The hottest tech sectors for investment and deals: Biotech, pharma and fintech are set to grow in Silicon Valley and Silicon Roundabout alike February 11, 2016 Last year was a bumper year for UK tech investment, with over £3bn of investment by venture capital. Yet the year finished without its usual flourish. It was the same story in the US and with the same protagonists – perceived overvaluations of private companies, particularly in the technology sector, and the uneasy public markets. [...]
Farming is more digital than finance – and the most digital business industries in the UK February 11, 2016 The digital economy is being fuelled by traditional businesses as much as it is hot shot startups – but some are innovating more quickly than others and you might call finance a surprising slow moo-ver. Farming and the agriculture industry counts more digital businesses in its midst than finance, according to figures from market intelligence firm GrowthIntel. Just [...]
Viva la e-revolution, and what’s next for the booming UK digital economy February 11, 2016 The UK’s economy is witnessing an e-revolution. Digital innovation is now not only driving the digital economy, but is transforming the ways in which the more “traditional” industries are approaching their day to day business activities. Today at SPRINT – the annual event hosted by the Government Digital Service which showcases the digital transformation work [...]
Why P2P lending is getting ever more robust – and why Adair Turner is wrong about the industry February 11, 2016 Former Financial Services Authority chairman Adair Turner took a potshot at the P2P lending industry yesterday, stating that “the losses which will emerge from peer-to-peer lending over the next five to 10 years will make the bankers look like lending geniuses”. More specifically, he expressed his concern at the credit checking P2P and debt-base crowdfunding platforms [...]
City supremo Rich Ricci is racing into fintech joining FreemarketFX as chairman February 10, 2016 City supremo Rich Ricci, the former long-standing boss of Barclays' investment banking, is jumping on board the fintech revolution. The horse racing fan and former right-hand man of Bob Diamond will join the p2p currency exchange platform FreemarketFX, founded by former senior executive at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Alex Hunn, as non-executive chairman He has also invested an undisclosed sum in [...]
London fintech startup World Remit raises $45m from Triple Ventures Growth BDC and Silicon Valley Bank February 10, 2016 Star London fintech startup World Remit has landed another multi-million pound round of funding from investors. Triple Ventures Growth BDC and Silicon Valley Bank have invested $45m (£31m) in the form of debt financing to fuel expansion plans. Read more: Index has a new $550m VC fund and its eye on London startups The remittances startup lets [...]
Royal London results: New business and funds under management increase, while group chief executive Phil Loney voices dislike of pension Isas February 10, 2016 The boss of one of the UK's most well-known pensions companies has slammed the idea of a pension Isa this morning. When Royal London announced its results for the 12 months ended December 2015 today, group chief executive Phil Loney also took the opportunity to sound a warning to George Osborne not to introduce a pensions [...]
Insurance tech startup Lemonade backed by reinsurers Lloyd’s of London, Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity, Hiscox and more February 9, 2016 A soon-to-launch tech startup with millions in venture capital investment and plans to disrupt the insurance industry has been backed by leading insurers Lloyd's of London and Berkshire Hathaway's National Indemnity. Lemonade, a New York-based peer-to-peer insurance firm which recently picked up $13m from Sequoia Capital among others, will be reinsured by the firms, along with Hiscox, Everest, Munich, Transatlantic and [...]
London Fintech startup Digital Shadows raises $14m from Trinity Ventures, Paladin Capital and existing investors February 9, 2016 One of London's up and coming fintech startups Digital Shadows has landed $14m of new funding from venture capital investors. The cyber security firm which counts the Bank of England among its clients, raised the series B round from Trinity Ventures and Paladin Capital as well as existing investors Storm Ventures, TenEleven and Passion Capital. "Given Trinity's long and [...]
To fuel the pensions revolution, we need to put passion into pensions – and that means opening them up to social investing February 9, 2016 The humble nudge has worked. With around six million people now automatically enrolled into their first pension, we have reason to be hopeful that the UK is now saving for its future. However, it’s much too early to declare mission accomplished. We’re still waiting for the large number of smaller companies to enrol their employees into schemes, and they [...]
