Klarna-challenger Zilch strikes $110m deal with Goldman Sachs and Daily Mail owner July 23, 2021 ‘Buy now pay later’ (BNPL) company Zilch today announced it has cut a deal to raise $110m (£80m) in debt and equity from Goldman Sachs and the investment arm of the Daily Mail group. The deal with Goldman Sach’s asset management and private credit division and DMG Ventures, part of the Daily Mail & General [...]
Starling Bank slims losses and eyes potential 2022 IPO July 22, 2021 British digital lender Starling Bank said it had chopped its losses by more than half and was on track for full-year profitability, as it eyes a potential float at the end of next year. Starling reported a loss of £23.3m in the 16 months to the end of March 2021 – less than half its [...]
Exclusive: Clim8 is a green investing platform that wants to distance itself from ESG July 22, 2021 Clim8, a London-based sustainable investing platform, is on a mission to challenge ESG funds so that investors can bypass “greenwashing” and find a portfolio of companies that are having a positive impact on climate change. The platform, which launched its app “Clim8 Invest” in March, today announced it has closed its third funding round. The [...]
Revolut enters travel booking sector with in-app service for UK holidaymakers July 21, 2021 The challenger bank is capitalising on post-lockdown savings and desire to travel with a new in-app product that allows users to book holiday accommodation in the same place that they manage their finances. Revolut users in the UK are now able to check their cashflow before booking holiday accommodation, all without logging out of the [...]
Wise reports solid revenue growth and surging customers in first trading update since IPO July 20, 2021 Wise, one of Britain’s biggest fintech firms, posted revenue in line with expectations of £123.5m in the first quarter of its financial year, up 43 per cent from a year earlier. In the first trading update since its £8bn float on London’s stock exchange earlier this month, the payments group said it processed £16.4bn in [...]
UK listings reformer and peer Lord Hill joins fintech startup W1tty July 19, 2021 Former EU Commissioner for Financial Services Lord Jonathan Hill, who called for deregulatory measures to attract more tech companies in the UK, has joined fintech startup W1tty as an adviser. The Conservative peer will join the advisory board of smart finance app W1tty, which is launching in Lithuania and Poland in Autumn. Lord Hill authored [...]
Cairngorm Capital acquires robo-adviser and wealth manager to launch new digital firm July 15, 2021 Private equity firm Cairngorm Capital has acquired wealth manager Whitefoord and robo-adviser Munnypot to launch a new digital firm combining financial advice with investment management. The new firm, called Verso Wealth Management, will combine online investment service Munnypot’s digital platform technology with Whitefoord’s investment management and financial advice services to create an automated advice platform. [...]
Exclusive: ‘The recovery is going to be rocky and uneven’, warns fraud fighter Martin Sweeney July 14, 2021 Londoner Martin Sweeney started off at taxi app Hailo as a founding engineer. While there, he worked on a project to predict which orders were likely to be fraudulent. Finding nothing suitable on the market to solve this problem, or at least with the speed or accuracy he and his team wanted, Sweeney and some colleagues decided to [...]
Financial industry to invest in new tech as UK economy rebounds July 14, 2021 Over two thirds of banking and financial services companies plan to invest in new technology and diversify the types of tech they use, according to new research. A survey of 250 senior decision makers found that almost three quarters will invest in improving the quality of their core technology over the next year, as the [...]
UK tech on track for second record-breaking year of Asian investment July 13, 2021 The booming UK tech sector received almost twice the amount of Asian capital in the first six months of 2021 as it did during the whole of 2020, paving the way for a second record year of regional investment. By the end of June, Asian and Middle Eastern investors funnelled over £1.7bn into UK tech [...]