Does WeWork spell the end of the unicorns? November 4, 2019 WeWork has undergone a dramatic fall from grace recently. Just two months ago the office rental start-up was expecting to offer shares to the public at a total business valuation of $47 billion. This soon halved and then investors rapidly pulled their support for an initial public offering (IPO) above $12 billion. The IPO was [...]
Uber launches 24-hour hotline for passengers and drivers following pressure from TfL September 25, 2018 Ride-hailing app Uber has launched a 24-hour hotline for drivers and customers following pressure from Transport for London (TfL) which revoked its licence last year. TfL took away Uber's licence on the grounds it was not a "fit and proper person" to hold a licence in the capital. The transport body took issue with Uber's approach to [...]
Goldman Sachs introduces gender quota for floats January 26, 2020 Goldman Sachs will not take a company public unless there is at least one “diverse” candidate on the board. Speaking at Davos last Thursday, the bank’s chief executive David Solomon said: “From a governance perspective, diversity on boards is a very, very important issue.” The push for diversity will be focused primarily on women. Solomon [...]
Tech firms must now show they’re serious about building trust May 11, 2020 The pandemic lockdown has supercharged the already dizzying speed of technological change. In six weeks we’ve come to accept a world where the office has become Zoom, the classroom Google and the theatre YouTube. Neighbours support each other through Slack channels. The dying say their farewells on FaceTime. And with little prospect of significant changes [...]
Has WeWork destroyed SoftBank’s credibility? November 13, 2019 By John Colley at Warwick Business School Why is Japanese investment firm SoftBank investing a further $8 billion into WeWork, even though the office rental company is now valued at just $8 billion, and buying out founder Adam Neumann at a further cost of $1.7 billion? Forgetting SoftBank’s previous sunk investments in WeWork – which [...]
Toyota invests $500m in Uber to propel self-driving cars into reality August 28, 2018 Japanese motoring giant Toyota has renewed its dedication to creating a self-driving car network on our streets, to the tune of a $500m (£387.6m) investment in ride-hailing firm Uber. The company said late last night it will expand its partnership with Uber in an effort to bring to market "autonomous ride-sharing as a mobility service at scale", at a time [...]
Just Eat bags deal to deliver McDonald’s January 28, 2020 Just Eat today became the second UK delivery firm to partner with McDonald’s after signing a multi-million-pound deal with the fast food chain. The delivery giant, which is set to enter a £6bn merger with Dutch firm Takeaway.com, said the partnership will hit the road later this year. It comes as a blow to rival Uber [...]
Why artificial intelligence needs an open, decentralised platform to serve the world August 14, 2020 On the 15th of May 1911, the US government moved to break the Standard Oil Corporation into what would eventually be 34 different companies. The key resource at question then was oil. A century later, we are at the cusp of wondering whether the organisations of our time hold a similar monopoly on the most [...]
Sadiq Khan urged to end ‘culture of cronyism’ February 6, 2020 Sadiq Khan has been accused of presiding over a ‘culture of cronyism’ in City Hall after his night czar was paid an extra £1,000 for taking part in a drag act to mark the 2019 borough of culture celebration. The mayor gives £1.3m to the winner of London’s borough of culture which in 2019 was [...]
Nightmare: Casper Sleep slashes IPO valuation again February 5, 2020 Casper Sleep slashed the valuation it is seeking in its initial public offering again today, as the money-losing online mattress retailer tries to lure investors in a tepid market for start-up IPOs following Wework’s debacle last year. The price cut underscores the recent mismatch between the valuations start-ups are able to achieve in private fundraising [...]