Inovia Capital expands European presence with $450m fund March 16, 2021 Canadian venture capital firm Inovia Capital has closed its first transatlantic fund at $450m doubling down on its commitment to invest in European growth-stage firms. The firm opened in London two years ago and is led by investor Patrick Pichette, who also chairs Twitter’s Board of Directors. Early stage investment in European startups has hit [...]
Apple hits back at App Store competition probe with UK jobs claim March 15, 2021 Apple today said its App Store supports 330,000 jobs in the UK as it hit back against a probe into claims it treats app developers unfairly. Earlier this month the Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation into whether Apple imposes unfair or anti-competitive terms on developers after it received a number of complaints. The [...]
Name-dropping: Elon Musk changes job title to Technoking of Tesla March 15, 2021 Eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has a history of riling shareholders with his unusual behaviour, and his latest stunt could put another black mark by his name. In a stock market filing today, the troublesome tycoon announced he has changed his job title to Technoking of Tesla, in addition to his current role of chief executive. [...]
Stripe tops US startup rankings as valuation jumps to $95bn March 15, 2021 Digital payments firm Stripe has become the most valuable private company in Silicon Valley after fresh funding drove up its price tag to $95bn (£68bn). The financial services firm last night announced it had raised $600m in fresh capital from investors including Allianz, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Sequoia Capital, and Ireland’s National [...]
Tech hiring surges as firms turn to government’s Kickstart Scheme March 15, 2021 The resilience of the tech sector has seen hiring return to pre-pandemic levels and now it is turning to the government’s kickstart scheme to recruit under-24s. The digital tech sector has seen hiring surge to pre-pandemic levels with 122,446 advertised roles in the IT sector alone. Firms are making use of the government’s Kickstart Scheme [...]
Chief executive of Jack Ma’s Ant Group steps down March 12, 2021 Simon Hu has reportedly resigned as chief executive of Ant Group after just over a year in the role. Hu resigned for personal reasons according to Bloomberg, and he will be replaced by Ant Group chairman Eric Jing with immediate effect. He joined Alibaba in 2005 before moving to Ant in 2018 as President and [...]
How millennial savings app Plum could lure a new generation of DIY investors March 12, 2021 The reason Victor Trokoudes started Plum may be a familiar story to some millennials. His dad started nagging him about putting money away after he realised he hadn’t been doing much about his savings despite working as a trader in the City. He started building Plum in 2016 with co-founder Alex Michael before its launch [...]
Shareholder management platform Shaparency announces capital raise amid expansion March 11, 2021 Shareholder management platform Shaparency which claims to democratise business access has secured another capital raise amid its rapid expansion. While a number of companies switched to digital fairly seamlessly for the day-to-day business during the first lockdown, shareholder engagement was largely neglected. Globally just 15 per cent of corporate boards use digital platforms in AGM [...]
FTSE 250 Ascential COO joins the board of cyber security firm Darktrace March 11, 2021 AI cyber security platform Darktrace has appointed Ascential’s COO to its board as a non-executive director. Paul Harrison, who formerly held the chief financial position at Just Eat, will aid the board in tackling the fast-changing challenges that the digital landscape brings. “As cyber-threats become more sophisticated and better-resourced, it is clear that the cyber [...]
Playtech swings to €73m loss as lockdown hits casinos March 11, 2021 Gambling software group Playtech swung to a €73m (£62.5m) loss last year as coronavirus lockdowns shuttered casinos across Europe. The FTSE 250 firm’s loss compared to a €55.9m profit in the previous year. Revenue dropped by a quarter to just over €1bn. Shares in Playtech dropped almost three per cent in morning trading. The downbeat [...]