ASOS brings 180 jobs to Northern Ireland as it launches tech hub in Belfast September 28, 2021 Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister Gordon Lyons this morning announced that online fashion retailer ASOS will invest £14m in a new Tech Hub in Belfast which will create 184 new jobs over the next three years. The new Belfast hub will be operational in early 2022, with 52 dedicated roles in the first year, growing to [...]
Startup city: Square Mile investors make London the top place after Silicon Valley for tech firms September 22, 2021 London is second only to Silicon Valley for the best place for startups to thrive, according to a definitive ranking of the world’s major tech and business hubs. The capital tied with New York in second place to the Californian area synonymous with billion-dollar valuations and tech bros – and far ahead of the next [...]
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 [...]
Russ Shaw’s Tech Week Diary: Showcasing the best of London to the world September 21, 2021 London Tech Week – the showcase of all things innovative – is back. Each day this week, Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates boss Russ Shaw CBE will write for us reflecting on the jamboree. Here’s day one. Europe’s largest tech festival, London Tech Week, is back. The launch event – the Global 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 [...]
UK tech: Record raise of £13.5bn pushes number of British unicorns to 105 September 20, 2021 The UK tech sector raised £13.5bn in the first six months of this year, almost three times more than the same period a year ago, according to new data. As a result, the number of British unicorns has jumped to 105. Companies including fintech giant Revolut, online video conference business Hopin and online car sales [...]
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 [...]
Beijing turns up heat on data holding firms, seeking to divide Ant Group’s Alipay September 13, 2021 Beijing regulators, who are acting increasingly hawkish around sensitive data firms, are reportedly seeking to break up Ant Group’s loans business Alipay to form a separate app instead. Under the proposal, Jack Ma’s Ant Group will hand over its user data to a new credit scoring joint venture with state-backed firms, the Financial Times first [...]
Creaking Cairo cedes to new high-tech capital with smart cards and AI-driven apps September 3, 2021 Egypt’s new administrative capital will be hi-tech. Residents will use smart cards and apps to get about, under the watchful eye of a far-reaching surveillance system. Watch the full report.
