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UK ranks second for tech exits in 2016, Airbnb responds to Trump’s Muslim ban & more in the Week in Tech

Welcome to the Week in Tech – your roundup of the week’s top technology news.

This week we bring you the £4.5m Series A round raised by online mortgage broker Trussle, the “Global Tech Exits” report by CB Insights, Airbnb’s response to the Trump immigration ban and a new way to send Emojis.

Watch the video, or read on, for all this and more.

UK investments

In investment news, online mortgage broker Trussle closed a £4.5m Series A round. The round, led by Orange Growth Capital, also drew support from existing investors LocalGlobe, Seedcamp and property search portal Zoopla.

Men’s fashion tech startup Spoke raised a $1.8m late Seed round. Led by Oxford Capital, the funding will allow the firm to increase the number of items available on its platform.

Idea Drop, a cloud-based curation platform for businesses, raised £1m from 34 Angel investors. The startup will use the cash to accelerate global marketing and sales activity.

British news

UK property website Zoopla agreed to acquire Hometrack for £120m. London-based Hometrack provides residential property market insights and analytics.

The “Global Tech Exits” report by CB Insights revealed the UK ranked second in the world for tech exits in 2016. Skyscanner, MyOptique Group and O3B Networks were among the most well-funded UK tech companies to exit last year.

International story

Overseas, Airbnb has announced it will provide free accommodation to those affected by the Trump immigration ban. The company’s chief executive Brian Chesky tweeted that refugees in urgent need of housing should get in touch.

Download

Our download of the week is blind dating app JigTalk. User photos are covered by jigsaw pieces and, as two users send messages back and forth, the puzzle pieces gradually disappear. The idea is to promote the art of conversation over physical attraction.

And Finally…

And finally, Royal Mail is taking emojis offline with a new concept: ‘Realmoji’. Instead of sending digital emojis to friends, family and loved ones, Royal Mail is helping people send the real-life equivalents as gifts.

That’s all for this week’s episode of The Week in Tech. For more technology news, visit our homepage and follow us on Twitter.

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