Ireland: a perfect partner for AI development May 25, 2017 China is emerging as a global powerhouse for artificial intelligence (AI) and Ireland offers an ideal location for Chinese companies to extend their international reach in this critically important space. China’s growing pre-eminence in this area is in line with the “One Belt One Road” initiative announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013 and the [...]
Aviva just backed insurance focused fintech startup Neos and will probably acquire one soon, says CEO Mark Wilson May 25, 2017 Aviva is splashing cash on a startup focusing on insurance for connected homes in the latest signal of the insurers intent when it comes to technology – and it may even stretch to buying a small tech firm in future, it has revealed. The venture arm of Aviva has led a £5m series A funding [...]
Alibaba and a Californian school set to make millions from Snap’s IPO February 26, 2017 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and a Californian school stand to make millions of dollars from Snap's IPO this week. In what will be one of the tech industry's biggest floats to date, social media giant Snap is set to make its Wall Street debut this week with hopes to raise $3bn (£2.41bn). Snap, the company [...]
President Xi loves football, but China’s spending spree won’t last long says ex-Manchester City man Sun Jihai January 9, 2017 Premier League clubs need not worry about losing their best players to the China, says former Manchester City defender Sun Jihai who predicts a slowdown in spending from the emerging football power. Chinese teams’ spending has exploded as some of the country’s richest men acquired football clubs in the wake of President Xi Jinping revealing [...]
These are 2016’s top 100 influential leaders in fintech (part 4 of 4) December 7, 2016 City A.M. is publishing Hot Topics' top 100 fintech influential leaders list for 2016, supported by 360Leaders. This is part 4 of 4, in alphabetical order. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here, and part 3 is here. The most influential fintech leaders in 2016, R to Z Ricardo Martin Manjon, head of digital [...]
£20m investment brings East London’s hipster offices to Portugal and the US October 30, 2016 Hipster workspaces will be soon arriving in Portugal and the US thanks to a £20m investment from a group of high profile investors. Second Home, a trendy workspace for technology start-ups, has won the backing of Bebo founder Michael Birch, as well as the Sainsbury family and returning investor Yuri Milner and, with a multi-million-pound investment [...]
Tencent overtakes Alibaba as most valuable Chinese tech company August 18, 2016 China's Tencent, one of the biggest tech firms in the region and the owner of messaging app WeChat certainly has something to er, type home about. A stellar set of earnings has sent shares surging as much as 6.2 per cent to an all-time high and topping Alibaba as the most valuable tech company in China in terms [...]
Five things you need to know about the Uber Didi Chuxing deal August 1, 2016 Uber and Didi have thrown in the towel on their costly rivalry with a deal to merge in China, worth a reported $35bn. Here's what you need to know. 1. Profits matter Uber was burning more than $1bn a year on its Chinese operations, becoming its largest market, but not making any profit from it. That's what boss Travis Kalanick [...]
Uber’s Apple-backed rival Didi Chuxing just raised billions June 16, 2016 The taxi wars are hotting up. A day after reports of Uber raising a further $2bn (£1.4bn) to add to its already rather large cash pile, its rival in China has announced another $7bn in new funding that puts it squarely on the tail of the US startup when it comes to being the most well-funded private startup [...]
Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing raises another $600m – one month after it got $1bn from Apple June 13, 2016 Chinese Uber rival Didi Chuxing has just unveiled another $600m (£423m) round of funding – exactly one month after Apple ploughed $1bn into it. China Life made an equity investment of $300m and a long-term debt investment of two billion yuan, about $305m. Didi Chuxing said the two companies had committed to a partnership on internet-powered financial innovation and other initiatives – [...]