City Moves for 23 April 2019 – Who’s switching jobs at Onfido, Freedom Finance and Ropes & Gray? April 23, 2019 Today's City Moves includes Onfido, Freedom Finance and Ropes & Gray. Onfido Onfido has announced that Kevin Goldsmith and Thomas Ammirati have joined its growing global team as chief technology officer and chief revenue officer will lead Onfido’s 240 expert technologists as it continues its rapid international expansion. Chief revenue officer Thomas Ammirati brings over 25 [...]
London AI startup Cytora raises £25m from Swedish backer EQT Ventures April 17, 2019 Cytora, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to transform commercial underwriting in insurance, has today closed a £25m series B funding round led by EQT Ventures. Existing investors Cambridge Innovation Capital and Parkwalk also participated in the round, as well as a number of angel backers. Read more: Startups eye bigger slices of the [...]
It’s time to write the next chapter in the City’s story of technological innovation April 15, 2019 When I travel across the globe, there is an issue I get asked about time and time again: what is it about London that makes it such a successful global financial hub? And what is it about the UK that makes us stand out from the crowd? A key part of the answer is innovation. [...]
China’s mobile brands have global ambitions – this will have a big impact on the digital marketing ecosystem April 12, 2019 With the world’s online mobile population growing day by day, and a home market dominated by giants such as Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba, Chinese app developers are increasingly looking to market their apps abroad. I have seen first-hand this shift from a focus on the domestic market to a much more global viewpoint. And I [...]
DEBATE: Are MPs right that the UK needs an independent watchdog to regulate internet sites? April 11, 2019 Are MPs right that the UK needs an independent watchdog to regulate internet sites? Ruth Manielevitch, vice president of global business development at Taptica, says YES. At a time when concerns over our data, privacy, and wellbeing on the internet are growing at a rapid rate, this new regulation would reassure millions of UK consumers [...]
The Economist branches out with new Birmingham tech hub April 11, 2019 The Economist is set to launch a new technology innovation unit in Birmingham as it looks to boost in-house support for its digital services. The new hub, which will be the company’s first UK site outside London, will house roughly 45 members of staff focused on development and support for the magazine’s website, mobile apps [...]
Startups eye bigger slices of the pie as venture deals scale up April 11, 2019 Venture capital investment into UK startups in the first three months of 2019 was around the same level as last year, as investors turned their focus to later-stage deals. More than £1.2bn has been invested since the start of the year across 161 deals, according to data published today by KPMG. Comparatively Germany was hit [...]
Fintech unicorn N26 under scrutiny from German banking regulator April 11, 2019 Digital banking starlet N26 is under scrutiny from German banking regulator Bafin, after reports emerged of fraudulent transactions and problems with the bank’s communications structure. Concerns about N26 were first reported in October by German newspaper Handelsblatt, before further inquiries by Bafin were said to have revealed numerous deficiencies at the fintech startup. N26, which counts Monzo, [...]
Softbank’s spinoff AI fund injects £1m into London identity startup Pixelpin April 11, 2019 Japanese investor SBI has led a pre-series A funding round into London startup Pixelpin through its artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain fund. SBI has plugged £1m into the Shoreditch-based startup while angel investors rounded out the investment with an additional £500,000. The financial services firm span off from mega investor Softbank in 2006. Read more: Softbank unveils $500m [...]
Facebook and the tech giants are welcoming government regulation – that’s a panic signal for all of us April 9, 2019 Last year, I met someone who had previously worked for a big tech firm in its “free speech” unit. What had happened to make him come and slum it among us mortals in the (badly paid) policy world? Answer: the unit had been shut down. It’s in this context that you should see the milquetoast [...]