Investment in UK insurtech startups is rocketing, easing Brexit fears September 4, 2017 The amount of cash flowing into innovative UK startups hoping to disrupt the insurance sector is rocketing, new figures reveal, with London attracting more than any other location in Europe. Investment in insurance technology (insurtech) has grown an astonishing near 3,000 per cent in 2017, hitting £218m according to fresh insight from Accenture and CB [...]
Charter Court Financial Services is set to announce plans for £500m float in London | City A.M. September 3, 2017 Buy-to-let mortgage lender Charter Court Financial Services is expected to reveal a £500m initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Market, according to reports. The owner of Exact and Precise mortgage brands could announce plans for a float as soon as this week with a market value of about £500m, Mark Kleinman at Sky [...]
Proptech startup Habito lands £18.5m to make mortgages digital in series B led by Atomico September 3, 2017 A fintech startup focused on making mortgage applications easier has bagged millions more in funding from top investors. Atomico, the venture fund set up by Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom, led the £18.5m series B round with existing investors Ribbit Capital, Mosaic Ventures and Revolutionary (ad)Ventures also participating. It brings total funding for the startup – [...]
Digital challenger bank Revolut smashes more crowdfunding records with Seedrs campaign July 31, 2017 The fire continues burning under fintech with huge demand for the latest crowdfunding of digital challenger bank Revolut. More than 40,000 people have pre-registered to back the banking startup ahead of the official campaign which kicks off today. Combined, they have pledged more than £17m, however, their investment will be capped at £1,000 each and [...]
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 [...]
The pension pitfalls of the gig economy July 19, 2017 Our work lives are becoming increasingly malleable as millions of us turn our backs on steady nine-to-five jobs and choose to go freelance instead. Yes, we can now mould our job into a shape that fits neatly into our personal or financial lives, but this workplace revolution is by no means perfect, and has [...]
Why divesting from tobacco stocks is pointless virtue signalling June 26, 2017 This week marks the 10 year anniversary of the smoking ban in England, and tobacco is once again making headlines. Not content with the government prohibiting smoking in public places, various funds and companies have bought into the ludicrous divestment movement which seeks to bring down industries by trading their shares. The Guardian started the [...]
These are the 100 most disruptive startups in the world (and a third are from the UK): Roman Abramovich-backed Storedot, AI chip maker Graphcore and cancer detection scientists at Grail top list June 1, 2017 A Bristol-based startup developing computer chips for artificial intelligence, an app for helping kids manage money, and a fintech just backed by Aviva, are among the UK startups to be named the most disruptive in the world. AI chip firm Graphcore was ranked second in the annual list identifying companies with the potential to “influence, [...]