News
Amazon.com Inc is due to sign a pledge to meet the goals of the Paris Climate agreement by 2040 and be net carbon neutral, 10 years ahead of schedule, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has said.
Bezos said Amazon was placing an order to buy 100,000 electric delivery vehicles from Rivian Automotive LLC and to use 100% renewable energy by 2030, up from 40% today. Amazon and Ford Motor Co are among the investors in the EV startup. Amazon will also invest $100 million to restore forests and wetlands.
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Barclays, a transatlantic consumer and wholesale bank, and Anthemis, a global FinTech investor, have partnered to co-launch a New York City-based studio targeting female entrepreneurs to establish sustainable, valuable FinTech businesses.
The Female Innovators Lab is a hands-on program targeting founders at the earliest stages. Barclays and Anthemis will work with female entrepreneurs and their founding teams to shape and execute a vision, from concept development through to business launch and seed investment.
Once established, the startups will move into Barclays’ newly expanded Rise building in New York’s Silicon Alley, where they will have access to mentoring and networking opportunities from the world-class FinTech hub.
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British retail sales unexpectedly fell on the month in August after shoppers bought less online than the month before when major sales promotions encouraged them to splash out, official figures have shown.
Monthly retail sales volumes dipped by 0.2%, the Office for National Statistics said, compared with an average forecast for a flat reading in a Reuters poll of economists and the first fall in three months.
The category of 'non-store retailing' - predominantly online sales dropped by 3.2%, the biggest decline since August 2015 and a month after Amazon held its annual 'Prime Day' promotion which helped boost sales by 7.6% the previous month.
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PayFit, one of the fastest-growing tech companies in Europe, has launched in the UK. The news follows its previous funding round in June which saw the software startup raise $79m from Eurazeo and Bpifrance.
PayFit currently has offices in France, Germany and Spain, and has grown to 300 people. Over the next year, it plans to double its workforce to 600, also opening an Italian office.
The London office located in Shoreditch, currently has 18 staff and predicts to grow to 30 by the end of the year, helping PayFit to roll out as quickly as possible across the UK.
Founded in 2016, PayFit’s software reinvents the HR process, offering an end-to-end, automated service to SMEs across the globe, digitalising everything from payslips and expenses to holidays and RTI submissions.
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Sonovate, the UK-based finance and back-office tech provider to recruitment agencies and consultancies, has secured £110million debt and equity finance, led by M&G Investments, MXB Holdings Inc, Dawn Capital and Rocket Internet SE.
This latest round of investment follows a Series B funding secured in October 2016, led by Global Founders Capital, the investment vehicle of Rocket Internet, and supported by Dawn Capital. Dawn also led Sonovate’s Series A funding round earlier that year.
Launched to challenge traditional invoice finance products on offer from the banks, Sonovate helps any business working with contingent workers to unlock their true growth potential.
As traditional lending has become increasingly lengthy and uncertain for SMEs since the 2008 financial crisis, Sonovate reduces this complexity and provides upfront funding against unpaid invoices. The company has funded almost £1 billion of invoices for recruitment agencies, consultancies and on-demand vendors since launching in 2012.
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PrimaryBid, a London-based online platform connecting publicly listed companies with investors for discounted share issuances, closed a £7m funding round.
The round was led by Pentech and Outward VC with participation from Hambro Perks and other new and existing investors. In conjunction with the funding, Craig Anderson, a partner at Pentech, will join the PrimaryBid Board of Directors with Outward VC having a Board Observer seat.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its sales and marketing efforts as well as accelerate IT product development.
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Olivela, Inc., a luxury fashion and beauty retail company, has raised $35m in Series A financing. The round was led by Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc.
Launched in 2017 by Stacey Boyd, Olivela sells fashion, accessories, jewelry and beauty from the world’s most luxurious brands, with a portion of proceeds – 20% – from every purchase to benefit charitable causes around the globe. The company stocks 400+ luxury brands.
To date, it has donated to global charities like CARE and Malala Fund, in addition to community charities such as the Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Aspen Education Foundation.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its next phase of growth continuing to build partnerships with charitable partners locally, nationally, and internationally.
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Not long after buying control of Jack Wills, it has emerged that Mike Ashley is one of the bidders for distressed Links of London.
The Greek-owned jeweller has been struggling for some time and Sky News reported that Sports Direct is one of only two final bidders left in the race to buy the chain.
Twenty-nine-year-old Links is currently owned by Folli Follie Group and, like some of the other acquisitions Ashley has made, could be an important brand in his strategy to try to turn around house of Fraser.
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Spirable , a personalised video marketing automation business, has today announced it has closed a £6M Series A investment round led by Smedvig Capital. Existing backers Frontline Ventures, Downing Ventures, with 24 Haymarket also participated.
Since it’s launch, Spirable has created and distributed over 100m personalised videos in over 50 countries, for some of the world’s largest brands including Johnson & Johnson, Domino’s and Vodafone.
The platform automatically creates and optimises uniquely tailored video ads across social, CRM, messenger and display channels, using data such as location, pricing and weather to dynamically change the content people see, in real-time. This saves brands and agencies a significant amount of time and resources.
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Personalised stationery firm Papier today closed an $11m (£9.1m) funding round, led by Monica Vinader backer Beringea.
Other investors such as Felix Capital, Innocent Drinks’ founders fund Jamjar Investments and Downing Ventures also participated, taking Papier’s total raised to date to $15m.
The design company said it will use the funding to accelerate its growth in the US, which accounts for 15% of the brand’s total revenue and is growing at around 40% each month. It will also expand its product range and build new collaborations.
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