Aviva and Sesame Bankhall invest £5m in new blockchain mortgage platform April 2, 2019 A new fintech mortgage platform has secured £5m seed funding from Aviva and Sesame Bankhall in a bid to transform the market. Acre – a next-generation mortgage and insurance platform – has announced £5m seed funding from insurance giant Aviva and financial advisor Sesame Bankhall Group (SBG). Read more: Monzo backer Accel stumps up $30m for Chainalysis' [...]
The Matrix was released 20 years ago – how close are we to the film’s vision of a tech dystopia? April 1, 2019 The Matrix first premiered in US cinemas yesterday 20 years ago. It revolutionised the way that we viewed the potential power of machines, and simultaneously marked the dawning of an age of suspicion and fear surrounding our relationship with technology. Yet far from the apocalyptic fears of artificial intelligence (AI), the applications of this emerging [...]
How did Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes build her house of cards? April 1, 2019 Elizabeth Holmes is quite possibly one of the most successful salespeople in history. If you’re unfamiliar with this mind-blowing tale, she was the founder of US medical tech company Theranos, which aimed to revolutionise healthcare by replacing traditional blood tests with miraculous machines that could detect all sorts of diseases from just a finger prick’s [...]
Interiors: Now the clock has sprung forward, treat yourself to a smart tech shower that’ll make you want to get out of bed April 1, 2019 Have you showered today? We might not talk about our hygiene habits, but the daily shower is a mark of modern respectability. Many of us won’t even remember a time before the morning shower – all that luxurious steam, shampoo aromas, maybe a song. But now with technological advances, some of us are having a [...]
Former Hewlett-Packard boss Leo Apotheker did not read most recent financial results ahead of £8.4bn Autonomy deal April 1, 2019 Former Hewlett-Packard (HP) chief executive Leo Apotheker did not read Autonomy’s half-year or quarterly results ahead of buying the software firm for £8.4bn in 2011, a court heard today. Apotheker, who was giving evidence to the High Court, admitted he had not read the firm’s April 2011 quarterly update or July’s half-year results, but had [...]
Lyft shares drop below opening price on second day of trading April 1, 2019 Shares in ride-hailing app Lyft dropped below their opening price today in the first sign of jitters over the company’s hefty $24bn (£18bn) valuation. The tech firm’s share price dropped as much as 11 per cent to $69.40 – below the initial public offering (IPO) price of $72 – before clawing back some ground. Read [...]
Bitcoin makes biggest quarterly price gain since the end of 2017 April 1, 2019 Crypto traders will be hoping Bitcoin can emulate the first quarter of 2017 in the coming months, after it posted its biggest quarterly price gain since late 2017. Investors in the original cryptocurrency saw its price plummet last year after record highs of almost $20,000 (£15,886) per coin in December 2017. Read more: Bitcoin critic warns [...]
Veteran investor Michael Spencer in funding boost for femtech startup Elvie March 31, 2019 Former Conservative Party treasurer Michael Spencer is reportedly leading a funding round for female health start-up Elvie. Spencer’s private investment vehicle IPGL is backing the company with an investment worth around £20m, Sky reported this evening. Read more: Nex Group founder to invest millions in blood testing startup Elvie, which last year partnered with the [...]
Lyft IPO sets wheels in motion for Uber, Pinterest and Slack floats in coming months March 31, 2019 The runaway success of ride hailing app Lyft’s initial public offering (IPO) last Friday has paved the way for a long queue of tech firms all hoping to emulate its market debut in the coming months. On Lyft’s first day of trading its value soared 8.7 per cent, from an initial valuation of $72 (£55.20) [...]
Zuckerberg: Governments must help Facebook and other web giants regulate harmful content March 31, 2019 Mark Zuckerberg has called on regulators and governments to take a “more active role” in controlling content on the internet. Writing in the Washington Post, Facebook’s founder said firms like his could not be expected to shoulder all the responsibility for moderating harmful content. Read more: Access to Facebook Live to be restricted in wake [...]