Monzo backer Passion Capital opens doors to retail investors March 10, 2021 One of the earliest backers of fintech favourite Monzo is opening its doors to crowd investors with the launch of its third fund. Passion Capital’s £45m fund will be open to any investors who self-certify as “high net worth” or “sophisticated” and are registered and qualified by the crowdfunding platform Seedrs. It will give retail [...]
Starling Bank secures unicorn status with £272m funding round March 8, 2021 Starling Bank today confirmed it has raised £272m in its largest ever funding round, confirming its status as Britain’s newest unicorn. The digital bank raised the funds in a series D round led by Fidelity Management and Research. The Qatar Investment Authority, Railpen — the investment manager for the £31bn Railways Pension Scheme — and [...]
Budget reactions: Optimism and relief to Sunak’s plans March 4, 2021 Following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement yesterday, of a raft of new support measures alongside plans to shore up Britain’s finances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the details of this year’s Budget gradually become clear to SMEs, entrepreneurs, startups and others in London and across the country. Sunak set out extensions to the furlough [...]
Accounting startup Countingup secures £9m Series A round March 4, 2021 A business account that claims to simplify bookkeeping has secured a £9.1m Series A funding round as it looks to expand its offering ahead of changes to HMRC rules. London-based startup Countingup, which currently has 34,000 customers, offers a business current account with built-in accounting software to help both the self-employed and accountants. It has [...]
Deliveroo picks London for multi-billion pound listing March 4, 2021 Deliveroo has confirmed it will choose London for its long-awaited IPO. The delivery firm will list with a dual-class share structure in what will be a major boost for the capital. It is expected to be the largest float in London this year. It comes just a day after a Treasury-commissioned review by former EU [...]
Google launches $2m fund to help bridge funding gap for Black tech founders March 2, 2021 Google For Start Ups launches fund to tackle lack of black talent in tech
Klarna’s valuation soars to $31bn after $1bn funding round March 1, 2021 Klarna has secured a $1bn fundraising round bringing the valuation of the buy now pay later firm to $31bn. The four times oversubscribed round makes Klarna the highest-valued European private fintech after a surge in online shopping during the pandemic. It comes amid speculation that the Swedish payments firm will go public with chief executive [...]
Chancellor set to launch tech visa following Kalifa review February 26, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to launch a fast-track visa programme for tech workers following proposals set out by the Kalifa review into the industry. Speaking to the Financial Times Sunak said the scheme would help “scale up” the industry, saying the new visa stream would be a “calling card for what we are about”. [...]
Kalifa review: Fintech industry welcomes ‘invaluable’ tech visa after Brexit February 26, 2021 Recommendations from the government-commissioned Kalifa review published today have been broadly welcomed by the fintech industry. The UK has been at the forefront of innovation in recent years – the sector is worth an estimated £11bn in revenue and represents 10 per cent of the global market. But the report, led by former Worldpay boss [...]
Kalifa Review: Others waiting for UK fintech’s ‘crown to slip’ February 26, 2021 The head of the much-awaited government-backed review into the fintech industry has warned the UK risks falling behind if recommendations aren’t quickly implemented. Former head of payments firm Worldpay Ron Kalifa led the review published today which sets out plans to capitalise on the growing fintech industry. The scope of the review is large, ranging [...]