London beats Euro rivals to retain tech investment crown (yes, despite Brexit) January 12, 2023 London sailed past European rivals to retain its crown as the top destination for tech investment last year as nearly $20bn was pumped into the capital’s start-ups, new data has revealed.
Cost-of-living crisis will fuel tsunami of cyber attacks in 2023, warns industry insider January 11, 2023 The cost-of-living crisis is fuelling a surge in cyber attacks on UK businesses, a leading fraud expert has warned. Leigham Martin, group head of infrastructure and security at Connectus Business Solutions, shared with City A.M. that cutting costs on security will spell disaster for businesses. “There is increasing evidence that some businesses are looking to [...]
BNPL: Usage of buy-now pay-later with firms like Klarna rockets – but does it ease shoppers’ cost-of-living burden? January 11, 2023 Buy-now pay-later usage rocketed last year as over four million new shoppers took to the products in a bid to shield their wallets from the soaring cost of living, new data shows.
UK Treasury under fire for delays to buy-now pay-later regulations January 11, 2023 The Treasury has come under fire from a Tory peer today after more delays to the rollout of buy-now pay-later regulation, amid concerns fintechs have been left in limbo and shoppers are landing themselves in unmanageable piles of debt. Buy-now pay-later (BNPL) firms like Klarna, Clearpay and Laybuy, which allow shoppers to defer and split [...]
Microsoft considering £8bn investment in Chat GPT owner, says Semafor January 10, 2023 Microsoft is in talks to invest $10bn (£8.2bn) into ChatGPT-owner Open AI, according to reports by Semafor earlier today, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the report, Microsoft’s investment would take OpenAI’s valuation up to $29bn. The deal would initially be based on a revenue share, which will see Microsoft take 75 per [...]
EXCL – Tech investments increasingly casualty of recession and skills shortage January 10, 2023 More than half of UK business leaders believe their companies’ digital platforms – such as websites, apps and customer-facing tech – fail to stand out against competitors, with almost half ready to invest in making improvements in 2023. However, according to the data that was shared exclusively with City A.M. today, significant hurdles and concerns [...]
Comparethemarket owner backs London ‘insurtech’ Superscript in £45m funding round January 9, 2023 London-based insurance fintech Superscript announced it had bagged a £45m funding round led by the owner of Comparethemarket.com today, in a boost to the UK’s burgeoning ‘insurtech’ sector after a flurry of investment in the past two years.
Tech chiefs demand pragmatism while retail CEOs go for enthusiasm and City finance bosses value a vision January 9, 2023 As 2023 gets underway the World Cup in Qatar is fast becoming last year’s news. However, for Chris Watt, Managing Partner at ECI Partners, it would be wise for City chiefs to sit back and reflect on the tournament, as there are some lessons to be learnt. Leadership, vision and strategy being the keywords during [...]
Zopa Bank: Surviving recessions, battling digital banks and whether it will float in London this year January 9, 2023 Zopa is a firm that has weathered economic crises before. When the global financial crisis swept through the economy in 2008, the London-headquartered fintech was a little-known but early-moving peer-to-peer (p2p) lending shop connecting borrowers with willing investors. Banks had unsurprisingly reined in loans and hauled up the barricades, leaving consumers scrambling for cash through other [...]
UK fintech funding tumbles amid global slowdown, but London remains well ahead of global rivals January 9, 2023 Investment into the UK’s fintech sector slumped eight per cent last year as soaring inflation and the shocks of war in Ukraine brought an end to a decade-long global venture capital frenzy, figures shared exclusively with City A.M. reveal.