UK is the most digitally advanced country in Europe May 24, 2021 The UK is the most digitally advanced country in Europe after the pandemic accelerated digital adoption, new research shows. A survey of more than 20,000 European citizens by McKinsey reveals 86 per cent of the UK has used ecommerce or online services in the past six months. Some 7m Brits have accessed new digital services [...]
Super sniffers: Trained dogs could spot Covid with 94 per cent accuracy May 24, 2021 Trained dogs can detect the smell of Covid-19 with up to 94 per cent accuracy, new research has suggested, which could be a major breakthrough in testing. The study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has not yet been peer-reviewed but showed dogs were able to sniff out samples from people who [...]
London ‘knowledge hacking’ app Uptime raises $3m from Youtube founder May 22, 2021 London-based education app Uptime has raised a further $3m (£2.1m) in a star-studded investment round from backers including Youtube co-founder Chad Hurley. Uptime, which describes itself as a “knowledge hacking app”, raised the funds as an extension to its seed round, bringing its total raised so far to $19m. Hurley, who is also an investor [...]
Klarna mulls London stock market float after post-Brexit listing revamp May 21, 2021 Klarna is weighing up a potential stock market float in London, but has said its decision will rest on changes to listing rules in the capital after Brexit. Chief executive Sebastian Siemiatkowski said London had the opportunity to strengthen its reputation as a global financial hub by attracting more fintech firms and banks. “As Brexit [...]
Tim Cook to take the stand in Apple’s Fortnite ‘monopoly’ battle May 21, 2021 Apple boss Tim Cook will take the stand today to defend his company against allegations of monopoly power as part of a high-profile legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games. The iPhone chief is expected to spend more than two hours fighting back against claims Apple abuses its market power through its App Store. Epic [...]
Snap launches new video editing app in bid to take in Tiktok May 20, 2021 Snap today unveiled plans for a new standalone app offering professional levels of video editing as it looks to challenge the dominance of rivals Tiktok and Instagram. The US tech firm, which owns Snapchat, said Story Studio will give social media stars powerful editing tools to make professional content for mobile. It will also introduce [...]
Your next GP might be Dr Alexa or Dr Siri May 20, 2021 | City Talk One of the ways that artificial intelligence is transforming everyday life is through combination technologies which amalgamate innovations such as machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, image processing, natural language processing, speech recognition and more into brand new applications. The most active innovator and adopter of these ‘magic’ new combinations is the global healthcare sector. [...]
UK companies to help plot ‘constellation’ of satellites around the Moon May 20, 2021 UK space companies have begun developing navigation and telecommunication capabilities to put a ‘constellation’ of satellites around the Moon, according to the European Space Agency (ESA) today. With funding from the UK Space Agency, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), Inmarsat and MDA Space and Robotics have bagged £2m contracts with the ESA for the satellite [...]
Climate risk start-up Cervest closes $30m funding round May 20, 2021 A tech start-up which has developed a number of tools to help firms keep track of climate risk has today closed a $30m Series A funding round. Cervest, which was founded in 2016, uses its “climate intelligence” platform to allow companies to keep track of environmental threats to their assets. Venture capital firm Draper Espirit [...]
Fintech firm Pipe secures $2bn valuation after funding round May 19, 2021 Pipe, a startup that allows companies to sell their recurring revenue streams, has secured a valuation of $2bn (£1.4bn) following a fresh funding round. The fintech firm today said it had raised a further $250m in a round led by venture capital firm Greenspring Associates. New investors such as Morgan Stanley’s investment arm Counterpoint Global, [...]