Angry Birds maker Rovio predicts bumper 2019 despite halved profits February 14, 2019 The maker of the mobile game Angry Birds said its profit halved over the most recent quarter, but expected a brighter future as the year goes on. Rovio reported adjusted profit of €5.3m (£4.7m) for the three months to the end of December, down from €10.5m in the same quarter a year earlier. This was despite [...]
Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial buys up UK currency exchange Worldfirst February 14, 2019 Ant Financial has agreed a deal to acquire UK currency exchange Worldfirst, solidifying the firm's presence outside of China. The deal comes after an attempt by Ant Financial to buy US remittances firm Moneygram was blocked by US regulators last year, citing national security concerns. Worldfirst was said to be valued at around $700m (£547.9m) and [...]
Bitcoin sceptic Jamie Dimon launches JP Morgan’s own cryptocurrency February 14, 2019 JP Morgan is to launch its own cryptocurrency in an unprecedented step for a major US bank. The bank is to trial its JPM Coin in the coming months, which will handle a tiny fraction of the $6 trillion (£4.7 trillion) in payments it moves around globally every day. Read more: The year crypto went [...]
Canadian tech hub One Eleven opens up first international campus in London February 14, 2019 Scale-up innovation hub One Eleven has made its first leap outside of Canada, landing in Shoreditch with a new space for London's tech firms. The North American hub's first international site is just off the City's Silicon Roundabout, a stone's throw from the former offices of the likes of Monzo and Starling Bank. One Eleven chief [...]
Peltarion, the AI startup used by Nasa, Ocado and Tesla, raises $20m February 14, 2019 Swedish artificial intelligence (AI) startup Peltarion is heading across the Atlantic after closing a $20m (£15.5m) funding round. The series A funding was led by Euclidean Capital, which has also backed the likes of popular DNA ancestry startup 23 And Me. Existing investors FAM, which is owned by Swedish investor family the Wallenbergs, and EQT Ventures also took [...]
It’s time to take back control – of our data February 14, 2019 Cambridge Analytica. Mark Zuckerberg in front of the US Congress. The first data breach of 2019 occurring less than 24 hours into New Year’s Day. The use and abuse of data is no longer something that we can afford to ignore. Consumers are coming to understand that their data is an economic asset for media companies, [...]
Resident Evil 2 Remake review: A brilliant, pant-soiling reimagining of the classic survival horror February 13, 2019 The best pop-culture horror holds a mirror to our deepest psychological fears. And while Resident Evil 2 hit consoles in the relative peace and prosperity of 1998, its shuffling brand of OG zombies, jerking towards an unspecified apocalypse, driven not by a grand unified plan but a mindless, instinctual desire to see the world burn [...]
Blockchain oil firm taps former JP Morgan director as new chief February 13, 2019 A firm that wants to reinvent commodities trading by using blockchain technology has hired a former energy trader from JP Morgan and Mercuria as its next chief executive. Vakt, which aims to eliminate paper-based trading and secure audit processes by putting it on the blockchain, has been backed by major oil firms such as Shell, Chevron [...]
Twitter boss Jack Dorsey admits ‘huge fail’ in not preventing online abuse February 13, 2019 Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey has said that tech firms such as his own have not done enough to protect victims of online abuse. In a conversation with Recode, Dorsey awarded Twitter a 'C' grade for its past efforts, and labelled the current climate a "huge fail" on the part of Silicon Valley. Myself? C. We’ve made [...]
Starling banks £75m funding round from Merian Global Investors February 13, 2019 Starling Bank, one of fintech's Big Three digital banking stalwarts, has closed a £75m funding round led by Merian Global Investors. The challenger bank said £60m was provided by Merian, formerly known as Old Mutual, which included a £19m injection from Merian's equity investment firm Chrysalis. The round was closed out with £15m from Starling's sole existing investor [...]