Golden year for startups: London may be heading for a post-pandemic unicorn boom September 15, 2021 The last 15 months has provided every aspect of society with an unprecedented challenge, not least to small firms and founders. The response of this section of business, however, has been nothing short of inspiring, with nearly 800,000 new firms incorporated in 2020. The response of the investors who back them has been equally stirring, [...]
Exclusive: ‘I felt sorry for the people of Belgium,’ says Estonia’s Prime Minister September 14, 2021 An artificial intelligence assistant for every citizen? AI to help unemployed people back into work or to suggest a career change? Bots telling you when to visit your GP? All this may sound a tad futuristic, but not for the government of the tiny Baltic state of Estonia. In fact, the country has grand ambitions [...]
UK global talent visa applications surge during lockdown August 31, 2021 Applications for the UK’s tech visas increased by almost 30 per cent during lockdowns and the pandemic, as the UK continues to attract global talent, according to industry body data. Applications for the Global Talent Visa between April 2020 to March 2021 increased by 28 per cent compared to the same period the previous year, [...]
Index Ventures invests $1bn into UK startups and will create 5000 jobs within a year July 23, 2021 Transatlantic venture capital firm Index Ventures has raised $3.1bn in new funds and directly invested $1bn in UK startups to create 5000 British jobs in the next year. Index’s latest cash injection comes just a year after Index raised its last set of $2bn funds. The UK is Index’s single largest destination for investments in Europe, and [...]
Exclusive: Rising fintech star and former PayPal tech lead on his new payments venture July 8, 2021 Wise £8bn launch on the London Stock Exchange yesterday underpins how the capital’s fintech scene is booming, with a clear investor appetite for payment platforms such as Wise. Another fintech company in this space that has flourished in the last twelve months is Osu, an instant payments app that was created specifically for the self-employed [...]
£700bn market: UK’s digital trade talks with Singapore underpin Britain’s role as a global tech exporter July 1, 2021 The UK and Singapore launched negotiations this week on a new ambitious digital trade agreement that could remove barriers and provide access to digital trade. Government statistics show this digital trading relationship was worth £3.2bn in 2019, out of Britain’s total tech exports of nearly £63bn globally. As the value of the entire digital global [...]
It’s all over: Softbank pulls plug on Pepper the robot, sources say June 30, 2021 SoftBank Group is slashing jobs at its global robotics business and has stopped producing its Pepper robot, according to sources and documents reviewed. Watch the full report.
Unicorn nest: UK hits milestone of 100 $1bn tech companies, more than rest of Europe combined June 20, 2021 The UK tech sector has now 100 UK tech companies valued at $1bn or more, according to new data from Dealroom and Tech Nation, shared with City A.M. this weekend. The UK’s 100th tech unicorn, Tractable, an AI startup building computer vision tools, announced a $60m Series D raise, which takes the company’s valuation to [...]
Exclusive: In the office full-time? No thanks, say 86 per cent of tech professionals June 2, 2021 As restrictions continue to lift and companies prepare to bring employees back to the workplace, many workers don’t want to return to the office full-time. Technology professionals are no exception. In fact, 86 per cent of them want a work from home arrangement after the pandemic, according to a survey by tech job market platform [...]
Exclusive: 65 per cent of UK companies plan to increase investments in tech June 1, 2021 Just over 65 per cent of all UK companies plan to increase the amount they spend on IT and new technologies, according to new research, shared exclusively with City A.M. today. This follows a majority, or 56 per cent, of all UK businesses successfully adopting one or more new technologies since the beginning of the [...]