DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Monzo: 2024 CNBC Disruptor 50
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

As a digital-only bank, Monzo operates entirely within a mobile app. In September, the company partnered with BlackRock , the asset management giant, to offer three funds to Monzo customers. Founded in 2015, it has more than nine million customers, making it the largest digital bank in the U.K. and the seventh largest U.K. bank by customers. In March, Monzo raised $430 million in a new round of funding led by CapitalG, the venture arm of Alphabet. It appointed Conor Walsh, a former executive at Block's Cash App division, as the CEO at Monzo U.S. in October.

Persons: Monzo, neobanks, Starling, —, CapitalG, Conor Walsh, Anil Organizations: BlackRock, Starling Bank, Zopa, Sutton Bank, Monzo, Financial Times Locations: Monzo, U.S

☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war rages, hostages talks, Gaza crisis
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Kathleen Magramo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

But there are suggestions, however half-baked, from both sides, that show a willingness to talk. Indeed, Qatar — the main go-between — says there are “serious discussions” with Israel and Hamas, and is receiving “constant replies” from both sides. On Monday, Axios reported Israel had proposed a two-month truce in exchange for the release of all the 100-plus hostages still held in Gaza. On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal said Hamas was now open to releasing some of the hostages in exchange for a pause in the fighting. Read more on how Israel and Hamas may be inching toward a deal to end the war.

Persons: —, Ofer Shelah, Axios, Israel, David Barnea Organizations: Qatar —, Hamas, Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, CNN, Street Journal, Reuters Locations: Gaza, Israel, Qatar

☆ Gaza endgame: Inching toward a deal to end the war
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Elliott Gotkine | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

On Monday Axios reported Israel had proposed a two-month truce in exchange for the release of all the 100-plus hostages still held in Gaza. The sticking point there appears to be that Hamas wants a “package deal” which would include a second-phase agreement to end the war. For now, though, such talk remains moot, with an Israeli official telling CNN there’s no concrete deal on the table. “But at the same time we can’t gamble on the future of Israel [by leaving Hamas in control of Gaza]. Any deal Israel is looking to seal, says Ziv, would be more likely to come into effect once the Khan Younis operation is complete.

Persons: Ofer Shelah, Axios, Israel, David Barnea, Yahya, Shelah, ”, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman, Thani, Antony Blinken, it’s, wouldn’t, Yasser Arafat, Israel doesn’t, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Aviva Siegel, Netanyahu, Israel Ziv, there’s, ” Ziv, Khan Younis, Ziv, There’s, Israel’s, Gadi, “ Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, Street Journal, Reuters, Qatari, ’, Israel, Israel Democracy Institute Locations: Gaza, Israel, Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al, Beirut, Tunis, United States, “ Israel

☆ Silicon Valley fund Bessemer Venture Partners expands European investment team with hire of ex-SoftBank VP
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Silicon Valley fund Bessemer Venture Partners has expanded its European investment team with the hire of former SoftBank vice president Justina Chung. Chung has joined Bessemer's London office, which is led by partner Alex Ferrara who opened the fund's European operations in 2020. Bessemer made its first European investment in 2004 and has continued to back startups in the region, including German fintechs Upvest and Mambu as well as British neobank Zopa. Chung was a vice president at SoftBank's Vision Fund, where she served on the boards of temp staffing agency Jobandtalent and second-hand designer fashion marketplace Vestiaire Collective. "It's clear that great founders begin their journey here, in Tallinn or Stockholm, London, Paris or Berlin," Chung, who is now a vice president at Bessemer, told Insider.

Persons: Justina Chung, Chung, Alex Ferrara, Bessemer, Jobandtalent, Goldman Sachs Organizations: Bessemer Venture Partners, LinkedIn, Bessemer's London, SoftBank's Vision, Sorare, SoftBank, Credit Suisse, Bessemer, US Locations: San Francisco, Tallinn, Stockholm, London, Paris, Berlin, Europe, Mistral

☆ Britain's $4.5 billion digital bank Monzo debuts investments feature
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

MonzoMonzo, the $4.5 billion digital challenger bank, launched a feature that lets users make investments —marking its first foray into the massive financial investment market. Monzo Investments will allow users to start investing with as little as £1. With Monzo Investments, you can start from £1." MonzoThe investments pots feature will appear in a new part of the home screen on Monzo called Savings & Investments. Gautam Pillai, head of fintech research at the investment bank Peel Hunt, said Monzo's new investments feature could increase customer "stickiness."

Persons: Anil, Monzo Monzo, It's, Monzo, who've, they'll, Monzo's, they've, Zopa, Wise, we've, Gautam Pillai, Peel Hunt, Pillai Organizations: Investments, BlackRock, CNBC, Monzo, Monzo Investments, Savings, Starling Locations: Britain

☆ SoftBank-backed digital lender Zopa beefs up executive team with IPO-experienced CTO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — British digital bank Zopa is beefing up its management team with a couple of senior hires, as the company looks to fuel growth and prepare its business for an eventual public listing. Donlon notably saw Moonpig through its public listing in 2021, which valued the company at around £1.2 billion at the time. "We haven't had great IPOs," he told CNBC in an interview on the sidelines of London Tech Week this week. "If you look at kind of banks, and how they're valued, or tech companies, both of them, public market valuations are not great." "We need to make sure that there is enough liquidity for a public company to be truly public.

Persons: Peter Donlon, Kate Erb, Erb, Donlon, Zopa, Jaidev Janardana, IPOs Organizations: LONDON, CNBC, KPMG, Leeds Building Society, London Tech

☆ Investment banks approach Monzo over potential IPO as $4.5 billion fintech plots investing push, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Investment banks have been in talks with Monzo over a future IPO, sources told Insider. The London-based fintech has also been in discussions to grow its wealth and investment offering. A number of leading investment banks have held initial talks with British fintech unicorn Monzo about a public listing that could take place as early as next year, sources say. Some investment banks have opted to cull teams of staff focused on M&A and stock issuance in recent months, most notably Goldman Sachs. The fintech has also been on the lookout for acquisitions and partnerships in the wealth and trading space, two sources told Insider.

☆ Zopa raises $92 million as SoftBank sits out funding round
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Japanese conglomerate previously led a 220 million pound funding round in late 2021 that valued Zopa at roughly $1 billion. Zopa did not disclose a price tag for the funding round but said it "cements" its unicorn status, awarded to start-ups worth upwards of $1 billion. London-based Zopa started out as a peer-to-peer lender in 2005 and later moved to banking, amassing 2 billion pounds of consumer loans and more than 3 billion pounds of customer savings. In the meantime, Zopa will use the fresh cash to explore potential acquisitions, including of companies of similar size, Janardana said. The company is also considering raising 25 million pounds to 100 million pounds of Tier-2 debt later in the year to firm up its balance sheet, Janardana said, adding that the plans are contingent on the cost of debt.

☆ 'Investors changed the rules of the game overnight.' The CEOs of Rapyd, Revolut, Wefox, and Klarna look ahead to fintech in 2023.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

After a bruising year for the sector, fintech startups are prioritizing profitability. The CEOs of Revolut, Klarna, Wefox, and Rapyd outlined the new reality for consumer-facing fintech. "Investors changed the rules of the game overnight," Rapyd CEO Arik Shtilman told Insider. "Investors changed the rules of the game overnight," Arik Shtilman, CEO and founder of $15 billion fintech Rapyd told Insider at the Slush conference in Helsinki. Regardless of whether a focus on profitability has been pushed by investors or not, the tide has now turned for the fintech sector in Europe.

Search resuls for: "Zopa"

9 mentions found