Why I left the City for a startup – and why you should too September 5, 2014 If there’s a reason I left my finance career to build startups it’s probably this: vomit. It happened one night at 10 or 11pm on the 33rd floor of a gleaming investment bank. It wasn’t unusual that I was there so late – in fact, it was mostly the norm, and I’d been run haggard [...]
Why it’s time to unleash corporate venture capital to spur on startup growth September 4, 2014 The Bank of England’s small business lending figures disappointed again last week. Access to finance – especially for small firms – has been a perennial problem, exacerbated by the financial crisis and downturn. It’s therefore surprising that, amid all the ways government has tried to increase access to finance over the last few years, it [...]
As entrepreneurs call for tax cuts to support startups, have politicians been complacent? September 3, 2014 David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, says Yes. There is a real lack of ambition in support for the tech sector from government. Some efforts are being made to improve London’s hi-tech infrastructure, for example, but it’s concerning that the capital still comes twenty-sixth in the UK table of high-speed broadband connectivity, and falls behind [...]
The Startup Manifesto: Why the digital economy has never been a bigger political issue September 3, 2014 The UK’s digital startups are thriving – we have the fastest-growing digital economy in the G20 and have created 11 tech companies worth over $1bn in the last decade. British digital successes like Zoopla, Shazam and YPlan are now household names, and in London alone the tech sector is forecast to create 46,000 jobs and [...]
Top startups in call to keep London #1 European tech hub September 2, 2014 London's top startups and venture capital firms will today urge the UK government to relax rules and taxes in order to maintain the capital’s status as the top European tech hub. The so-called Startup Manifesto – written by policy group Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) led by former government adviser Guy Levin – [...]
Former government adviser Guy Levin leads the startup charge September 2, 2014 When Guy Levin left his job as a government adviser last year – where he’d worked since 2010, jumping from the Conservative Campaign Headquarters to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and finally the Department for International Development – he was passionate about bridging the gap between startups and government. “I’d always been interested [...]
The Honest Co: How is this organic baby product startup worth almost $1bn? August 27, 2014 It turns out not even Wall Street is immune to celebrity culture. The Honest Co., an organic baby product company co-founded by Sin City star Jessica Alba, has just raised $70m (£42m), valuing it at close to $1bn. The series C round came from investors including Wellington Management Company, Institutional Venture Partners, Iconiq Capital, Lightspeed [...]
Saxo boss Lars Seier Christensen opens Pandora’s box with jewellery startup investment August 12, 2014 Saxo Bank’s chief exec Lars Seier Christensen has got chins wagging in the Danish press. The banking boss has made a personal investment into jewellery startup Endless Jewelry – a company run by well-known Danish entrepreneur Jesper Nielsen. Nielsen made his name as a reseller of jewellery brand Pandora. He sold his Pandora distributorship for [...]
BSkyB invests in virtual reality video startup Jaunt July 28, 2014 BSkyB is investing nearly half a million dollars in Jaunt, an immersive video startup which is developing ways to bring the cinema experience to virtual reality devices. The $400,000 funding is the second round of investment in the California-based company for Sky, previously investing $350,000 in the early stage startup at the end of last [...]
Google to open $100m startup fund in London July 10, 2014 GOOGLE’S startup investment fund has picked London to base its new $100m (£58.4m) European investment arm. Google Ventures has more than $1.5bn invested in 250 startups, which until now have mainly been based in the US. “Google, alongside many other global investors, recognises the incredible skills and opportunities to be found here,” London mayor Boris [...]