It’s not just David Cameron who needs to visit the Asean region: Singapore should be first for the UK’s tech investors July 30, 2015 For ambitious, high-growth UK tech companies with overseas expansion plans, Singapore offers an unrivalled ‘gateway’ into Asia. During his trip to the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region this week, Prime Minister David Cameron highlighted Southeast Asia’s 600 million people and thriving emerging economies, which could represent trade worth £3bn to the British economy. [...]
Neil Woodford’s Patient Capital Trust and Rothschild-backed Augmentum Capital lead £10m investment into crowdfunding platform Seedrs July 30, 2015 Star fund manager Neil Woodford and a venture capital fund backed by Lord Rothschild have led a funding round into online crowdfunding platform Seedrs, valuing the business at £30m. Woodford's Patent Capital Trust and Augmentum Capital said they will invest £7.5m into London-based Seedrs. The company will raise an additional £2.5m by targeting existing shareholders and other individual investors [...]
David Cameron backs FinTech manifesto to make UK a world leader by 2020 July 30, 2015 David Cameron has put his weight behind the UK’s technology startups and the finance world with the backing of a manifesto for making Britain the world leader in Financial Technology. The Prime Minister has lent his support to the five-year plan which aims to grow investment in the sector to six times its current level [...]
London FinTech startup Iwoca raises $20m series B funding from Commerzbank and Acton Capital July 30, 2015 London FinTech startup Iwoca has landed a new round of funding including investment from Commerzbank. The $20m series B round from the German bank's venture capital arm CommerzVentures, Acton Capital Partners, the Munich-based private equity and VC firm, Redline Capital and other existing investors, will accelerate the lending platform's growth across Europe. “We're aiming to offer [...]
How the UK will become a world leader in FinTech to rival Silicon Valley July 30, 2015 Innovate Finance’s manifesto outlines our vision for FinTech 2020 for the UK. It’s bold and ambitious, but also achievable if we continue to have the support from everyone within our ecosystem. According to Prime Minister David Cameron, his government wants the UK to “be the leading FinTech centre in the world” and has appointed a Special Envoy, [...]
A quiet tech revolution is happening – not in Shoreditch or Birmingham – but in Croydon July 30, 2015 I read Nick Holzherr’s recent article championing Birmingham’s Silicon Canal with a mixture of interest and a large degree of scepticism. As the founder of Croydon Tech City, I agree that the UK’s technological future doesn’t lie solely with the denizens of Old Street. But I argue vehemently with his alternative. If you want [...]
FinTech investment triples to $12.2bn with Europe experiencing biggest growth July 29, 2015 Investment in the flourishing global FinTech sector tripled to a staggering $12.2bn (£8.2bn) last year and grew at more than triple the rate of overall VC investment. Europe's share of investor cash grew at the fastest rate compared to anywhere else in the world as the region cements its reputation as an area for producing successful [...]
David Cameron to take UK fintech leaders on Asian tour July 26, 2015 David Cameron will go on a trade mission to Asia next month as part of the government’s plan to develop the UK financial technology sector. The delegation is made up largely of senior staff from the financial tech sector, reflecting the government’s aim to position the UK as a fintech leader. Thirty businesses will be [...]
Flexi-time and compressed hours on the rise as City firms ditch 9 to 5 to compete with fintech July 26, 2015 City employers are loosening their ties and becoming less rigid over staff working hours, according to research that shows a jump in the number of workers being given more flexibility. A third of men working in the City (34 per cent) say they now have some flexibility over the hours they work, either through flexi-time [...]
Forget Silicon Valley and Silicon Roundabout: Birmingham’s Silicon Canal is the future of the UK’s technology sector July 23, 2015 For years now we've been told that London could rival the Silicon Valley with its own tech hub. But five years after launching my business, I’m a bigger advocate for Birmingham's Silicon Canal than I have ever been. There is an incredible talent pool in Birmingham that offers a wealth of brilliant software engineers. These [...]