Female tech founders bag £3.6bn despite wider investment slump March 8, 2023 Venture capital investment into tech firms founded by women jumped last year despite soaring inflation and volatility sparking a slowdown in funding across the sector, new figures reveal. Female founders shrugged off the downturn that hit the UK’s tech sector last year and bagged some £3.6bn of VC, up from £2.9bn the previous year, according [...]
Exclusive: Tech chiefs look to win over pension funds on UK ‘sovereign wealth fund’ plans March 6, 2023 Tech and fintech industry chiefs have met with some of the City’s top pension funds as part of plans to create a UK “sovereign wealth fund” that could help unleash a wave of funding into the UK’s tech startups, City A.M. can reveal.
Can fintech thrive outside of London? Charlotte Crosswell talks growing the sector around the country March 2, 2023 Even as Charlotte Crosswell launched the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology in Leeds this week with a mandate to boost fintech across the UK, those in attendance were asking why it couldn’t have been in London. The Leeds event had big name backers in City minister Andrew Griffith and has full-throated support from across [...]
Regulators holding back fintech firms in cost of living crunch, industry body says March 2, 2023 Regulatory red tape is stopping fintech firms from boosting financial inclusion and helping consumers through a cost of living crunch, the industry body and EY said today. In a new report, Innovate Finance and big four firm EY said today that City regulators need to quickly expand the UK’s open banking regime and loosen rules [...]
Revolut auditor flags concern over £477m of revenue in long-delayed 2021 accounts March 1, 2023 Revolut’s auditor BDO was not able to independently verify three-quarters of the £636m total revenue reported by the fintech firm in its long-delayed 2021 accounts, Revolut’s annual report showed. The 2021 accounts were signed off this week after months of delays, following a revamp of Revolut’s internal accounting systems and heavy regulatory scrutiny. But BDO [...]
Revolut: Delayed accounts reveal first full year of profit as banking licence ‘imminent’ March 1, 2023 Revolut said its UK banking licence was “imminent” today as the firm revealed it had spent its first full year in profit in 2021, in a much-delayed set of accounts. The London-based digital banking fintech, which was due to file its accounts in September 2022 and missed an extended deadline of the end of the [...]
Fintech ‘innovation hubs’ set to launch around the UK in levelling up push February 28, 2023 A host of “innovation hubs” are set to be launched in cities across the UK today as part of a Treasury-backed plans to boost the growth of fintech beyond London. The hubs have been announced as part of the launch of the new Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT), a key recommendation of the [...]
Klarna: BNPL giant on ‘solid path to profitability’ after cost cutting push helps narrow losses February 28, 2023 Buy-now pay-later giant Klarna said it was on a “solid path to profitability” today after a major cost-cutting push saw it narrow its losses in the second half of the year. The Swedish headquartered firm, which has slashed its headcount and pared back growth plans in the past 12 months, lost a record SEK 10.4bn [...]
Exclusive: Klarna rolls out UK late fees and ‘customer recovery programme’ in bid to curb defaults February 24, 2023 Buy-now pay-later giant Klarna will begin penalising customers for late payments in the UK next month in a bid to curb loan defaults, as shoppers pour onto the platform amid a cost of living squeeze, City A.M. can exclusively reveal. The Swedish bank and payments firm, which has been on a major cost cutting and [...]
Amigo struggling to raise £45m survival cash as it swings to hefty loss February 23, 2023 Beleaguered lending shop Amigo said it was yet to secure the £45m funding it needed for survival today as it swung to a hefty loss in the nine months to the end of December. The controversial Bournemouth-based firm has been struggling to restart lending again in full after being punished by regulators for dishing out [...]