News
Episode 1, an investor in Carwow, Triptease and AimBrain, has raised £60m to invest in early-stage technology startups.
The British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds programme backed the fund.
Episode 1 will seek to invest between £500,000 and £2m “into teams with real insight into markets that are emerging or evolving”.
To read more, click here.
If you’ve ever gotten product recommendations on Amazon, you’ve seen Danny Lange’s handiwork. The same goes for Uber’s AI that books you a ride. The Danish computer scientist helped build the machine learning platforms that both companies use throughout their operations, from the engineering to the marketing departments.
To read more, click here.
Halfords is the most searched-for UK bike retailer with 1.83m monthly searches each, a new report has revealed.
The Bike Retailers Digital Insight Report, produced by digital marketing specialists Inside Online, ranks 30 of the leading websites within this competitive market according to their online performance. The annual study reveals the successes and shortcomings of each website, highlighting where there is room for improvement.
To read more, click here.
Revenue at Zoopla Property Group soared by double digits last year as it signalled it was moving into the European market with its acquisition of Dutch Property Valuation firm Calcasa.
To read more, click here.
It is somewhat safe to predict that AI will continue to be at the top of the hype cycle in 2018. But the following 51 predictions also envision it becoming more practical and useful, automating some jobs and augmenting many others, combining machine learning and big data for fresh insights, with chatbots proliferating in the enterprise.
To read the 51 AI predictions, click here.
Consumers are more comfortable than ever buying on their mobile gadgets this holiday season.
Early indications in the first days of the season show that mobile devices are not only being used for product search and review, they are increasingly replacing desktops as the device where consumers click for purchase.
On Monday morning Adobe said early data for Cyber Monday activity showed mobile driving nearly 40% of online sales.
To read more, click here.
Today Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Siemens announced they’re developing a hybrid electric plane, with first the first test flights due to take place by 2020.
You could be flying electric in a so-called ‘eAircraft’ by the 2030s, the companies claim.
To read more, click here.
Cyber Monday shoppers take note! Walmart may be gaining ground in its quest to take on Amazon, as a new study shows the retail giant’s online operation is approaching price parity with its e-commerce nemesis.
Data analytics firm Market Track performed the study for Reuters, discovering that over the last year Walmart.com’s prices were on average only 0.3% higher than those on Amazon. Rewind a year, and the difference was 3%.
To read more, click here.
APEXX, a marketplace for global payments, has closed a $4m (£3.2m) Seed.
Forward Partners led the round, which also drew support from MMC Ventures and Oslo-based Alliance Venture.
APEXX, which received a grant from Innovate UK, allows firms to integrate all their required payment suppliers by presenting them in a single API.
To read more, click here.
Manchester-based MindTrace has raised £1.3m to create self-learning machines.
The investment came from Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV) and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
MindTrace is working to develop novel software algorithms to mimic how the human brain works.
To read more, click here.