Gaming’s biggest conference E3 cancelled over coronavirus concerns March 11, 2020 This year’s upcoming E3 conference has been cancelled, as coronavirus continues to spread. Held in Los Angeles, E3 plays home to major gaming updates from Sony and Microsoft every year, and was this year set to feature the 2020 debut of the Playstation 5 and a new iteration of the Xbox. The Entertainment Software Association [...]
Budget 2020: Government to issue UK fintech sector review March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has today announced the government will carry out a review of the UK’s burgeoning fintech sector, as part of its goal to champion Britain’s leading tech talent. The review will explore the support the government can provide to ensure “growth and competitiveness” in the sector. Fintech has been the UK’s top performing [...]
Sequoia crypto fund Paradigm makes first Europe investment with London startup Argent March 9, 2020 A cryptocurrency-focused fund backed by unicorn investor Sequoia Capital has led a $12m (£9.2m) funding round for digital wallet startup Argent. Paradigm has now joined Silicon Valley stalwart Index Ventures, Creandum and Firstminute Capital — who also participated in the round — as Argent’s newest backer. The series A investment also marks Paradigm’s first investment [...]
Former Goldman boss Michael Sherwood joins Revolut board March 5, 2020 A former senior Goldman Sachs executive has joined the board of fintech giant Revolut, as it seeks to bolster its board in the wake of a significant investment. Michael Sherwood, the former co-chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, has today been appointed Revolut’s board as a non-executive director. Sherwood is joined by fellow new non-executive [...]
Corporate governance at Travelex owner questioned over links to NMC Health founder March 4, 2020 Ongoing financial turmoil and questions over its corporate governance structures have caused analysts to downgrade the credit rating of money transfer giant Travelex, amid ties to troubled firm NMC Health through its founder. NMC founder and former chief executive BR Shetty and his son own 66 per cent of shares in Finablr — the sole [...]
Driverless car startup Five raises $41m investment from Direct Line and Airbnb backer March 4, 2020 London tech firm Five has today closed $41m in funding from a slew of new investors, including Trustbridge Partners, Direct Line and Sistema VC. The series B fundraising was supported by existing backers Lakestar, Amadeus Capital Partners, Kindred Capital and Notion Capital — which between them have backed the likes of Airbnb, Klarna, Graphcore and [...]
Alphabet’s Waymo nabs $2.25bn in first external funding round March 2, 2020 Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet, said tonight it has raised $2.25bn (£1.76bn) in its first external investment round. In addition to Alphabet, investors included car parts supplier Magna International, US dealership chain Autonation, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and three large investment firms: Silver Lake, Andreessen Horowitz and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Alphabet [...]
Pete Buttigieg drops out of 2020 race for US Democratic presidential candidacy March 1, 2020 Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay major US presidential candidate and a former small-town mayor in Indiana, has tonight dropped out of the race to be the Democratic candidate in the 2020 election. The decision followed a significant loss at a primary in South Carolina over the weekend, at which Buttigieg came in fourth place. [...]
Apple receives bloody nose over Chinese censorship policies February 26, 2020 Apple’s shareholders today launched an unsuccessful proposal critical of the firm’s removal of apps at the request of the Chinese government, despite garnering two-fifths of investors’ support. The proposal drew a much higher proportion of votes than similar proposals in previous years which had gained support only in single-digit percentages. The bid had called on [...]
Microsoft downgrades Windows and Surface outlook on coronavirus outbreak February 26, 2020 Microsoft has said it won’t meet parts of its quarterly guidance following the coronavirus outbreak. The downgrade relates to its More Personal Computing segment, which Microsoft had previously forecast to report between $10.75bn (£8.33bn) and $11.15bn in revenue for the upcoming quarter. “Although we see strong Windows demand in line with our expectations, the supply chain is returning [...]
