London VC firm Mosaic Ventures closes $150m second fund for startups October 8, 2018 London-based venture capital (VC) firm Mosaic Ventures has today announced the close of its second fund, Mosaic II, at $150m (£115m) for startups across the capital and beyond. Intending to cut cheques at series A-stage for between $3m and $7m, Mosaic Ventures has previously backed the likes of London automated mortgage broker Habito, crypto wallet Blockchain and period-tracking app [...]
H&M takes a $20m stake in fintech startup Klarna October 8, 2018 Swedish fintech startup Klarna has today announced a global partnership with fashion powerhouse H&M, which included a $20m (£15.3m) investment in the business. The deal will see Klarna integrate its digital payments technology into H&M's physical and online stores via its payment programme H&M Club1. Klarna allows shoppers to pay securely for products online with flexible payment options [...]
Improbable unveils move to new London HQ October 8, 2018 A London-based virtual reality firm is to take up a new City headquarters, as it looks to accelerate its expansion ambitions following a wave of investments from abroad. Improbable, a games company that was founded six years ago, is moving its base from Farringdon to Spitalfields as part of a plan to accommodate its growing workforce, [...]
Tandem Bank narrows losses as revenue run rate rises to £15m October 5, 2018 Digital banking challenger Tandem has narrowed its losses over the last year, with a current annual revenue run rate of £15m, according to new figures seen exclusively by City A.M. Tandem Money, the parent company to the bank, reported total costs of £23.5m during 2017, up from £20.4m in 2016, according to its latest annual [...]
Peer-to-peer lender Zopa narrows losses despite revenue growth slowdown October 4, 2018 Peer-to-peer lending platform Zopa narrowed its losses while investing heavily into its impending digital banking effort last year, as it chases the coattails of freshly-listed rival Funding Circle. In accounts published late last night, Zopa Group, the parent of its online lending and financial services businesses, reduced its losses to £4.2m for the financial year [...]
Aston Martin and Funding Circle shares continue to fall after IPOs October 4, 2018 Shares in Aston Martin and Funding Circle continued to slump today following disappointing debuts on the London Stock Exchange yesterday. Luxury car maker Aston Martin saw shares slip 1.89 per cent to £17.75 this afternoon, before rallying to £18 as the market closed. Read more: Aston Martin stutters on stock market debut as shares slip Yesterday prices dropped [...]
German digital bank N26 backed by Tencent and Peter Thiel launches in the UK October 4, 2018 A German digital bank backed by Tencent, Li Ka-shing and Peter Thiel will launch in the UK today with the aim of taking on the big high street banks and adding to the fierce competition among British app-only banks. N26, which already counts 1.5m customers across 17 European countries, has started rolling out its banking [...]
Funding Circle shares fall over 20 per cent on first day of trading October 3, 2018 London fintech hopeful Funding Circle took a hammering on its first day of trading on the London Stock Exchange today, falling at one point more than 24 per cent below its initial price target. Shares in the peer-to-peer lender fell as low as 334.5p in mid-morning trading, down from its listing price of 440p. Read more: Funding Circle [...]
Will Britain Lead the 4th Industrial Revolution? October 2, 2018 With the USA in isolationist mode, if not paralysis, who will lead the west, post-Brexit and as we enter the full flood of what the World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab dubbed The Fourth Industrial Revolution: “The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, [...]
How London can fend off the European hotspots vying for its fintech crown October 1, 2018 Flash back to the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. “London has committed suicide as a leading fintech centre,” tweeted Traxpay, a German payments platform. Catchy advertising urged startups to “keep calm and move to Berlin”. Read more: Meet the startups in the Treasury-backed Tech Nation fintech accelerator Over two years later, and it’s French [...]