to encourage more fintechs to list in the UK. Last month the former EU commissioner published a set of recommendations which called for a range of deregulatory measures. Among the recommendations was the use of dual class shares, which allow company founders to maintain [...]
Starling Bank secures £50m investment from Goldman Sachs April 19, 2021 Digital lender Starling Bank has extended its latest funding round with a £50m investment from Goldman Sachs. Last month it announced a £272m Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research which valued it in excess of £1.1bn pre-money. Starling Bank today said Goldman Sachs investment marked an extension of the oversubscribed round, [...]
Sunday Sitdown: Investors look past political changes as Brexit offers a chance to alter investment regulation, says City veteran April 18, 2021 More than 440 firms in banking and financial services have relocated part of their business, moved employees or set up new entities in the EU following Brexit. Dublin and Paris are the go-to destinations, as banks have moved or plan to move more than £900bn in assets to the EU, equivalent to 10 per cent [...]