Facebook’s London accelerator programme expands to startups outside UK September 23, 2019 Facebook has announced the third edition of its London accelerator programme, which will be open to startups from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) for the first time. The scheme is open to high-growth startups and aims to support those that are “harnessing the power of technology to have a positive impact on the [...]
World High Life buys British cannabis firm Love Hemp September 23, 2019 Medical cannabis investment firm World High Life is set to buy British cannabis oil company Love Hemp in a £9m deal. World High Life is hoping the deal will help them weed out the competition and expand its UK and European business. The company also announced a share placing intended to raise up to £5m. [...]
UK fintechs attracting rising investment despite Brexit uncertainty September 23, 2019 UK fintechs are raising increased levels of investment despite domestic and global uncertainty, but the sector is still struggling with recruitment of talent and a significant gender imbalance, new research has found. The total average investment raised so far this year by fintech firms grew a third compared to the same period two years ago, [...]
Why Softbank is struggling to attract investment for its second Vision Fund September 22, 2019 Softbank’s Vision Fund was created to disrupt the tech sector – and it succeeded. Launched in 2017, the $100bn (£80.2bn) investment vehicle is the world’s largest tech fund, and made Softbank chief Masayoshi Son the industry’s biggest investor. The unicorn ‘kingmaker’ The gargantuan Vision Fund (VF) quickly became known for making bold bets on promising [...]
Wework board members consider removing chief executive Adam Neumann September 22, 2019 Some Wework board members, including some tied to major investor Softbank, are planning to try to force chief executive Adam Neumann to step down, according to reports. The board of the We Company’s board could meet as soon as this week, and may consider a proposal for Neumann to become the firm’s non-executive chairman, the [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown founder slams Neil Woodford for not being ‘truthful’ about frozen fund September 22, 2019 One of the founders of Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) has slammed beleaguered asset manager Neil Woodford for apparently not being “truthful” about the performance of his flagship fund in the run up to its suspension. Peter Hargreaves, who founded the financial services firm alongside Stephen Lansdown in 1981, also criticised HL for not having realised that [...]
Some ‘fossil fuel free’ funds have stakes in coal companies, research finds September 19, 2019 Some listed funds marketed as climate-conscious in fact have exposure to fossil fuels, including two explicitly described as “fossil fuel free”, new analysis has found. Think tank Influencemap analysed data from 118 funds marketed with “an explicit climate theme”, with a collective $18bn (£14.4bn) in assets, and found that some had exposure to fossil fuels [...]
Cenkos founder leaves board as stockbroker grapples with activist investor September 18, 2019 Cenkos Securities has announced that a founding shareholder has left the company’s board amid pressure from an activist investor, on the same day the stockbroker announced an interim loss. Paul Hodges, Cenkos’ head of equity capital markets, and natural resources head Joe Nally stepped down from the board today, the company said. Both men will [...]
Politicians and campaigners call for scrapping of live facial recognition surveillance September 18, 2019 Privacy campaigners and MPs from several parties have called for police and private companies to “immediately stop” using live facial recognition surveillance in public spaces. In an open letter published by campaigning group Big Brother Watch, signatories including shadow home secretary Diane Abbott cite “serious concerns” about the technology’s “incompatibility with human rights” and “lack [...]
Former Wework cleaners take to the streets to protest dismissals September 18, 2019 Former Wework cleaning staff staged a protest outside one of the office space provider’s locations in the City today over what they have called the “unfair dismissal” of several employees. Some of the cleaners, alongside union staff and supporters, gathered outside Wework’s branch at No.1 Poultry in the City to protest the dismissals. Read more: [...]
