News
Tommy Hilfiger, the luxury retail band, has developed a new line of clothing that is embedded with smart Bluetooth chips that link to an app and game created by the brand, which allows wearers to earn rewards points as they visit different locations, in a concept not too dissimilar to Pokemon Go.
The retailers sees the launch of the XPLORE app and line of clothing as a chance to create more brand ambassadors, via its own customers, and grow the brand's marketing power.
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Salary Finance, a London, UK-based fintech financial wellbeing platform for employees, has secured $20m in Series B funding. The round was led by founding investor Blenheim Chalcot and multinational financial services company Legal & General.
Founded in 2015 and led by CEO Asesh Sarkar, Salary Finance provides a SaaS-based platform that allows employers to offer a benefit that allows employees to move from debt to savings. All savings deposits and loan repayments are taken by salary deduction, which creates a way for employees to manage their personal finances.
The funds will be used to launch and scale Salary Finance in the US, as well as to continue to support its growth in the UK.
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Bulb Energy, a renewable energy supplier, has raised £60m in a round that has valued the company at £351m.
Considering that the company was incorporated four years ago and was valued at £50m in September 2017, this is a substantial level of growth.
It is interesting to draw comparisons with Deliveroo, the UK's best known unicorn startup. Deliveroo was valued at £47m in February 2015 and this increased to £313m in November 2015. It received a $1bn valuation roughly two years later, in September 2017. If Bulb was to follow the same pattern of growth it could reach unicorn status within the next two years.
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Zippin, a San Francisco-based startup, has launched a small pop-up that is expected to grow into a full-sized, AI-enabled store by mid-September, to compete with Amazon's cashier-less Go store in Seattle.
The system operate in a similar way to Amazon with sophisticated cameras to track customer movements. However, it also employs shelf sensors to ensure that the system accurately records the items that customers select.
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BP, the British multinational oil and gas company, has bought tech firm Chargemaster, the UK’s biggest car charging company, for £130m.
BP plans to use the technology to install super-fast chargers across its network of 1,200 petrol stations in the UK and on streets in a bid to keep up with growing demand for renewable energy. The firm’s estimates predict that the number of electric vehicles on British roads will accelerate to 12m by 2040. They will prioritise rapid chargers, which can give a car enough power in 10 minutes to run for 100 miles.
This acquisition forms part of BP's pledge to spend £383m a year on low-carbon businesses.
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The Hut Group, the beauty and lifestyle online retailer, has secured a $1bn banking facility which will allow it to further expand its portfolio of businesses.
The ecommerce company is one of the biggest private companies in the UK and currently operates in over 160 different countries, offering a range of products but focusing primarily on beauty and wellness.
It has managed to get the additional funds of £195m from Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Citibank and JP Morgan. When added to the additional funds The Hut Group had already, the total now comes to £795m or $1bn.
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In a bid to increase their appeal to Chinese customers Guess stores in the US are partnering with digital payment platform Alipay. This will allow Chinese travellers to use the Alipay Mobile Wallet app when making purchases. They will also be able to use the app to locate stores and be notified of any promotions.
This partnership with facilitate the shopping experience for customers by overcoming issues such as language and payment barriers.
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Scandit, a Swiss company that develops mobile self-checkout technology for retail, has raised $30 million in a Series B funding led by Alphabet's GV (previously Google Ventures).
The company's software is currently being used by brands including Nike, Estée Lauder and Sainsbury's and has many uses such as self-checkout, scan-and-go and mobile shopping. Therefore making it appealing to companies wishing to compete with Amazon's cashier-less retail option.
Scandit will use the funds to expand globally
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TrueLayer, a fintech company that provides an interface between financial institutions and third-party applications over an API, has managed to raise £5.77m in a Series A funding round led by venture capital fund Northzone. With additional investment from previous supporters Connect and Anthemis.
The London-based company was founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneurs Francesco Simoneschi and Luca Martinetti and has partnered with companies including Monzo, Starling Bank, Zopa, ClearScore, Canopy, Plum and Emma since the launch of Open Banking earlier this year.
The investment will be used to grow the company in Europe, starting with France and Germany, as well expand its team and develop new products.
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Secret Escapes, an online 'affordable' luxury travel provider with apparently 50 million global members, has succeeded in raising an additional £52m from Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI).
The British company launched in 2011 and has since expanded into 21 territories across Europe, Asia and the US. The new round brings its total raised to £104m.
The funds will be used to grow and boost the ongoing integration of the Slevomat Group, a travel deals and experiences company it acquired late last year, as well as initiate a range of strategic projects such as in-house hotel and flight packaging across established markets.
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