The world could do with more visionaries like Elon Musk July 3, 2018 A year ago today, entrepreneur, disruptor, and space-obsessed innovator Elon Musk assured his 10m Twitter followers that it looked like Tesla would be producing 20,000 of its Model 3 electric cars per month by December. It’s taken an extra six months but, on Sunday, Tesla finally hit its goal. It has not been a smooth [...]
Behind the deal: Benjamin and Ariane de Rothschild revealed as backers of London tech startup Exo Investing July 3, 2018 London wealthtech startup Exo Investing has today announced the close of a €16.5m (£14.6m) seed round last summer, powered by a private investment from Benjamin and Ariane de Rothschild. The round also included backing from Madrid-based asset management firm ETS, and Daniel Treves and Hugo Ferreira, both former heads of La Compagnie Benjamin de Rothschild. [...]
Peer-to-Peer lender Zopa back in the black July 2, 2018 Peer-to-peer lender Zopa is back in the black as the firm's profit after tax for 2017 hit £1.5m. The financial firm, which matches borrowers with people looking to invest, reported a revenue increase of 40 per cent to £46.5m in its annual report for last year. The amount of money paid out by the lender [...]
Monzo losses deepen in 2018, as operational costs increase faster than growth July 2, 2018 Digital challenger bank Monzo has seen its losses increase fourfold over the last year, logging pre-tax losses of £33.1m in the year ending February 2018. Up from just £7.9m the year before, Monzo said this was the result of its operating costs ballooning from £8m to £34.9m as it invested heavily into becoming "a fully [...]
Playtech’s share price has dropped dramatically, after its second profit warning this year July 2, 2018 Playtech the maker of gambling software for clients like News UK, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power, issued a second profit warning yesterday for this year, causing its share price to drop dramatically as markets opened. Blaming an “increasingly competitive backdrop” for the continued hit on its revenues in Asia, the company’s share price fell by 23 [...]
There’s a new Chinese tech venture in town, and it’s backed by the London investors that supported Softbank’s Vision Fund July 2, 2018 London-based global investment firm Centricus has announced it will be launching a Chinese tech venture fund in partnership with China Merchants Group (CMG) and SPF Group, for a total of 100bn yuan (£11.41bn). Labelled the 'China New Era Technology Fund', the partnership will see the state-owned CMG deploy 40bn yuan in capital alongside additional Chinese-based [...]
City veteran Michael Spencer invests millions into a biometric fintech startup June 29, 2018 Founder of NEX Group and serial entrepreneur Michael Spencer has led a $16.5m series B fundraising round into a biometric fintech startup called Veridium. A leader in user authentication through biometric technology like fingerprint and face scanning, Veridium's round was accompanied by additional investment from Citrix Systems and financial services investor Michael Powell. "In today’s [...]
Trading places: Monzo co-founder takes a back seat to make way for a new CTO as international expansion plans get put on the backburner June 28, 2018 Monzo co-founder and soon-to-be former chief technology officer Jonas Huckestein is making way for a new kid on the block, as business printing house Moo’s CTO Meri Williams joins the team. Speaking to City A.M. ahead of the announcement, Williams explained that while there’s nothing at Monzo she wants to change or do differently, she’s [...]
Deliveroo pays workers to settle gig economy employment case June 28, 2018 Takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo has settled a legal claim by 50 of its couriers for a reported six-figure sum, in another legal battle involving employment rights in the gig economy. The claim revolved around the alleged failure of Deliveroo to give its couriers legal employment rights, such as the minimum wage and paid holiday. Multiple [...]
We meet a former Nasa space engineer who has launched a platform to combat unethical payday loans June 28, 2018 No, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to launch a peer-to-peer lending platform. But let’s take a minute to consider what such a business would look like if a rocket scientist did decide to do such a thing. Cue space engineer Nadeem Siam, who has spent the past three years building peer-to-peer lender Welendus. After [...]