London fintech Marketinvoice lands £56m in funding from Barclays and Santander January 21, 2019 London-based fintech business lender Marketinvoice has today closed a £56m round made up of equity and debt funding, led by Barclays and Santander's venture arm Innoventures. The series B-stage equity funding, which amounted to £26m, also received significant participation from European venture capital firm Northzone, which has previously backed the likes of Spotify, Trustpilot and fellow fintech lender Zopa. [...]
Hacking Wall Street: Are tech unicorns about to disrupt stock market flotations? January 21, 2019 Tech companies have changed the way we chat, bank, travel and date. Are they about to disrupt capital markets too? “In [Silicon] Valley there’s always been that mentality: how do we hack Wall Street?” says Rob Kniaz, a founder of tech-focused venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures. Two weeks ago reports broke that Slack, the workplace [...]
London fintech startup Jaja Finance picks up £5m with a boost from Celeres January 16, 2019 Credit card fintech startup Jaja Finance has today confirmed the final close of its £3.5m crowdfunding round, boosted by an additional £1.5m from Celeres Investments. The £5m intake adds to an earlier £4.4m raised in seed funding last year, backed by Blystad Group and Pollen Street Capital among others. More than 1,000 private investors took [...]
What3words wants to replace your address with three simple words, but how do you market such a revolutionary idea? January 14, 2019 Erase. Damp. Name. No, I’ve not gone mad due to the latest Brexit drama – these three words make up my exact location as I write this article. This information comes from What3words, a technology startup that’s trying to revolutionise – wait for it – addresses. It has divided up the entire world into a [...]
As London heads back to school, here’s how the City is kickstarting careers January 14, 2019 It’s back to school for students across the country. A new term is always an exciting prospect; pupils and teachers return with renewed energy and a readiness to learn and teach. Last month, the City of London Corporation, which sponsors 10 academies in London, was named by the Sutton Trust as the best UK academy [...]
London drives increase in number of new UK startups January 14, 2019 London entrepreneurs defied political and economic gloom last year with a jump in the number of registered startups. More than 216,000 new businesses were registered in the greater London area last year, a 6.45 per cent increase on 2017. Across the UK as a whole, the number of new companies registered last year rose by [...]
London venture capital firm Beringea heads up north with £9m fintech injection January 13, 2019 London-based venture capital firm Beringea has expanded its UK presence with an office based in Manchester, the firm will announce today. It has also led a £9m fundraising round in Mancunian fintech firm Accesspay, which it said was one of the region’s largest fintech rounds to date. Based in the northern city centre's St Peter's [...]
Huge rise in number of UK design companies amid creative sector boom January 11, 2019 The number of design-related businesses in the UK has soared over the last decade amid a boom for Britain's creative industries. Since 2010 there has been a 70 per cent increase in the number of UK design businesses, well above the 27 per cent average across all sectors, according to new research by the Design [...]
Revolut rival digital bank N26 lands $300m funding round, becoming Europe’s most valuable fintech startup January 10, 2019 Digital banking startup N26 has closed the biggest funding round in European fintech in recent years, valuing the Monzo and Revolut challenger at $2.7bn (£2.1bn). The Berlin-based fintech, which offers a current account and debit card through its mobile banking app, has raised $300m in a series D round led by US venture capital firm Insight Venture Partners. [...]
London raked £1.8bn in tech funding last year, almost double its next closest rival January 9, 2019 London has retained its spot at the top of the tech charts for another year, securing almost double the amount of investment in 2018 than its next closest European competitor. Tech firms in the capital raised £1.8bn in venture funding and public listings in 2018, raking in 72 per cent of the UK’s £2.5bn total [...]