Out of the shadows

摘要

DELIVEROO'S FLOTATION in March did nothing to enhance London's prospects of becoming a tech-listing magnet. Shares in the meal-delivery startup are trading at two-fifths below their offer price. Now London's hopes hang on Dark-trace, a cyber-security firm which this week confirmed its plan to list on the London Stock Exchange in early May. Darktrace is expected to seek a valuation of around £3bn-modest, compared with Deliveroo's of £7.6bn. Software is a better business than food delivery, too, and Darktrace has powerful connections. Founded in 2013 by cyber specialists from GCHQ, Britain's signals-intelligence service, maths whizzes and sundry artificial intelligence (AI) experts, its advisers include Jonathan Evans, MI5's former chief.