Quotas on immigration would be a disaster for London’s tech startups November 12, 2014 Political debates over the benefits and drawbacks of immigration will no doubt rage on for years to come. But while the opposing sides pick apart the evidence over the impact of migrants on the public purse, one thing is clear: London’s tech ecosystem faces a very significant skills shortage. Government should be doing all it [...]
Web Summit 2014 was attended by Peter Thiel, Bono and Eva Longoria – so why do celebrities invest in startups? – CNBC Comment November 10, 2014 If you attended Europe’s largest tech conference, held in Ireland last week, you probably wouldn’t have known that the continent had just gone through one of its worst periods in financial history. Startups – big and small – headed to Dublin for Web Summit, in order to market their companies and find potential investors, many [...]
Tinder CEO and co-founder Sean Rad is out as boss of IAC’s star startup November 4, 2014 The chief executive and co-founder of hugely successful dating app Tinder has been removed by majority owner IAC. Sean Rad will stay on as president and remains on the board. He will stay on until a new chief executive is found. Rad was ousted from the position after a call last month from IAC’s Sam [...]
More $1bn startups bypass the US October 27, 2014 SILICON Valley’s stranglehold of creating leading software businesses is weakening as less than 40 per cent of the 134 software companies reaching a billion-dollar valuation over the past 10 years have come from the legendary tech hub. New research, created by London-based venture capital firm Atomico, led by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, found that 82 [...]
Hotel price comparison startup Lodgeo eyes £10m fundraise after launch October 26, 2014 Lodgeo, the recently launched price comparison mobile app for hotel rooms, is preparing to raise up to £10m through a funding round advised by Catalyst Corporate Finance. The app was launched last month with £2m in funding from Javest Investment fund, the Amsterdam venture capital fund, and a number of named individual investors. Lodgeo’s founder [...]
Samsung picks British startup Bango for billing October 22, 2014 CAMBRIDGE-based carrier billings startup Bango has signed a deal with Samsung to preload its software on the South Korean tech giant’s smartphones, letting consumers charge games, music and videos directly from their mobile phone bills. Shares in the Aim-listed company jumped 5.76 per cent on the news to 101p in London, valuing Bango at over [...]
Index expecting $10bn EU startup October 21, 2014 LONDON’S top venture capitalists expect the European startup scene to continue turning out hit tech firms, with a partner at Index Ventures predicting Europe will produce a $10bn (£6.2bn) firm within three years. “We will likely see a couple of European $10bn exits in the next two or three years. The pipeline of European companies [...]
Cognicity Challenge: Canary Wharf Group’s £300,000 smart city startup fund October 21, 2014 Canary Wharf Group yesterday launched a startup accelerator programme to find six so-called smart city technologies – that drive cost savings using technology in fields such as transport and construction – to be piloted across its estate. The Cognicity Challenge will be spread over six sectors: integrated transportation, connected home, virtual design, construction, integrated resource [...]
London tech startups attract $200m Singapore venture capital fund Infocomm October 21, 2014 Singapore venture capital fund Infocomm is setting up shop in the capital, bringing its $200m (£124m) fund to startups in London and the rest of Europe for the first time. The move was spurred by the momentum in the capital's tech sector and the new outpost makes permanent an 18 month “commuter relationship” with the city, [...]
Techcrunch Disrupt: Let the (tech startup) battle commence October 20, 2014 European tech startups, including two teams from London, went head-to-head yesterday in the first round of a battle at Disrupt, one of Silicon Valley’s biggest annual tech conferences, which is currently in London for the first time. London startups Lobster – an online marketplace for regular people to licence their photos and videos – [...]