London tech startups attract $200m Singapore venture capital fund Infocomm October 21, 2014 Singapore venture capital fund Infocomm is setting up shop in the capital, bringing its $200m (£124m) fund to startups in London and the rest of Europe for the first time. The move was spurred by the momentum in the capital's tech sector and the new outpost makes permanent an 18 month “commuter relationship” with the city, [...]
Techcrunch Disrupt: Let the (tech startup) battle commence October 20, 2014 European tech startups, including two teams from London, went head-to-head yesterday in the first round of a battle at Disrupt, one of Silicon Valley’s biggest annual tech conferences, which is currently in London for the first time. London startups Lobster – an online marketplace for regular people to licence their photos and videos – [...]
Gimme 5: London events for entrepreneurs October 20, 2014 Online Marketing Masterclass Small business experts Grow are hosting a masterclass on the nine areas of digital marketing you need for online success. 29 October, 2-6pm £97. £45 with the code “cityam” www.wearegrow.com How to Brand your Business Enterprise Nation’s brief but useful lunchtime webinar is done in partnership with iStock, the image specialists. [...]
Interview: Editor-at-large of Techcrunch Mike Butcher October 20, 2014 Mike Butcher believes that London’s tech scene has the ability not only to compete with the likes of Berlin and Stockholm, but to rival Silicon Valley. As editor-at-large of technology blog Techcrunch, Butcher has seen the capital’s tech hub around the so-called Silicon Roundabout at Old Street mature into a developed community, large enough to [...]
Quorn Foods owner Exponent Private Equity eyes another buyout exit October 19, 2014 Vegetarian favourite Quorn Foods has emerged as the latest candidate to be put on the auction block after its private equity backers started mulling plans to harvest its stake in the group. Exponent Private Equity is thought to be looking at options for the meat-free foods manufacturer, which it bought in 2011 for £205m. Groups [...]
Dealing in happiness: Chris Gardner talks Wall Street, Miles Davis and subway revelations October 19, 2014 If you love London, you’ll get on with Chris Gardner like a house on fire. “I absolutely love it. It’s a clean New York. London is cool.” But then you can’t help but feel that Gardner is one of those people who would get on with everybody. You might already know some of his [...]
Millennials are drowning in pessimism: Tech firms have a responsibility to act October 16, 2014 UK UNEMPLOYMENT hit its lowest level for almost six years in the three months to the end of August, dropping to just 6 per cent. This clearly brings some cause for optimism. But this positive sign of the health of the UK economy masks a more pressing concern. Despite some recent falls, the jobless rate [...]
Has the time come to privatise pensions? October 16, 2014 Future generations could be short-changed and the public finances put in jeopardy unless the UK takes serious measures to reform the state pension system, according to a report released today by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) One way to give pensioners and taxpayers a better to deal would be to revive savers' ability to [...]
Don’t panic: How to keep your head in volatile stock markets October 15, 2014 THE PAST month has been tough for financial markets. Despite strong economic performance in the UK and US, investors will have to get used to volatile markets, as growth in Europe and emerging markets continues to disappoint and the US Federal Reserve winds down its QE programme. September and October are typically bad [...]
George Osborne’s pensions revolution: Withdrawing cash early is big risk October 14, 2014 The insurance industry and business groups have issued a stark warning following the government’s most recent pensions announcement, claiming that withdrawing cash from pension pots too early could store up huge financial risks for the UK for years to come. Yesterday chancellor George Osborne hailed the next stage in his pensions revolution with news [...]
