Wednesday, 21 July 2021

Legal and General Goes Long Science Investment

Legal and General are developing a science and innovation district as part of a £4bn partnership with the University of Oxford. Begbroke Science Park will be extended over an adjacent site of 14 hectares. Laura Mason, CEO of Legal and General (and an Oxford Engineering alumnus) announced the expansion as a boon to the life sciences and health sectors.

Wednesday, 7 July 2021

Massive £8bn Valuation as Wise Hits the London Stock Market, Win for Valar and a16z, and Post Brexit London

Wise, formerly known as Transferwise, founded in 2010, did a direct listing on the London Stock Exchange, in a move mimicking the approach used by Spotify in 2018. 

Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Morgan Stanley were hired to advise on the listing. 

Estonian co-founders Kristo Kaarmann and Taveet Hinrikus have become paper billionaires. CNBC has described it as a "big win for post Brexit London".

Other winners include early investors like Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures (originally spun out of Thiel Capital) and Andreessen Horowitz (founded in 2009, a year before Wise, by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, both of Netscape fame).