News
The UK market for toys and games will grow by 16.2 per cent over the next five years, according to GlobalData – but more than 84 per cent of that growth will come from online sales, it predicts.
GlobalData predicts that Amazon will overtake Argos to become the UK’s biggest retailer of toys in 2020, after 51.4 per cent of shoppers in the sector in 2017 visited the online giant. To read more click here.
The FCA has given Freetrade the greenlight. Freetrade, the fee-free stock trading app, has just passed a landmark on its mission to turn Britain into a nation of shareholders. In much the same way that challenger banks like Monzo and Starling are tearing up the rulebook of banking, Freetrade plans to change the way we buy and sell stocks by offering fee-free trading. To read more on Freetrade, click here.
Amazon is making good on its promise to eat advertising.
In its third-quarter earnings report today, the e-commerce giant said it saw “other” revenue, which is mostly composed of ad sales (and to a much smaller extent, its credit card business), grow 58 percent year over year to $1.12 billion. That’s a slight increase from the growth rate in the prior second quarter, when it grew 53 percent year over year.
To read more on Amazon's ad business, click here.
ROLI, a London-based music technology startup known for its Seaboard keyboard, has landed investment from Pharell Williams. The size of the investment remains undisclosed, but Williams will also be joining the startup as chief creative officer. To read more, click here.
The MMC London Fund focuses on early-stage London-based businesses that can generate significant levels of economic growth and create jobs in the capital. The GBP14 million technology co-investment fund – of which GBP9 million was provided by the Mayor of London – was designed to be matched by private investors ensuring at least GBP28 million would be channelled into high-growth SMEs in London. to read more, click here.
A chatbot called DoNotPay has saved motorists millions in parking fines—without charging a cent. It’s next target: divorce law. To read more, click here.
In APAC, Amazon lags behind Alibaba- owned Taobab, which receives 42% of all visitation over a month as compared with Amazon's 34%. Alibaba dominates in China specificially but Amazon has managed to sneak in with 1 in 5 internet users now visiting its site. To read more, click here.
Echo, the UK’s leading medication management app, today announced that it has raised a £7 million Series A round of funding. This investment follows a £1.8m seed round from LocalGlobe, Global Founders Capital and Rocket Internet in 2016. To read more, click here.
Public VC Draper Esprit, which has invested in UK tech firms such as LoveFilm and Graphcore, has acquired Seedcamp Funds I and II for £17.9m.
As a result of the deal, Draper Esprit now owns Seedcamp’s stake in UK FinTech unicorn TransferWise.
It is believed the transaction will results in 4x returns to Seedcamp’s investors. To read more about this, click here.
Cheshire-based online health and beauty company The Hut Group has received a £515m revolving credit facility as it bids to grow into a “truly global company”.