Monzo moves ahead of rival fintechs and narrows gender pay gap October 4, 2021 Monzo has significantly improved its gender pay gap, it revealed in a new report today that showed women at the British challenger bank earn 4 per cent less than men per hour on average – narrowed from 2019, when the gap stood at 20 per cent. It brings the fintech into pole position compared to [...]
London fintech TransferGo raises $50m after pandemic fuels growth September 30, 2021 London-based international money transfer fintech TransferGo has raised another $50m in funding in its Series C round. Co-led by Elbrus Capital’s third fund and Black River Ventures, the latest round brings the total TransferGo has raised thus far to $77m. Existing investors Hard Yaka, VEF, SmartHub and Milano Investments backed the round, and new investor [...]
Karren Brady: Female founders must develop a mindset not to be dismissed September 24, 2021 In Karren Brady’s view, the pandemic has been a double-edged sword for women. “I think the negatives are there for everyone to see, in the way that women have been disproportionately affected by job losses, lower wages, and the pressure of childcare while working from home,” the businesswoman and Conservative peer tells City AM. “But [...]
Booming UK tech sector now accounts for one in eight jobs – and they’re much better paid September 23, 2021 As investment in UK startups soared to £13.5bn in the first six months of 2021, hiring surged across the country, with tech now making up 13 per cent of all UK job vacancies. While some industries are still grappling with the fallout from the pandemic, the UK’s tech sector is comparatively booming, and companies across [...]
Exclusive: Startups and finserv firms push for more rules to keep bots under control September 21, 2021 Bots are changing the way we work, saving businesses thousands of hours and significant sums per year as they increasingly play a key role in automating key corporate functions, including customer service and data collections. Despite this, due to the actions of a small number of irresponsible bot users, myths and misconceptions, many business leaders [...]
Revolut is taking on Robinhood with the launch of commission-free retail trading in US September 21, 2021 Revolut, the UK’s most valuable fintech, is targeting the booming retail trading market with the launch of commission-free stock trading for US customers. The $33bn fintech’s “Revolut Securities” arm has today been approved as a licensed broker-dealer in the the US, which will enable it to launch commission-free stock trading to its stateside customers in [...]
Chancellor hails London tech success as capital beats European competitors again September 20, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today hailed London’s bounce back from the pandemic as new figures show the capital is sprinting ahead of rival European tech hubs. London has attracted more venture capital investment to its startups than anywhere else in Europe and now boasts more unicorns – firms valued at more than $1bn – than France [...]
UK tech: Record raise of £13.5bn pushes number of British unicorns to 105 September 20, 2021 The UK tech sector raised £13.5bn in the first six months of this year, almost three times more than the same period a year ago, according to new data. As a result, the number of British unicorns has jumped to 105. Companies including fintech giant Revolut, online video conference business Hopin and online car sales [...]
Sunak says investors have nothing to fear over tougher tech M&A regulation September 15, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak said proposals from the UK’s competition watchdog for tougher scrutiny of M&A deals in the startup industry are reasonable and not intended to discourage early investors in UK tech companies. “I don’t think people need to be that anxious about it,” he told reporters at a tech event in London. “No one [...]
Golden year for startups: London may be heading for a post-pandemic unicorn boom September 15, 2021 The last 15 months has provided every aspect of society with an unprecedented challenge, not least to small firms and founders. The response of this section of business, however, has been nothing short of inspiring, with nearly 800,000 new firms incorporated in 2020. The response of the investors who back them has been equally stirring, [...]