UK mattress startup Simba Sleep raises £40m and is heading for profit in some markets December 17, 2017 Simba Sleep, one of several startups hoping to disrupt the world of sleep, has bedded fresh cash to fuel global expansion as it nears profitability in some markets. The £40m series B round of investment comes from previous backers Nigel Wray, a City heavywight and chairman of Saracens rugby club, Wharton Asset Management and Swiss [...]
UK mattress startup Simba Sleep raises £40m and is heading for profit in some markets December 17, 2017 Simba Sleep, one of several startups hoping to disrupt the world of sleep, has bedded fresh cash to fuel global expansion as it nears profitability in some markets. The £40m series B round of investment comes from previous backers Nigel Wray, a City heavywight and chairman of Saracens rugby club, Wharton Asset Management and Swiss [...]
Open Banking: Meet 10 startups that just won cash for innovative ideas December 13, 2017 Nearly a dozen startups have been chosen for a cash prize totalling £5m for their innovative ideas for making banking easier for small businesses. A firm that is a current account for freelancers that can help them manage tax and expenses, called Coconut, and another, Funding options, a marketplace for financial products for small firms, [...]
11 tech startups to watch according to top insurers in Startupbootcamp’s insurtech accelerator December 11, 2017 Nearly a dozen startups looking to disrupt the insurance industry with technology such as artificial intelligence have been chosen for the latest cohort of a London programme, backed by Lloyds Banking Group, Allianz, Scottish Widows and Confused.com among several high-profile financial firms. The 11 early stage startups from nine countries around the world will join [...]
Google DeepMind’s “superhuman” artificial intelligence won top-level chess within four hours of learning game December 7, 2017 DeepMind’s artificial intelligence programme has beaten a top-level chess computer programme after learning the game in just four hours without human help. The Google owned tech company’s machine learning algorithm, which last year won a landmark game of Go against a human player in what has been described as a “superhuman performance”, was applied to [...]
Data is the fuel for AI, so let’s ensure we get the ethics right December 4, 2017 Data is the propulsive energy behind the fourth industrial revolution – playing the same role as coal, oil and electricity did in the previous revolutions. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new engine, just as the railways connected north and south, roads and cars connected our cities, and electrification lit up our homes and allowed domestic [...]
Mind the skills gap: A plan to future-proof the UK workforce November 30, 2017 How do we close the skills gap in this country? At the recent World Skills competition and conference in Abu Dhabi, I learnt that this is not just a UK problem, but also one faced by countries across the world. Addressing this imbalance sits front and centre of everything this government is trying to achieve [...]
Facebook’s now using artificial intelligence to remove terror content November 29, 2017 Facebook has revealed more about how it is now using artificial intelligence to remove terror related content that appears on its platforms. The tech giant has come under pressure from the UK government on the matter, with Prime Minister Theresa May going as far as accusing Facebook and others of providing a “safe space” for [...]
Questioning AI ethics doesn’t make you a gloomy Luddite November 29, 2017 Last month, Google-owned DeepMind introduced AlphaGo Zero, the latest evolution of AlphaGo, the first computer programme to defeat a world champion at the ancient Chinese game of Go. Speaking at Web Summit earlier this month, Kevin Bandy, chief digital officer at Cisco, told the audience that “there are more moves in this one game than [...]
JP Morgan, Bank of America and BBVA most prepared banks for artificial intelligence, according to UBS November 28, 2017 US banks are the most prepared to handle the potential disruption of artificial intelligence to their business, new research reveals. The US ranked highest out of nine countries in established markets, followed by Singapore and then Spain. And when it comes to specific institutions, JP Morgan, Bank of America and BBVA were found to be [...]