Britain’s quiet FinTech revolution has begun – and we’re determined to back it March 9, 2015 Whisper it, but there is a quiet revolution going on in British banking. If you don’t work in the financial world, you may never even have heard of the UK’s burgeoning financial technology or “fintech” sector. And you almost certainly won’t know about the opportunities it offers. So what is fintech? For me, it is [...]
Bitreserve and CNET founder Halsey Minor talks dot-commers, virtual currencies and the Bank of England’s open-mindedness March 8, 2015 You might not have heard of Halsey Minor, but it’s likely that you’ve indirectly benefited from one of his many achievements. He’s one half of the brains behind CNET, the technology media website which, founded in 1994, was in the vanguard of internet firms, and is still one of the most-visited tech information resources in [...]
Entrepreneurship is not the preserve of the young: You can succeed at any age March 8, 2015 Popular portrayals of entrepreneurialism might leave you convinced that the only people who are going to make it in business are twenty-somethings – millennials. But the reality is not nearly so clear cut. My own experience of setting up Zendesk is a testament to the fact that, if you’ve got a great idea and the [...]
Gimme 5 March 8, 2015 …EVENTS FOR ENTREPRENEURS Self-Management, Branding & Decision Making This is day one of a three-day CPD course which explores how to manage yourself better – particularly helpful for those running their own business. 24 March, £180, UCL www.ucl.ac.uk/advances Silicon Drinkabout This weekly meetup for entrepreneurs has become a fixture – and is now in cities [...]
Born in a barn, peer-to-peer lender Zopa is about to break £1bn in loans March 7, 2015 Peer-to-peer (P2P) is all the rage, with companies like TransferWise now all but household names and the descriptively named Lending Club, the largest US P2P company, recently becoming the first to IPO. What isn’t so well known is that Zopa, one of the peer-to-peer innovators, was founded in a barn, helping to spawn an [...]
The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and AI: The future of global fintech March 5, 2015 The global fintech industry has seen some remarkable developments since we launched Level39 two years ago. But what of the future? I’d like to suggest two possibilities for what might happen, and challenge one that, contrary to some current thinking, I don’t think will. FACEBOOK: THE NON-BANK BANK More than any other social media platform, [...]
Impatient for success: Is Generation Y prepared for reality? March 5, 2015 It's a well-worn stereotype that young people want overnight success and underestimate the amount of hard graft they have put in to make something of themselves. This is perhaps true more so now than ever with young successful tech billionaires dominating the news and even becoming the focus of the silver screen. So do today's [...]
City A.M. partners with Crowdnetic to launch crowdfunding site CityAMCrowdwatch.com March 5, 2015 City A.M. has partnered with Crowdnetic for the launch of its suite of UK crowd finance data. It features information on private UK-based companies publicly raising capital online through securitiesbased crowdfunding portals. Through CityAMCrowdwatch.com, investors can track a comprehensive listing of UK private offerings from leading platforms including Property Moose, Angels Den, Crowd for Angels, Fireflock, [...]
5 Investment picks March 4, 2015 Blue Crow Media The creator of city guides for the discerning customer has turned to the crowd to fund a series of curated lifestyle apps, maps and books to show what London has to offer. It’s raised 65 per cent of the £37,502 it needs, and is offering 3 per cent equity. 32 days left [...]
Seedrs co-founder Jeff Lynn talks risk, investor expectations and the future of crowdfunding March 4, 2015 In 2014, the fastest growing subsector of Britain’s alternative finance market was equity-based crowdfunding, according to figures from EY and the University of Cambridge. It grew by a whopping 420 per cent, with volumes totalling €111m (£80.5m). But such fast growth makes it increasingly vital that would-be investors have access to information about the industry. [...]
