Meet Prodigy Finance: The fintech firm that went global on day one February 14, 2017 With Trump in the White House and a hard Brexit on the horizon, protectionism is back on the menu. Many entrepreneurs are concerned about the implications for the free movement of goods, capital and people. But at a recent Leap 100 breakfast, chief executive and co-founder of Prodigy Finance, Cameron Stevens, sounded a note of [...]
One in five startups is planning to set up in Europe because of Brexit February 14, 2017 One in five startups is planning to set up in another county in Europe because of Brexit, but the majority intend to keep their headquarters in the UK, new figures reveal. Just one per cent of the startups surveyed by Silicon Valley Bank said they will move their HQ to somewhere else in Europe, and [...]
The worrying tale of how my business made $515m more than Snapchat last year February 14, 2017 The marketing and media agency I co-founded likely made at least $1bn more profit than Uber last year. We also made $515m more than Snapchat and $450m more than Twitter. This isn’t because we did anything particularly remarkable. We just stuck to the basic business principle that it’s better to make money than lose it. [...]
Apple stock just got a major upgrade from Goldman Sachs (it’s very confident about the iPhone 8) February 13, 2017 Apple's stock has closed at an all-time high after Goldman Sachs has upped its price target for the tech giant, indicating confidence in the company's upcoming 10th anniversary iPhone. Apple's shares closed 0.89 per cent higher at $133.29 a share. Goldman Sachs predicts Apple's share price could hit $150 over the next 12 months, up from previous estimates [...]
The mattress startup battle’s heating up in the UK as Simba gets in bed with top City investors February 13, 2017 The battle to bring you the best night's sleep is heating up as one of several mattress startups spearheading innovation, in an industry apparently ripe for disruption, has landed new funding. Simba Sleep has tempted several top City investors into bed in a fresh £9m funding round, bringing total investment in the one-year-old startup to £17.5m. Henderson [...]
Now Santander lets you make payments using just your voice February 13, 2017 More proof that voice control is the future… Santander is now letting customers make payments just by asking their phone, along with several other new functions that work in a similar way to Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa Users of the bank's SmartBank app can use their voice to check their account balance, report a lost [...]
New hub to help grow UK’s £6 billion fintech sector February 13, 2017 | City Talk A new specialist fintech hub, backed by the UK and Scottish governments, will open its doors to entrepreneurs in May 2017. The hub will be the first of its kind in Scotland and will be based in Entrepreneurial Spark at Royal Bank of Scotland’s base in Edinburgh. It will launch one year on from the [...]
A lack of guidance over the EU’s GDPR could cripple British businesses February 13, 2017 There is no denying that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) marks a great step forward for data protection in the UK and across Europe. But with less than 16 months until it comes into force, it is critical for UK businesses to start preparing now. However, despite being the most powerful piece of data [...]
This is why a Silicon Valley entrepreneur believes London could produce the next Facebook February 12, 2017 By the time Clara Shih turned 30, she was a Starbucks board member, had raised $21m (£16.7m) for her social media startup and had become a bestselling author. A Stanford and Oxford graduate, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur founded software company Hearsay Social [now Hearsay Systems] in 2009 to make financial giants look slick on social media [...]
UK has a future as a cannabis hub, says biotech company February 12, 2017 The UK has the potential to become a world leader in drugs derived from the cannabis plant, according to a leading biotech firm. GW Pharmaceuticals chief executive, Justin Gover, told the Telegraph that the company is rapidly expanding its processing operations and hopes to get regulatory clearance for a new cannabis-derived drug in 2018. GW, [...]