Online personal styling service Thread is in fashion as investors pump $8m into one of the UK’s hottest start-ups August 23, 2015 Men’s fashion start-up Thread has closed a Series A funding round, raising $8m (£5m) from investors including the co-founders of Google’s DeepMind and a former president of Saks Fifth Avenue. Demmis Hassabis and Mustafa Suleyman, who along with Shane Legg sold DeepMind to Google in 2014, and Andrew Jennings, previously of Saks Fifth Avenue, were [...]
Amazon Web Services opens first startup support centre outside US in London’s Silicon Roundabout August 20, 2015 If you were looking for more evidence that Tech City is booming: Amazon has just announced it will open its first startup support centre outside the US – and is basing it in London’s Silicon Roundabout. Competition between cloud-based infrastructure providers has heated up recently, with Alibaba, Microsoft and Google all reporting rapid growth in [...]
Andy Murray invests in three British tech startups through Seedrs equity crowdfunding platform – Tossed, Trillenium and Fuel Ventures Fund August 19, 2015 Tennis ace Andy Murray is busy working on his investment portfolio off the courts, it seems – after he invested in three British startups through equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs. Murray, who is the world's fifth biggest earning tennis star and has millions sitting in the bank, became an investor in Seedrs itself and an advisory board [...]
Unilever and ad:tech open $50,000 search for startup innovations with Next Big Thing competition August 18, 2015 Unilever is on the hunt for fresh innovations, as the company is hoping to find new startups to team up with through the “Next Big Thing” competition, organised by ad:tech London. 15 startups will be shortlisted for the award, and at the final in October, they’ll get the change to pitch to brands and agencies. [...]
Career boost: Why an MSc will help give you the edge – you’ll benefit from specialised electives and startup support August 13, 2015 In today's competitive climate, there has never been a better time to consider graduate study. A globalised market and grade inflation means that an undergraduate qualification may simply no longer be sufficient, says Mark Taylor, dean of Warwick Business School. In 2013, the Sutton Trust found that “there is a significant wage premium for those [...]
Finally, the world’s first reversible micro-USB cable is here, from startup MicFlip August 12, 2015 Android users, you know the struggle: Trying to connect your phone to a charger in the dark, but always getting it wrong side up. Well, now you can wave goodbye to that first-world problem, as a company called MicFlip has designed the world’s first reversible micro-USB charger, meaning there is no more “right” or “wrong” [...]
Google’s transition to Alphabet can help teach startups their corporate governance ABCs August 11, 2015 If it isn’t code for job losses, the announcement of a company restructure is normally reserved for the back of the business pages. When Larry Page posted a blog outlining the creation of Alphabet, an umbrella holding company to look over Google’s sprawling empire of businesses, however, it set newsrooms and investors alight. [...]
Gene-editing startup Editas just raised $120m from Bill Gates, Google Ventures and 12 other investors August 10, 2015 A gene-editing startup has just raised $120m to learn more about replacing faulty genes, gaining support from Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and 13 other investors. The startup Editas Medicine want to tackle grave illnesses by removing our defective genes, and plan to use the recently raised capital to study a new technology that could finally [...]
London startups grow by 21pc – fuelled by a booming tech industry August 10, 2015 London’s startup scene is booming as the number of new ventures launched increased by nearly a quarter in just a year, shows data from Companies House. Startups increased by 21 per cent in just a year, according to Instant Offices, which compared how many businesses registered with Companies House last year with the year before [...]
How to make a startup successful: Five lessons from venture capital firm First Round July 30, 2015 Ever wondered what traits successful entrepreneurs have in common? Three startups are founded every second across the world, as hopeful entrepreneurs take a stab at their dream venture. The dream will be short-lived for most, however, as 90 per cent inevitably fail. It’s a risky business, and there may not yet be a way to [...]