London-based automation startup Softomotive scores $25m series A September 28, 2018 Business automation startup Softomotive will today reveal a $25m (£19m) series A investment, led by London investor Grafton Capital. Softomotive, which specialises in robotic process automation (RPA) plans to move its headquarters from Athens to London’s Spitalfields area with the new funds. Chief executive Marios Stavropoulos said that while the business is expanding across [...]
Darktrace lands $50m in series E funding, boosting its valuation to $1.65bn September 27, 2018 Homegrown cyber security success story Darktrace will today announce the close of its series E funding round to the tune of $50m (£38m), raising its valuation to $1.65bn. The round was led by Vitruvian Partners, with participation from existing investors KKR and 1011 Ventures. The funding will be used to fuel international expansion and [...]
Ignore self-help books about working a four-hour week, embrace the corporate lifestyle September 26, 2018 There's so much literature available on the market about how to find happiness in running (or working for) startups and small companies that you’d think the only way to be happy with your job is to start your own venture. Books like the cult hit “The 4-Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris aim to persuade [...]
London coding security startup Snyk lands $22m series B from Accel September 25, 2018 Open source security startup Snyk today closed a $22m (£16.7m) series B funding round, led by Accel with participation from GV. Existing investors such as Boldstart Ventures and Heavybit also joined the round. With big names such as ASOS, Skyscanner and Auth0 among its clients, enterprise developers use Snyk to vet the security of [...]
Businesses should become radically transparent, open, and honest – even about salaries September 19, 2018 Slowly but surely, the secretive, paternalistic corporate culture of the past is being infiltrated by a new approach that embraces the concept of radical transparency. There’s a new breed of organisation that thrives on the notion of having no secrets from its employees, its customers, or any other stakeholders. These companies share every last detail [...]
Why settle? Britain can learn from copying international competitors September 17, 2018 From the record number of business startups to historically low unemployment, there are many things that the UK gets right. Indeed, a report by Forbes late last year declared that Britain would be the best country for business this year, citing technological readiness and the size and education of our workforce as key factors. But [...]
British scaleups must leap the confidence gap to achieve growth September 13, 2018 It's a well-worn fact that small businesses are the backbone of Britain. It’s also well-known that they have a high failure rate, as four tenths of SMEs fail within five years. Far less well explored are the reasons behind this failure rate. To better understand the challenges facing these businesses as they attempt to scale, we [...]
UK blockchain startup launches equity crowdfunding round July 12, 2018 | Sponsored For venture-minded investors who have yet to make any major forays into the tantalising yet potentially risky ICO world of blockchain and cryptocurrency, one equity investment opportunity live now on Crowdcube may prove to be a gateway. Introducing: the bank account based on blockchain BABB (Bank Account Based Blockchain) is a UK-based startup. It is building [...]
How Britain’s booming startup scene can be supercharged by empowering smaller investors September 7, 2015 Many congratulations to City A.M. on its tenth birthday. It has been a remarkably successful decade for the adventurous upstart. But the anniversary reminds me of a rather less happy fact. By the time it is ten years old, there is only a one in 100 chance that a UK firm will have reached [...]
Institute of Directors: Let’s make it easier to invest in startups by simplifying tax relief September 7, 2015 A leading business group has called on the government to simplify existing tax relief schemes in order to boost entrepreneurship. In a new report out this week, the Institute of Directors (IoD) has argued that the full potential of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) is “not fully being realised”. [...]