Tech investor raises a record $100m in capital June 27, 2019 London venture capital firm Talis Capital has secured a record $100m (£78.8m) to invest in tech startups across the UK, Europe and US in 2019. The firm has previously backed the likes of Darktrace, Iwoca, Onfido and Luminance. Unlike other venture capital firms, Talis Capital is backed by a network of private investors and does [...]
Microsoft Outlook and Hotmail accounts accessed by hackers April 15, 2019 Microsoft has admitted that hackers had access to some of its Outlook, Hotmail and MSN email accounts for at least three months. The software company would not say how many accounts were compromised in the breach that lasted from 1 January to 28 March. Hackers stole login credentials for a Microsoft customer support agent and [...]
British identity startup Onfido quietly closes £4m funding from Augmentum Fintech March 6, 2019 Digital identity startup Onfido has quietly closed a £4m investment from Augmentum Fintech, City A.M. has learned. Documents published by the London-listed fund yesterday revealed the tie-up, which appears to be a one-off injection made last month ahead of an upcoming funding round for the company. Onfido, which makes technology used to verify customer identities [...]
Strong and stable: London extends lead as Europe’s top hub for unicorn startups March 1, 2019 London has cemented its status as the home of more young billion-dollar tech companies than any other European city, taking home the crown for ten consecutive years. Read more: Female fintech leaders highlighted as sector battles gender imbalance The number of so-called unicorn startups – private businesses valued at $1bn (£752.6m) and founded after 2000 [...]
UK AI sector funding hits record £1bn for 2018, almost the same as the rest of Europe combined February 20, 2019 Investment into the UK’s artificial intelligence (AI) sector from venture capital firms reached a record $1.3bn (£998m) last year, almost as much as the rest of Europe combined. The new figures from Dealroom represent a fourfold increase in five years, up from a total of $200m in 2014. In comparison, French AI startups raised $400m last [...]
Darktrace risks being dragged into US probe into billionaire Mike Lynch February 17, 2019 UK cybersecurity darling Darktrace is at risk of being pulled into the US fraud case against tech billionaire Mike Lynch and his former Autonomy colleague Sushovan Hussain. US court documents show that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents held a voluntary interview with Darktrace’s co-chief executive Nicole Eagan, as first reported by the Sunday Telegraph. Read [...]
Legal artificial intelligence startup backed by Mike Lynch valued at $100m after funding round February 7, 2019 Legal artificial intelligence business Luminance has hit a $100m (£77m) valuation with backing from investors that include tech billionaire Mike Lynch. Luminance said today it had raised $10m in a series B funding round that valued the business at $100m. Backers include Lynch’s Invoke Capital, Talis Capital and Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May. Lynch [...]
Hacking Wall Street: Are tech unicorns about to disrupt stock market flotations? January 21, 2019 Tech companies have changed the way we chat, bank, travel and date. Are they about to disrupt capital markets too? “In [Silicon] Valley there’s always been that mentality: how do we hack Wall Street?” says Rob Kniaz, a founder of tech-focused venture capital firm Hoxton Ventures. Two weeks ago reports broke that Slack, the workplace [...]
The UK extends its lead as Europe’s established tech unicorn capital October 23, 2018 London has cemented its standing as the capital of Europe’s billion-dollar technology startups, as surrounding cities help to push the UK forward while its companies expand internationally. New figures released today show the UK has now created 60 so-called unicorn startups – companies with a valuation of $1bn (£769.6m) or more – since 1990, according to [...]
UK foils more than 10 cyber attacks per week, says GCHQ October 16, 2018 The UK has faced more than 10 cyber attacks per week on average in the last two years, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) today revealed, with most coming from “hostile” nation states. Since it became operational in 2016, GCHQ’s cyber crime defence centre has been forced to defend Britain against 1,167 threats, 557 of which [...]