London startup Curve launches new card that will allow consumers to combine all their payment cards February 17, 2016 London-based startup Curve launched today, the latest in a string of new companies in the payments technology sector, with the aim of allowing consumers to combine all their bank cards into one payment card. The card, which is supported by a mobile app, will be accepted everywhere that MasterCard is. According to the company, the service "offers [...]
Mobile challenger bank Mondo raises £5m from Passion Capital and plans £1m crowdfundng campaign ahead of 2016 launch February 15, 2016 Innovative new mobile-first challenger bank Mondo has landed a fresh round of funding and plans a further injection of cash from a crowdfunding campaign ahead of its launch later this year Venture capital firm Passion Capital has invested £5m in the London startup which is in the process of applying for a banking licence from regulators. The bank also plans [...]
Monitise share price up even as losses quadruple February 12, 2016 Monitise has reported quadrupled losses as the troubled payments firm has had to write off £167m from its value. The figures Monitise reported pre-tax losses soaring from £58m to £211m in the six months to 31 December. At the same time, sales were down from £42m to £33m. The firm’s share price, which has plunged [...]
BBVA shakes up fintech venture fund, spinning out into independent Propel Ventures, doubling fund and setting up London office February 11, 2016 Spanish bank BBVA, which recently ploughed £45m into UK digital challenger bank Atom, has more than doubled its war chest for investing in fintech startups and will set up shop in London in a shake up of its venture investment strategy. The bank's $100m (£69m) fintech venture fund, which invests in European and US startups, will be upped to $250m [...]
The hottest tech sectors for investment and deals: Biotech, pharma and fintech are set to grow in Silicon Valley and Silicon Roundabout alike February 11, 2016 Last year was a bumper year for UK tech investment, with over £3bn of investment by venture capital. Yet the year finished without its usual flourish. It was the same story in the US and with the same protagonists – perceived overvaluations of private companies, particularly in the technology sector, and the uneasy public markets. [...]
Farming is more digital than finance – and the most digital business industries in the UK February 11, 2016 The digital economy is being fuelled by traditional businesses as much as it is hot shot startups – but some are innovating more quickly than others and you might call finance a surprising slow moo-ver. Farming and the agriculture industry counts more digital businesses in its midst than finance, according to figures from market intelligence firm GrowthIntel. Just [...]
Viva la e-revolution, and what’s next for the booming UK digital economy February 11, 2016 The UK’s economy is witnessing an e-revolution. Digital innovation is now not only driving the digital economy, but is transforming the ways in which the more “traditional” industries are approaching their day to day business activities. Today at SPRINT – the annual event hosted by the Government Digital Service which showcases the digital transformation work [...]
City supremo Rich Ricci is racing into fintech joining FreemarketFX as chairman February 10, 2016 City supremo Rich Ricci, the former long-standing boss of Barclays' investment banking, is jumping on board the fintech revolution. The horse racing fan and former right-hand man of Bob Diamond will join the p2p currency exchange platform FreemarketFX, founded by former senior executive at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Alex Hunn, as non-executive chairman He has also invested an undisclosed sum in [...]
London fintech startup World Remit raises $45m from Triple Ventures Growth BDC and Silicon Valley Bank February 10, 2016 Star London fintech startup World Remit has landed another multi-million pound round of funding from investors. Triple Ventures Growth BDC and Silicon Valley Bank have invested $45m (£31m) in the form of debt financing to fuel expansion plans. Read more: Index has a new $550m VC fund and its eye on London startups The remittances startup lets [...]
Insurance tech startup Lemonade backed by reinsurers Lloyd’s of London, Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity, Hiscox and more February 9, 2016 A soon-to-launch tech startup with millions in venture capital investment and plans to disrupt the insurance industry has been backed by leading insurers Lloyd's of London and Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity. Lemonade, a New York-based peer-to-peer insurance firm which recently picked up $13m from Sequoia Capital among others, will be reinsured by the firms, along with Hiscox, Everest, Munich, Transatlantic and [...]