News
London-based digital asset platform Blockchain.com has secured $120 million (approx £86.5 million) funding. The investment was led by a lineup of macro investors including, Moore Strategic Ventures (Louis Bacon), Kyle Bass, Access Industries, Rovida Advisors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, GV (aka Google Ventures), Lakestar, Eldridge, and more.
Raised £136M to date
The UK-based company didn’t disclose the valuation at which the funds were raised; however, the company has raised $190 million (approx £136 million) in funding. The funding will be used to accelerate the platform’s growing Institutional Markets business.
Blockchain.com said about 28% of all Bitcoin transactions since 2012 have occurred through its platform, representing billions in transaction volume.
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Leaf Grow, a New Castle-based company that provides end-to-end performance marketing services for eCommerce businesses, has secured £1.75 million funding led by Maven Capital Partners.
The company secured funding of £1 million through the North East Development Fund, supported by the European Regional Development, and £750,000 through The Future Fund, a government scheme backed by the British Business Bank.
Maven Capital Partners is a private equity firm that provides a range of funding options to dynamic SMEs & attractive investment opportunities.
The funding will enable the company to invest in its engineering and data science teams, sales & marketing activities and expand its Newcastle operations, whilst continuing to roll out several product enhancements.
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The Post Office has announced plans to launch a free-to-use app that will use biometrics to authenticate customers and prevent fraud.
The new app will be based on software supplied by London-based company Yoti, which launched in 2014 and specialises in digital identity technology. It will take advantage of biometric-face matching and liveness detection in order to ensure the privacy of Post Office customers and prevent potential imposters from obtaining sensitive information.
The app could help to ensure social distancing by enabling customers to be identified for passport and driving licence renewals from the safety of their homes, without the need to attend a post office in-person.
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The £4 billion stock market floatation of Darktrace has been dealt an early blow after Swiss bank UBS reportedly pulled out due to the firm's ties to British entrepreneur Mike Lynch.
The decision came from the bank's compliance department and is related to a 'Suspicious Activity Report' (SAR) regarding Lynch's current legal battles with US and UK authorities, according to Sky News.
A SAR is a regulatory requirement for banks that must be made if there is any suspicious legal activity in a transaction. UBS was appointed alongside US multinational Jefferies to lead Darktrace's listing in November, but the firm has reportedly said it cannot continue on behalf of the UK firm due to Lynch's proposed extradition to the US to stand trial,
Lynch was one of the first investors in Darktrace through his VC firm Invoke Capital, but it is his previous ventures that have led to UBS pulling out and also his potential extradition to America.
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The IPO gave the Austin, Texas-based company a market capitalization of more than $7 billion. Bumble sold 50 million shares after raising its share offering several times, previously aiming to sell 45 million shares at a target price range $37-$39.
Some dating apps like Bumble have flourished even under COVID-19-related social distancing, as people who stay at home turn to instant messaging to seek romance.
Bumble, which also owns the Badoo dating app, said it expects to record up to $541.5 million in revenue between January and December 2020, up 11% from the prior year driven by growth in paying customers.
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PatientsLikeMe, the world’s largest integrated community, health management, and real-world data platform, today announced it has raised $26 million in financing led by Alta Partners, Hambrecht Ducera Growth Ventures, Optum Ventures and PBM Capital, with participation from Jeff Leerink and Symphony Ventures, an investment partnership established by Rory McIlroy and his team. The funds will be used to expand on PatientsLikeMe’s support and empowerment of people managing significant health conditions.
Through PatientsLikeMe, a growing community of more than 830,000 people with over 2,900 conditions share personal stories and information about their health, symptoms, and treatments, with a goal to improve the lives of all patients through knowledge derived from shared real-world experiences and outcomes.
"Understanding and sharing experiences has never been more important than right now – in the middle of a global pandemic, in which people are isolated, stressed, and fearful of risks to their health and quality of life," said Jeff Leerink, CEO of SVB Leerink. "Communities can connect, learn, and heal on PatientsLikeMe. Through connection, patients can take ownership of their health, together."
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Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm with $16.5 billion in assets under management, has poured millions into an edtech startup that sells virtual STEM lab simulations to institutions.
