335. News: You don’t have any unicorns!

Jul 1, 2019

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This week we have some great stories for you as David and Simon are joined by a couple of great guests:

James Ferretti - Solutions Engineer at Transferwise
Alfie Marsh - UK and Ireland Sales Manager at Spendesk
Ivo Weevers - Chief Product & Design Officer at Asto
Mel Palmer - CMO at Exo Investing

We kick off the episode by taking a look at how Bank of England welcomes tech companies! The Bank of England intends to open its vaults to tech companies for the first time, which will enable fintechs to offer payments systems on the same level as commercial banks. James argues that for companies like Transferwise, this is a huge deal. This means that they can now hold funds in a central bank, which adds that extra level of security. Is this a sign of recognition from the big banks that there are other players on the market? (02:38)

Next up, we talk about Revolut eyes big bucks before IPO! Revolut, the British digital bank, has ruled out an initial public offering in the near future as it targets another private fundraising later this year.
In an interview with Financial News, Nikolay Storonsky, founder and chief executive of Revolut, said the firm needs to hit a valuation of $20bn-$40bn before a stock market float. Mel argues that if that valuation comes through, it could change the whole industry! (10:19)