There’s more to Chinese culture than willow-patterned plates or Ming vases; we explore Beijing’s fast-growing contemporary art scene July 28, 2017 Picture the likes of London’s White Cube, the Saatchi Gallery, and the Serpentine, all transported to, say…Hounslow. Would you be as inclined to head there of a weekend to take in the latest exhibition by Damien Hirst, or Tracey Emin? Serious collectors from around the world as well as art-loving Chinese investors are doing something [...]
London cyber security startup Callsign, used by Lloyds and Deutsche Bank, has raised a huge $35m series A led by Accel and PTB Ventures July 27, 2017 A security startup focused on digital identity which helps keep Lloyds and Deutsche Bank protected has raised a huge round of funding from venture capital investors. London-based Callsign has landed $35m in a series A round of funding led by Spotify backer Accel and PTB Ventures a New York-based early-stage investment firm specialising in digital [...]
Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are embroiled in a geeky spat over artificial intelligence and robots July 26, 2017 We can officially hand out the award for geekiest fight of the year. Two of the most influential entrepreneurs of the last decade, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, have entered into a war of words over the future of robots and artificial intelligence. The pair have taken opposing sides in the [...]
Skype billionaire Niklas Zennstrom and LocalGlobe back UK fintech startup Cleo and its Facebook AI chatbot for finance July 26, 2017 The billionaire co-founder of Skype and one of the UK’s top startup venture capital investors are backing a UK fintech behind a chatbot helping people with their finances that could kill off banking apps. Niklas Zennström along with Robin and Saul Klein’s LocalGlobe have invested £2m in a seed stage funding round of Cleo. Cleo’s [...]
Aviva and Founders Factory are betting on these five fintech startups for artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual reality expertise July 24, 2017 Aviva is betting on virtual reality, artificial intelligence and blockchain when it comes to technology. The insurer has unveiled the first five startups to benefit from a multi-million pound investment into new technology with startup accelerator and incubator Founders Factory. And the two have also created their own startup together, OnCare, aiming to take the [...]
Graphcore lands $30m from top AI experts Demis Hassabis from Deepmind, Uber’s Zoubin Ghahramani and more along with Atomico and others | City A.M. July 20, 2017 Some of the world’s leading experts in artificial intelligence are among fresh investors to plough $30m into a Bristol-based chip startup. Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis and Zoubin Ghahramani, Uber’s chief scientist and Cambridge university professor, are among new investors in Graphcore, which makes chips that can process machine learning faster and more efficiently. It [...]
Artificial intelligence is our chance to shoot for the moon July 19, 2017 A common criticism of the recent election has been that the campaigns failed to address many of the big issues that will affect the futures of most people. It’s a fair point. I don’t recall hearing one politician talk about the rapidly changing world of business and work, and what this country may look like [...]
Following the ‘Day of Action’ in support of net neutrality, should the US Congress reconsider the move to scrap it? | City A.M. July 13, 2017 DEBATE: Following the ‘Day of Action’ in support of net neutrality, should the US Congress reconsider the move to scrap it? YES – StJohn Deakins, founder of CitizenMe. This is economics 101. Infrastructure and service companies have very different financial models. There’s a rich history of infrastructure firms attempting to raise profits by expanding into [...]
Hot UK cyber security startup Darktrace raises $75m series D at $825m valuation July 11, 2017 One of the Uk’s hottest startups has millions of pounds in fresh funding, pushing the firm’s valuation surging past the half a billion dollars mark. Cyber security startup Darktrace has raised $75m (£58m) in a series D round of funding, valuing it at $825m, almost double of what it was when it raised $65m this [...]
We have Apple to thank for a decade of fintech revolution | City A.M. June 29, 2017 Today marks the 10 year anniversary of when the iPhone first went on sale, and to say it has transformed how we work, interact, and run our day-to-day lives is an understatement. The iPhone has not only led to significant technology advancements in the smartphone space, it has also been the driver of mass industry [...]