David Cameron backs FinTech manifesto to make UK a world leader by 2020 July 30, 2015 David Cameron has put his weight behind the UK’s technology startups and the finance world with the backing of a manifesto for making Britain the world leader in Financial Technology. The Prime Minister has lent his support to the five-year plan which aims to grow investment in the sector to six times its current level [...]
Samsung share price slides as disappointing sales of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge force tech giant to slash prices July 30, 2015 Samsung is dropping prices on its flagship smartphone models after a dip in sales caused the Korean tech giant’s profits to slide for the seventh consecutive quarter. The company reported operating profits falling four per cent to 6.9tn won (£3.9bn), in line with guidance released earlier this month, which warned sales of high-end smartphone Galaxy [...]
London FinTech startup Iwoca raises $20m series B funding from Commerzbank and Acton Capital July 30, 2015 London FinTech startup Iwoca has landed a new round of funding including investment from Commerzbank. The $20m series B round from the German bank's venture capital arm CommerzVentures, Acton Capital Partners, the Munich-based private equity and VC firm, Redline Capital and other existing investors, will accelerate the lending platform's growth across Europe. “We're aiming to offer [...]
Portable playground: The new mobile games to keep you busy on the beach July 30, 2015 Forget holiday reading: grab a tablet and while away your days on the beach with these top new mobile games. LOST WITHIN iOS/Android, £4.99 This first-person horror adventure takes a heap of genre cliches – creepy asylum, children laughing, creaking floorboards – and uses them to chilling effect. You play a policeman doing [...]
How the UK will become a world leader in FinTech to rival Silicon Valley July 30, 2015 Innovate Finance’s manifesto outlines our vision for FinTech 2020 for the UK. It’s bold and ambitious, but also achievable if we continue to have the support from everyone within our ecosystem. According to Prime Minister David Cameron, his government wants the UK to “be the leading FinTech centre in the world” and has appointed a Special Envoy, [...]
A quiet tech revolution is happening – not in Shoreditch or Birmingham – but in Croydon July 30, 2015 I read Nick Holzherr’s recent article championing Birmingham’s Silicon Canal with a mixture of interest and a large degree of scepticism. As the founder of Croydon Tech City, I agree that the UK’s technological future doesn’t lie solely with the denizens of Old Street. But I argue vehemently with his alternative. If you want [...]
FinTech investment triples to $12.2bn with Europe experiencing biggest growth July 29, 2015 Investment in the flourishing global FinTech sector tripled to a staggering $12.2bn (£8.2bn) last year and grew at more than triple the rate of overall VC investment. Europe's share of investor cash grew at the fastest rate compared to anywhere else in the world as the region cements its reputation as an area for producing successful [...]
Windows 10 launch: Analysts think Microsoft-powered devices will continue to outsell iOS – although Android will always win July 29, 2015 The launch of Windows 10 has people pretty excited – the operating system launched amid much fanfare today as a free update for Windows users. But what will it mean in the war between Microsoft, Android – and its arch-rival, Apple? Data by Gartner shows while devices running Android, Google's answer to Windows, have stormed the [...]
Alibaba invests $1bn in cloud computing arm Aliyun to compete with Amazon Web Services July 29, 2015 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is planning a $1bn push into the cloud, taking on Amazon by expanding its cloud computing unit Aliyun into international markets. The company, often described as the “Chinese Ebay”, is expanding its cloud computing arm from its current bases in China and Silicon Valley to the Middle East, Europe and Japan, [...]
Amazon proposes drone-designated airspace for commercial deliveries July 29, 2015 Amazon wants a designated airspace zone for drone deliveries, the company told a Nasa convention in California yesterday. Read more: Five reasons delivery drones won't take off Under the company's plans, a slice of the sky between 200ft and 400ft would be designated for whirring drones zipping past each other to deliver parcels. In order to avoid [...]