GoCardless closes $312m funding round to become UK’s latest fintech ‘unicorn’ February 8, 2022 London-based payments firm GoCardless has closed a $312m funding round to make it the UK’s latest fintech ‘unicorn’ with a valuation of $2.1bn.
Global Britain: £500bn Brexit boost and 5m jobs via supercharge of UK exports and new trade ties February 8, 2022 Supercharging UK exports may result in a £500bn Brexit boost and could create up to 5m new jobs, according to a group of business leaders. The Global Britain Commission, which was set up by former trade minister Liam Fox, has set out detail for a blueprint for Global Britain in a post-Brexit world. If Britain [...]
Female-focused investment programme launches to help close gender funding gap February 8, 2022 A new female-focused fundraising programme has launched today to aim to close the UK's gender funding gap and work with female founders to navigate unconscious bias in venture capital (VC) investing.
Selina Advance scoops up $150m funding to roll out home equity lending February 8, 2022 London-based fintech firm Selina Advance has scooped up $150m funding as it looks to roll out home equity lending products to customers across the UK.
Former Norton motorcycle boss pleads guilty to pensions investment breaches February 7, 2022 The former owner of motorcycle firm Norton has pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching employer related investment (ERI) rules after he pumped more than five per cent of his firm’s three pension schemes back into his business. Stuart James Garner, 53, was accused of illegally investing cash from the Dominator 2012, Commando 2012 and [...]
Exclusive: Railsbank CEO on finance’s ‘iTunes moment’, ripping up the rule book and the might of Amazon February 7, 2022 British fintech Railsbank is eyeing up ‘unicorn’ status as it looks to raise $100m funding which would value the firm at over $1bn. It follows a $70m funding injection last year from backers including Anthos Capital and Outrun Ventures, which bosses had suggested had left the firm with a valuation of close to $1bn. Time [...]
EM impact investing: the importance of the environment February 7, 2022 | City Talk As emerging market (EM) impact investors, care for the environment has long been a concern for us. In fact, the environment is one of five key investment themes we’ve identified as part of our impact investment process. By investing in sustainably run companies whose products or services help address environmental and societal challenges, our intent [...]
Private equity firms circle embattled retailer THG February 6, 2022 Troubled e-commerce retailer THG is being circled by private equity firms for a potential buyout. Representatives from Advent International have reportedly visited the firm’s Manchester headquarters while LA-based Leonard Green is understood to have also expressed an interest. Shares leapt 16 per cent on Friday following speculation about private equity interest in a Betaville blog [...]
Weekend chat: Many companies and investors fear greenwashing claims, says sustainability guru February 6, 2022 Increasing biodiversity and expanding nature-based solutions to solve the climate crisis through so-called voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) are currently a hot topic. VCMs, which encompass all transactions of carbon offsets that are not purchased with the intention to surrender into an active regulated carbon market, do include offsets that are purchased with the intent to re-sell [...]
BlackRock enters the TikTok fray with ‘financial wellness’ account February 4, 2022 The world’s biggest asset manager BlackRock has joined the TikTok craze with an account dedicated to “financial wellness” tips.