Exclusive: Startups and finserv firms push for more rules to keep bots under control September 21, 2021 Bots are changing the way we work, saving businesses thousands of hours and significant sums per year as they increasingly play a key role in automating key corporate functions, including customer service and data collections. Despite this, due to the actions of a small number of irresponsible bot users, myths and misconceptions, many business leaders [...]
Chancellor hails London tech success as capital beats European competitors again September 20, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today hailed London’s bounce back from the pandemic as new figures show the capital is sprinting ahead of rival European tech hubs. London has attracted more venture capital investment to its startups than anywhere else in Europe and now boasts more unicorns – firms valued at more than $1bn – than France [...]
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: 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 [...]
Is technology a new asset class? February 23, 2021 | City Talk With Covid-19 accelerating digitalisation, the question facing many companies is no longer whether technology is important, but just how important? What percentage of their time should a bank or retailer’s top executives spend thinking about technology? How much investment should a company make in tech? What weighting should institutional and retail investors give the sector? [...]
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 [...]
What the tech happened to sport in 2020? December 16, 2020 Comparing the lack of sport with the other crises witnessed this year would be disingenuous. Still, an awful lot of people had large holes in their lives when live sport went off air in 2020. Some entities filled the gap fast, most notably motorsport, in no small part thanks to its embracing of esports. For [...]