The latest British unicorn? Insurtech Marshmallow is waiting in the wings August 11, 2021 Marshmallow Financial Services is soon to announce its latest fundraising round that will bring its valuation to $1.2bn (£869m), joining the ranks of other recent UK unicorns Starling Bank, Gousto and Zego. Its latest cash injections is fuelled largely by existing investors, according to reports in Sky News citing “city insiders” with knowledge of the [...]
Coronavirus lockdowns turn UK’s Mindful Chef profitable June 15, 2021 The healthy recipe box service has been a pandemic winner, with locked-down customers driving sales up threefold to £53m last year. Mindful Chef today reported it is profitable for the first time, with 2020 sales figures up 230 per cent on 2019, buoyed by the pandemic shift to online food delivery. Customers for the Nestle [...]
Meal kits firm Dishpatch rustles up £10m in funding round June 13, 2021 A meal kits provider that offers dishes from top London restaurants including Ottolenghi has raised £10m in a fresh funding round. Dishpatch, which was founded during lockdown last year, secured the backing from Andreessen Horowitz and Local Globe. Entrepreneurs including Bloom & Wild boss Aron Gelbard, Trouva’s Mandeep Singh and Songkick co-founder Ian Hogarth also [...]
Gousto taps City bigwig Garrett-Cox as chair ahead of stock market float May 7, 2021 Recipe box firm Gousto has tapped one of Britain’s most prominent businesswomen as its next chair as it gears up for a potential stock market float. The meal kit company, which was founded in 2012, has agreed the appointment of Katherine Garrett-Cox to lead the company through a listing. The appointment is expected to be [...]
Recipe box firm Gousto to double workforce after first year of profitability April 26, 2021 Recipe box firm Gousto announced this morning that it plans to double its workforce as it revealed it had delivered a year of profitability for the first time ever as the pandemic more than doubled sales. Gousto announced this morning that it achieved record sales of £189m last year as it won market share from [...]
London is home to 60 unicorns after record levels of investment last year March 16, 2021 London is now home to 60 companies with unicorn status as the capital cements itself as Europe’s hub for tech investment. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, six London-based companies secured valuations of over $1bn in 2020: Octopus Energy, Arrival, Kazoo, infobip, Gousto and Hopin. And it’s been a strong start to 2021 with an [...]
Retail therapy: How has the Covid-19 pandemic changed the way we shop? January 22, 2021 The lifestyle changes from Covid-19 were reflected in where people chose to spend their hard-earned cash in 2020, with local shops, fitness platforms and recipe boxes feeling the benefit of a year in the coronavirus pandemic.
Exclusive: ‘We must be brave and move away from the EU’s way of thinking’, says Tech Nation chair January 7, 2021 After what was a difficult year for tech firms, City A.M. sat down with Stephen Kelly, chairman of Tech Nation, the industry body that represents UK startups and runs Britain’s Tech Nation visa scheme for foreign entrepreneurs. Brexit has just taken place, how will this impact London’s startup space? Brexit is the UK’s opportunity to [...]
UK tech jobs bounce back as investment hits record high December 29, 2020 UK tech job vacancies have bounced back strongly as Britain’s booming tech sector shrugged off the Covid-19 pandemic to attract record levels of investment. While job vacancies in the industry dropped sharply at the height of the crisis in July, they have since climbed 50 per cent and are now accumulating at a rate of [...]
Gousto becomes latest UK tech ‘unicorn’ after lockdown surge November 2, 2020 Recipe box firm Gousto has become the UK’s latest tech “unicorn” after raising £25m in a new funding round. The new investment, which came from existing partners Perwyn and BGF, means that the company is now achieved a valuation of over $1bn. It is the fourth tech firm to gain the mantle this year. Gousto, [...]