Thomas Cook nears rescue deal with China’s Fosun July 12, 2019 Thomas Cook is preparing to announce today it is nearing a rescue deal that will include selling off its tour operating arm to the Chinese owner of Club Med. The package holiday group is set to reveal this morning that it is close to reaching an agreement with Fosun Tourism Group and its lenders which [...]
German fintech challenger bank N26 launches in the US July 11, 2019 German fintech giant N26 has today launched its services in the US, making it the second major European digital bank to cross the pond. Starting today in a staged rollout, the 100,000 customers on N26’s US waiting list will be invited to open an account and have full access to the bank’s app and debit card. [...]
Diversity of senior leadership in British venture capital fails to improve July 11, 2019 The number of women in senior leadership positions at venture capital (VC) firms in the UK has failed to increase in two years, despite a renewed focus on diversity. Read more: Women-led IPOs need to triple, and here’s why Representation of women at senior levels remains flat at 13 per cent compared to 2017, according [...]
London fintech Soldo scoops up $61m in funding July 8, 2019 London-based business banking fintech firm Soldo has today closed a $61m (£48.7m) series B funding round, led by Battery Ventures. Battery joined the round as a new investor alongside Dawn Capital, and existing investors Accel and Connect Ventures. The venture capital firms have previously backed the likes of iZettle, Facebook and Slack. Soldo, which provides [...]
Amazon to create 2,000 UK jobs in ‘clear vote of confidence’ post-Brexit July 3, 2019 E-commerce giant Amazon will create 2,000 new jobs in the UK this year, as it seeks to up its total workforce to almost 30,000 roles. Amazon said the new positions would include engineers, software developers, data scientists and experts in cloud and machine learning, along with a number of entry-level roles. Of those created, more [...]
Revealed: Starling Bank chief’s stake slides as billionaire backer tightens grip July 1, 2019 The chief executive of Starling Bank has lost her position as a major shareholder in the British fintech giant, following a large funding injection in February. Anne Boden, who founded Starling in 2014, ceased to be a person with significant control in the bank in April, according to filings on Companies House. A spokesperson for [...]
Revolut launches partnerships with three charities in Pride Month push July 1, 2019 The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Save the Children and ILGA Europe have partnered with digital bank Revolut to automate charitable donations. In an industry-first, Revolut’s 5m users will be able to round up their card payments to the nearest pound and automatically donate the difference to one of the three charities. Customers will [...]
Apple’s tax bill slashed by more than half June 30, 2019 Apple’s tax bill for its chain of 38 stores across the UK more than halved last year, despite an EU mandate to pay back taxes and interest amounting to €14bn (£12.5bn). The Californian tech giant’s retail arm paid just £3.8m in tax in the 12 months to the end of September last year, falling from [...]
Tech investor raises a record $100m in capital June 27, 2019 London venture capital firm Talis Capital has secured a record $100m (£78.8m) to invest in tech startups across the UK, Europe and US in 2019. The firm has previously backed the likes of Darktrace, Iwoca, Onfido and Luminance. Unlike other venture capital firms, Talis Capital is backed by a network of private investors and does [...]
Transferwise expands to the US with digital banking effort June 26, 2019 Fintech stalwart Transferwise has lifted the lid on its expansion to the US, opening up access to its banking arm across the Atlantic. One year on from its launch in Europe, Transferwise’s borderless banking account and debit card will be available to US users from today after a short beta-testing period last month. The firm [...]
