Shares in IT firm Softcat jump as pandemic drives up profit March 24, 2021 Shares in IT firm Softcat fizzed in morning trading after after the pandemic helped drive strong growth in both revenue and profit for the second half of the year. The FTSE 250 firm reported revenue of £577m in the six months to the end of January — up 10 per cent on the same period [...]
Intel to splash out $20bn on factories in new chipmaking push March 24, 2021 Intel has unveiled plans to spend $20bn (£14.6bn) on two new semiconductor factories as part of a radical turnaround plan aimed at restoring the company’s chipmaking prowess. Under a multi-year strategy outlined by new chief executive Pat Gelsinger, Intel will build two new plants in Arizona. It will also start outsourcing to other manufacturers and [...]
Zentura launches range of Zenconnect® video conferencing Pods March 23, 2021 | Sponsored As remote working and video conferencing becomes more ingrained in our working lives, workspace interiors business, Zentura, has launched a family of video conferencing pods. Designed to enable high quality, professional video meetings and collaboration. Zentura founder & MD, James Hutchins said: ‘COVID 19 has changed the way we work, accelerating the already emerging trends [...]
Anti-virus firm Norton taken to court amid competition investigation March 23, 2021 The UK competition watchdog is taking anti-virus software firm Norton to court after it refused to provide information relating to an ongoing investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has identified concerns that Norton’s practices for automatically renewing contracts result in customers paying for services they no longer want or need. It asked the company [...]
Amazon to slim down Deliveroo stake after blockbuster float March 23, 2021 Amazon is set to trim down its stake in Deliveroo following the food delivery firm’s blockbuster initial public offering this year. The ecommerce giant plans to sell around 23m shares as part of the stock market debut, allowing it to raise as much as £107m from the deal. Its stake in Deliveroo will be reduced [...]
Using blockchain for personal monetisation March 23, 2021 | City Talk Fundraising has been around for as long as people have been launching new ventures and the ability to raise funds is one of the most vital leadership traits in any successful start-up CEO. Even the most incredible concepts can quickly fall flat if they do not get support from investors. This dichotomy has led technologists [...]
COVID-19 forced doctors like me to embrace technology March 23, 2021 | City Talk “Would you like to FaceTime him?”. My Dad suffered from dementia for several years but last year he stopped walking and then eating as a result, and then sadly passed away at the end of November last year. He was in and out of hospital during the pandemic and none of us were able to [...]
Test and Trace trials ‘groundbreaking’ new technology to detect Covid mutations March 22, 2021 NHS Test and Trace has begun trials of a “groundbreaking” new variant test that can hunt down Covid mutations and return results within 48 hours, the health secretary has announced. The tests could potentially halve the time it takes to identify whether a positive coronavirus sample contains a variant of concern, which usually take around five days [...]
Sir Richard Branson-backed air quality tech firm raises $3m to expand in UK March 22, 2021 Airly, the air quality tech firm backed by Sir Richard Branson, has raised $3.3m in a funding round to expand its platform globally. The company, which provides AI-driven insights on air pollution, is planning to open offices in the UK and the US and double its staff count. It currently counts Philips, Virgin, Innogy, PwC, [...]
Valuation of Fortnite creator Epic Games soars to $28bn after lockdown demand March 20, 2021 The owner of two big pandemic winners, Fortnite and Houseparty, has reportedly closed a new fundraising round which brings its valuation to around $28bn. Epic Games is finalising the terms of a $1bn fundraising just seven months after its last round, according to Sky News. Last summer the Houseparty-owner secured a $17.3bn valuation after a [...]