Buzzfeed and Gousto investors back London media AI startup October 22, 2019 A London artificial intelligence (AI) startup has today closed a $25m (£19.2m) funding round to help businesses better track their competition. Signal AI’s series C round was led by Redline Ventures, and supported by the venture arm of publishing giant Hearst. Other investors included Gousto backer MMC Ventures, and GMG Ventures which counts the owner [...]
AI marketing sector attracts $2.5bn of investment in 2018 October 17, 2019 Artificial intelligence (AI) marketing companies bagged $2.5bn of investment last year as marketers turned to the new technology to help analyse huge troves of data. Last year’s investment surge has continued into 2019, with $1bn invested in the second quarter alone, according to figures compiled by tech investment firm GP Bullhound. Read more: Meet the [...]
AI health firm Healx bags $56m funding as it looks to fast track rare disease treatments October 16, 2019 Health tech firm Healx has secured $56m (£44m) in a Series B funding round as it looks to launch a new accelerator programme to find treatments for rare diseases. The Cambridge-based company said it raised the funds from European venture capital giant Atomico, Global Brain and Btov Partners, as well as its existing investors. Read [...]
Google unveils new Pixel 4 phone as it looks to take on Apple October 15, 2019 Google has unveiled its new series of Pixel phones with a host of upgraded features as the tech giant looks to challenge the dominance of rival Apple in the smartphone market. Read more: Google Safari lawsuit: iPhone users win appeal to seek £3bn in damages The new Pixel 4 phones, which come in two sizes, [...]
The top dogs of global finance gather this week to confront economic storm clouds October 14, 2019 Will there be a global recession? What next for policy? Where are the major financial risks? These questions will be to the forefront of minds this week in Washington as the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank take place. Policymakers from across the globe will be in attendance, plus over 10,000 participants from [...]
IPO and M&A markets braced for further headache in 2020 October 14, 2019 Corporate dealmakers are bracing themselves for a further slowdown in business next year, with a new report forecasting a sharp slump in activity as geopolitical uncertainty mounts. Initial public offerings (IPO) and merger and acquisitions (M&A) are set to drop in both activity and value during 2020 amid trade wars and growing fears of a [...]
UK financial services firms leading the way on automation October 14, 2019 Financial services firms in the UK are integrating robo-advisers into their ranks faster than their global competitors in a bid to harness the technology to retain customers – or poach new ones, new research has found. While 37 per cent of UK financial services firms surveyed have implemented robotic processing automation (RPA) – a technology [...]
City Moves for 11 October – Who’s switching jobs at Leo Burnett, Badi and Refinitiv? October 11, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Leo Burnett, Badi and Refinitiv Leo Burnett Advertising firm Leo Burnett’s London office has appointed Carly Avener as managing director. In her new role, Carly will be responsible for the day-to-day running and operations of the agency. She will be working with the company’s existing clients such as Iceland, McDonald’s, Betfair [...]
City Moves for 10 October – Who’s switching jobs at Ashburton Investments, Pi Labs and Aviva Investors? October 10, 2019 Today’s City Moves includes Ashburton Investments, Pi Labs and Aviva Investors Ashburton Investments Sizwe Nxedlana has been appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Ashburton Investments, the asset management arm of Firstrand. Sizwe has been with Firstrand for more than a decade, previously as First National Bank’s (FNB) chief economist and most recently as CEO of [...]
Goldman reviews role in planned Megvii IPO after US blacklisting October 9, 2019 Goldman Sachs is reviewing its role in the planned listing of a Chinese tech firm that has been blacklisted by the US. The bank said today that it was looking at its involvement in Megvii Technology’s potential initial public offering (IPO). Read more: Weaker European market expected to be at centre of potential HSBC job [...]