News
Farfetch, the luxury online retailer, has appointed Browns CEO Holli Rogers to the newly-created position of chief fashion officer. She was promoted to the role with immediate effect and will still continue as CEO of Browns.
Farfetch bought Browns, the iconic luxury fashion retailer on London’s South Molton Street, about four years ago and is now seeking to expand into bricks-and-mortar retail.
At Browns, Holli Rogers has been credited with opening their first new store in 20 years, which is located in Shoreditch, London.
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Casper, the direct-to-consumer company best known for its bed-in-a-box mattresses, recently expanded its product assortment with the release of a smart nightlight called Casper Glow.
While the nightlight isn't Casper's first product outside of mattresses — the company has also released bed frames, bedding, dog beds and more since its launch — the Glow Light may be its most technological item and give it an edge over its competition.
This move shows that Casper isn't just in the market to provide the tools necessary once you fall asleep. The startup is expanding into similar product areas to better compete for the entire sleep experience, from sunset to sunrise.
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The key channel for online fashion shoppers globally has switched from traditional laptop and desktop computers to mobile phones, according to new report The State of Fashion eCommerce in 2019.
The report also stressed that mobile is more than just a convenient and alternative channel to desktop, it’s one where consumer behaviour is different.
When shopping on their mobile consumers spend less time in a site and so retailers need to makes sure their mobile experiences enable their customers to get in and out quickly while also achieving their goals.
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European listed firms expect to receive £396.14 billion in total revenue from China in 2019, with luxury brands and automakers the most exposed sectors, according to a Refinitiv analysis of company data.
The importance of the purchasing power of China’s expanding middle class has had a large impact on the corporate and economic health of Europe, which has led to concerns as their spending has slowed alongside the slowing of Chinese economic growth.
Among the pan-European STOXX 600 index, consumer firms including Swatch, Richemont and BMW, derived the biggest section of revenues from China with a total of €127 billion in sales.
That equates to nearly a third of the estimated €456 billion in total revenue to be derived from China. The total 2019 revenue for Europe’s listed firms is €6.7 trillion, which means that China accounts for about 7%.
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Pinterest, the image collective social media platform, has hired Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan with regards to going public in the first six months of 2019.
The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2008 and claims to have 250 million monthly active users. It is experiencing strong growth, reporting revenue of $700 million for 2018, which was 50% higher than 2017.
Pinterest was valued at $12 billion in its last fundraising round in 2017 and could be set to raise around $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in the IPO.
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Featurespace, an anti-fraud and risk management firm, has raised £25 million from a funding round led by US-based venture capital firms Insight Venture Partners and MissionOG.
The round also included further funding from existing investors IP Group, Highland Europe, TTV Capital, Robert Sansom and Invoke Capital.
The funding will be used to support Featurespace’s international expansion and development of the company’s software capabilities.
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TaxScouts, a UK startup that helps people complete their tax applications, has successfully raised £1.2 million in seed funding. The round was led by SpeedInvest, and they were joined by Finch Capital and SeedCamp.
The company combines automation as well as humans to help facilitate the tasking process of gathering the necessary information and then submitting a tax application. For the first stage the web app helps guide customers through their tax status, income and expenses. The general assumption is that the customer does not have much prior knowledge and thus will benefit from the guidance. Once this part is done the gathered information is sent to an accountant to be processed.
Benefits for customers include a flat fee of £99 if paid in advance, as well as quick turnarounds of 1-2 days. The benefits for accountants are that smaller firms can take on more clients with TaxScounts assisting with management of clients and thereby grow their business. This benefits TaxScouts through expanding their network of accountant partners, which they are aiming to quadruple by the end of 2019.
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Just Eat, a takeout marketplace and food delivery service, has manged to acquire Flyt, a startup that offers software for restaurants and restaurant suppliers, for £22million.
Before the acquisition Just Eat owned an 8% stake in Flyt. Following the acquisition other investors, including Time Out and Entree Capital, have exited and Just Eat is now a majority owner. Flyt will still operate as a standalone brand and platform.
The acquisition will enable Just Eat to accelerate the development of Flyt’s technology and offer Flyt’s services to more of its restaurant partners globally.
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Diabetes Digital Media, a tech company which offers digital health solutions for people with diabetes, is trying to solve the growing problem. It is estimated that in Britain there are 3.7 million people aged over 17 affected.
Diabetes Digital Media offers various digital solutions including a community platform via diabetes.co.uk. It’s on a bold mission to reverse type 2 diabetes in 10 million patients by 2022 and to help the NHS save £50 million through de-prescriptions.
Using information taken from its community platform, DDM develops innovative AI systems that facilitate patient engagement and learning. One such solution is the Low Carb Program, a behavior change platform that tackles type 2 diabetes, prediabetes and obesity. Available on iOS, Android, Apple Watch and desktops, it offers clinically validated and peer-reviewed outcomes.
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The Open Up Challenge, created by Nesta in 2017, has just announced their six winners of 2019. The competition was created to promote the development of innovative fintech products and services for small businesses, with the winners being awarded £200,000 each to help accelerate their growth.
The winners for 2019 are:
- Coconut - a current account with accounting and tax capabilities built in. It is designed specifically for people who are freelancers, self-employed or small business owners.
- Fluidly - provide technology which plugs into accounting packages and bank accounts, and uses machine learning to predict and optimise business finances.
- Funding Circle - a global small business loans platform, matching businesses that want to borrow with investors who want to lend in the UK.
- Funding Options - Europe's leading online marketplace for business finance that scans the market to find the best financing options for small businesses' needs.
- OpenWrks - builds the technology that makes Open Banking work. Their comparison service provides SMEs with a personalised comparison of banking products based on how they run their business.
- Swoop - a one-stop shop for businesses looking to raise and save money by simplifying and speeding up access to loans, investment, grants and financial savings through a single automated process.
To read more, click here.