Pinterest introduces new social commerce features
For people who happily spend hours curating boards of their dream home and collecting OOTD (outfit of the day) ideas, being able to buy what’s in the photos seems like the next natural step. And Pinterest is hoping to make that transition a little bit easier.
The platform announced this week that it’s launching a new Shop the Look feature, which allows people to click through and purchase the products in a pin. So if there’s a photo of a kitchen, people will be able to buy any items in the shot, from the toaster to the table, that take their fancy. It’s also introducing Lens: a tool that will allow people to take a photo of objects and then view similar products on Pinterest.
And while Pinterest isn’t the first firm to enable people to shop from photos, having the chance to sell directly to the platform’s massive community of visually driven people is likely to whet marketers’ appetites.
27% of UK tech candidates come from abroad
Perhaps the reason Britain has a claim to being one of the world’s most innovative tech sectors is its ability to draw from a diverse talent pool from across the world. But the extent to which the UK is dependent on overseas workers has been highlighted by a new report from Hired, the jobs marketplace.
According to the company’s 2017 State of Global Tech Salaries report, which shines a light on the pay packets of tech talent in 16 of the world’s biggest tech markets, 27% of UK tech candidates come from foreign shores. Not only this but it seems that the country is doing less to hang on to its homegrown talent: the average tech salary in Britain is £57,000, which lags far behind the majority of other hubs, including Sydney, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area and Toronto.
Richard Shea, managing director for the EMEA region at Futurestep, the recruitment company, said the findings show just how much “the UK technology industry is reliant on foreign workers in order to stay on the forefront of innovation”. Which begs the question: could Britain’s tech crown slip because of Brexit?
Snap! Investors mistake Snap Interactive for Snapchat
Shareholders of Snap Interactive, the social and mobile app developer, will be feeling pretty pleased with themselves. It seems quite a few investors mistook the company for Snap Inc, the company behind Snapchat.
After hearing the news that the social-media startup had plans for a $3bn initial public offering, it seems many funders dropped their dollar on the wrong business, snapping up Snap Interactive shares by mistake.
This isn’t the first time the frenzy surrounding major flotations has caused investors to back the wrong company. Tweeter Home Entertainment Group’s stocks increased by over 500% after being mistaken for Twitter, while Oculus VisionTech saw the value of its shares go through the roof as Facebook invested in Oculus VR, the virtual-reality company. No doubt there will be a few red faces among investors right about now.
Women Startup Challenge Europe open to female entrepreneurs
Britain’s already produced impressive female tech talent like Sara Murray, Kate Unsworth and Alex Depledge. But the country needs to continue adding to the entrepreneurial pipeline and support women with budding ideas, especially since women-led startups are still lagging behind when it comes to investment.
Looking to address this, Women Who Tech, a US-based nonprofit that advocates for women in the tech, is teaming up with craigslist founder Craig Newmark to launch the Women Startup Challenge Europe. Female tech innovators from around Europe can compete for individual cash grants of €50,000, with a final pitching round taking place on May 3 in London.
Commenting on the importance of supporting women in tech, Newmark said: “Only 10% of global investor money goes to women-led startups, yet women-led companies yield a 35% higher return than those led by men. We’ve got to do better.” 
