To remain relevant and competitive in a disrupted and increasingly changing marketplace, the financial services industry has little choice but to capitalise on the potential of innovative technologies.

Private equity firm Grafton Capital has invested £7 million into Third Financial, the fast growing, innovative investment platform and software provider.

New research from Tech Nation and Dealroom reveals that investment into UK impact startups increased 9.5x between 2014 and 2019. UK impact startups have raised €1.4B so far in 2020 with Cleantech and Climate tech companies raising the most capital of all UK impact startups. 

Singapore-based peer-to-peer (P2P) investment network SeedIn today announced its rebranding to BRDGE.

Funding Options, the leading marketplace for business finance, and fast-growing ‘rebels of accountancy’ Cooper Parry have joined forces to provide financial solutions for ambitious scale-ups and SMEs. 

Sharing a vision to make access to growth funding fast and as frictionless as possible, the strategic relationship will see Cooper Parry utilise Funding Options’ platform to source debt-based products for clients in need of working capital. 

SEI (NASDAQ: SEIC) today announced enhancements to its Archway Platform^SM to automate alternative investment data workflows involving a strategic partnership with Canoe Intelligence (Canoe), a financial technology company focused on reimagining data management processes for alternative investors and capital allocators.

Kneip, the global leader in fund data management, today announces it has joined TISA’s Universal Reporting Network (TURN). TURN is predicted to cut data and analytics costs for asset managers by between 80-90% per annum from year one and the utility, powered by Atos, aims to ease regulatory reporting requirements of MiFID II. The collaborative blockchain solution will be rolled out across Europe this quarter.

Fireblocks (www.fireblocks.com) announced today that its institutional customers, which includes exchanges, lending desks, banks, OTC desks, liquidity providers and hedge funds, have now transferred more than $150 billion in digital assets using its platform.

Globally, there is much hype around 5G.  In Africa, whilst that conversation undoubtedly has its place, solutions to Africa’s connectivity still require consideration around legacy 2G, 3G and even 4G networks, which remain the continent’s predominant connectivity sources.   Taking a look at the global state of play of 5G and its place in Africa, or not, this year’s 5G Africa series, will form part of the virtual Africa Tech Festival.