Copenhagen-based Labster, which sells virtual science laboratory simulations to schools, announced today that it has raised $60 million in a Series C round led by the prominent Silicon Valley firm, including participation from existing investors GGV Capital, Owl Ventures and Balderton Capital. Labster has now raised $100 million in total known venture capital to date.
Like many edtech companies, Labster has found itself centered and validated as the pandemic underscores the need for remote work. In April, Labster signed a contract to bring its services to the entire California Community College network, which includes more than 2.1 million students. Months later, the startup brought on $9 million in equity funding to bring GGV’s Jenny Lee onto the board and expand its Asia operations.
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Top Hat, a Toronto, Canada-based active learning courseware platform for higher education, raised $130M USD in Series E funding.
Existing investor Georgian is providing the new round of funding.
The company intends to use the funds to continue tom expand across the $10B North American higher ed courseware industry and to fast track partnership and acquisition activities with traditional publishers to create engaging and effective course experiences.
Top Hat CEO Mike Silagadze, who co-founded the company in his dorm room at the University of Waterloo and grew to 400+ employees, will hand over day-to-day leadership to incoming CEO Joe Rohrlich.
The company is a tech-first higher education teaching platform combining interactive textbooks, lecture slides, quizzes, and assignments, supporting student learning before, during, and after class.
Millions of students at 750 leading North American colleges and universities use Top Hat to teach and engage with students before, during, and after class, in both in-person and online education.
Major online retailers such as Amazon could be forced to pay additional tax in order to help the UK recover from the financial strain of the COVID pandemic.
According to the Sunday Times, HM Treasury officials invited tech firms and retailers to discuss the potential Online Sales Tax.
The summon comes days after it was revealed that Amazon’s profits skyrocketed by 51% to almost £20 billion in 2020. Despite its massive success, fueled partly by brick and mortar stores shutting their doors due to lockdown restrictions, Sky reports that the online retailer had a tax turnover ratio of 0.37%.
In response, an Amazon spokesperson told IT Pro that the company had “invested more than £23 billion in jobs and infrastructure in the UK since 2010”.
“Last year we created 10,000 new jobs and last week we announced 1,000 new apprenticeships. This continued investment helped contribute to a total tax contribution of £1.1 billion during 2019 – £293 million in direct taxes and £854 million in indirect taxes,” the spokesperson added.
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Today, London and Amsterdam based early-stage fintech VC Finch Capital announced the first close of its €150M (nearly £132M) fund, Europe III, which will invest in European technology companies shaping the future of finance by using technology such as artificial intelligence (AI).
With the new larger European fund, Finch Capital will invest EUR 2-10M at Series A and B stages, acquiring significant minority stakes in scale up companies with EUR 2-5M in revenues: a segment currently underserved by the European VC and Growth market that is facing a funding gap. As with its previous funds, Finch plans to back 15-20 European startups, targeting liquidity 3-5 years post investment, over the fund’s three year initial investment lifespan.
Radboud Vlaar, MD Finch Capital, said: “We have always been bullish on investing in Financial Technology. Moving forward, we are doubling down on Financial software, especially those companies that leverage AI to this end. We have seen the industry mature, giving rise now to a rich but fragmented landscape of robust businesses with EUR 2-5 million in revenues. These are the companies we are focused on working with now. With the right support and management they have great risk/return outcomes and they are ready to build leading positions and consolidate the European market.”
Europe III saw a near 90% follow on investment from previous funds. Since its inception in 2013, the firm has made a total of 40 investments across Europe and Asia and its assets now total $400M (nearly £290.5M).
Finch’s Fund II invested in both SE Asian and European startups. Both Fund I (EUR40M (nearly £35M), 2014 Vintage) and Fund II (EUR110M (nearly £97M), 2017 Vintage) are generating top quartile returns. The current portfolio includes a range of successful companies spanning Fintech, Regtech and Insurtech, and includes Trussle, Fourthline, Goodlord (which acquired Vouch), Grab, Hiber, BUX, Twisto, and Zopa; exits include Salviol and Cermati, with two exits in process.
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