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 [...]
Gousto cooks up £18m funding and signs up ‘The Body Coach’ Joe Wicks January 6, 2019 Meal kit company Gousto has cooked up a further £18m worth of funding and welcomed fitness writer Joe Wicks on board. New investors, including Wicks, Unilever Ventures, Hargreave Hale, MMC Ventures and Angel CoFund have backed the recipe box company, it said yesterday. Gousto, which deliver 1.5m meals a month to customers, has now raised [...]
Recipe box firm Hello Fresh hikes full-year guidance amid coronavirus lockdown boom May 5, 2020 Recipe box firm Hello Fresh has hiked its full-year guidance following a surge in demand in the first quarter of the year as customers ordered deliveries during the coronavirus pandemic. Expected group revenue growth is expected to be between 40 per cent to 55 per cent, from a previous estimate of 22 per cent to [...]
London crypto startup secures $8m from Target, Localglobe and MMC February 17, 2020 Cryptocurrency asset management startup Copper has today revealed the close of an $8m (£6.1m) funding round from a number of major investors. Target Global, Localglobe and MMC Ventures all participated in the series A round, which have backed the likes of Transferwise, Delivery Hero, Interactive Investor and Gousto between them. Copper, which designs and manages [...]
Coronavirus: The future fund needs a 2.0 May 20, 2020 The month between the announcement of the Future Fund – part of the government’s billion-pound package of financial support for innovative firms hit by the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic – and its opening for applications today has seen concerted lobbying from those concerned that it will fail to work as intended. I share those [...]
‘Subscription box economy’ helps to fuel parcel delivery surge June 24, 2020 “Just a second, I need to get to the front door – a delivery’s just arrived”: it’s become as familiar a scenario during a Zoom call as someone forgetting that they’re on mute. The sound of doorbells ringing as packages are deposited on doorsteps, with delivery drivers dutifully stepping two metres back, has become a [...]
Buzzfeed issued strike-off warning over late company accounts December 4, 2019 Buzzfeed is under fierce pressure from financial authorities for failing to produce its company accounts more than two months after the deadline. Government agency Companies House has lodged a proposal to strike Buzzfeed from the official register as its 2018 accounts, which were due by 30 September this year, have still not been submitted. Read [...]
Which VCTS and EIS I would buy today February 26, 2020 Tax pressure in Britain is at a 50-year high. Higher earners are feeling the squeeze as many traditional avenues of investing tax-efficiently have been blocked – from pension restrictions to the cuts to buy-to-let tax relief. What tax-efficient options are left? Two increasingly popular options for experienced investors are Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) and the [...]
Tory donor acquires stake in former Virgin Money chief’s fintech startup Snoop October 25, 2019 A Conservative Party donor has acquired a stake in the technology business of former Virgin Money chief executive Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia. Lord Brownlow’s investment vehicle, Havisham assets, has bought a £5m share in Snoop according to Sky News, alongside Salesforce Ventures, which Jayne-Anne recently joined as UK and Ireland chief. Read more: Self-driving startup Fiveai [...]
Marketing in a crisis: Top tech bosses on how to build a brand through Covid-19 September 14, 2020 While the coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc through all parts of the business world, there are few who have had to argue their case for survival more than chief marketing officers. As the economic downturn set in and companies scrambled to shore up their finances, marketing budgets have been slashed across the board. Official industry [...]