By Osman Husain for TechinAsia
Publicly-traded German startup machine Rocket Internet released Q1 2016 financial results for some of its portfolio companies today. (more…)
May, 2016
Archive
Singapore startup raises $10m to help businesses grow using big data with a twist
By Michael Tegos for TechinAsia
Big data analytics startup Lynx Analytics announced today it has raised “just under” US$10 million. The funding comes from an undisclosed “strategic investor,” whose deep understanding of big data led to this deal. The investor values Lynx at US$66 million, according to the startup. (more…)
Alibaba invests in startup building AI-powered ecommerce search
By Osman Husain for TechinAsia
Twiggle, a startup that’s trying to build better ecommerce search tech, announced today it has secured funding from Alibaba. This round for the Israel-based firm is in addition to the US$12.5 million it raised in April led by South African digital media behemoth Naspers, which is also an investor in Tencent. (more…)
Paytm will get you more returns than savings bank accounts: Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma
ByAditi Shrivastava for Economic Times
Mobile payments and commerce platform Paytm plans to launch a series of new products, including insurance, wealth management services and loans through its new payment bank that aims to open for business in August. (more…)
Mobile ad blocking rose 90 percent last year, report says
By Amar Toor for Fast Company
One out of five smartphone owners are now using ad blockers, which have become especially popular in emerging markets (more…)
J.P. Morgan’s CIO on the Bank’s Security Game Plan
By Emily Glazer for WSJ
Dana Deasy discusses the bank’s strategy since the 2014 breach, as well as working with fintech partners
Iran forces messaging apps to move data to Iranian servers
By Romain Dillet for Techcrunch.com
Companies behind popular messaging apps have a year to move all the data they have on Iranian users onto servers in Iran, according to Reuters. This raises concerns about privacy. (more…)
US peer-to-peer lending model has parallels with subprime crisis
By Patric Jenkins for Irish Times
It’s growing in popularity in Ireland but credit quality of some peer-to-peer loans is triggering concerns in the US (more…)
Humans are the biggest problem with this $150 million virtual-company experiment
By Ian Karr for QZ.com
Of course, the biggest problem behind a revolutionary new investment fund dictated by computer code could well be human nature. (more…)
Bitcoin price jumps 21 percent over 4 days, reaching a 21-month high
By Roman Dillet for Techcrunch.com
Bitcoin is back! Or at least, there are positive signs indicating that bitcoin might not be as dead as everybody thought. Bitcoins are now trading at $547.40 on Bitfinex (the largest USD/bitcoin exchange according to Bitcoinity). And it represents a big 21.4 percent price jump over just four days. (more…)
Lessons From The Epic Fails Of Well-Funded Startups
In the startup world, failure is a given. Fail fast is the founder’s mantra.Make a mistake, learn from it, move on, say the experts. When startups are well funded—and have a growing number of staff members and stakeholders, it’s not quite so simple. (more…)
Bangladesh panel finds possible insider role in central bank cyber theft
By Reuters
Officials of Bangladesh Bank may have been involved in a brazen theft of $81 million from its account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank in February, the head of a government-appointed panel investigating the cyber heist told reporters on Monday. (more…)
French financial prosecutor went dark for a year to investigate on Google France
By Romain Dillet for Techcrunch.com
Google was caught by surprise. Last week, nearly a hundred employees of France’s equivalent of the IRS (Direction générale des finances) raided Google’s office in Paris for a tax noncompliance investigation. And French financial prosecutor Éliane Houlette told Europe 1 that her team had been secretly working on this raid for nearly a year. Google may be facing a $1.8 billion fine (€1.6 billion). (more…)
Short term lending – A pink Slip
By the Economist
“WHAT rate of interest…can naturally be more proper than another?” asked Jeremy Bentham in “Defence of Usury” in 1787. Anything less than 36%, answer American activists who want to curtail payday lending—pricey, short-term credit typically used as an advance on a pay cheque. (more…)
Ernst & Young to sell $16 million in confiscated Bitcoin at auction in Sydney
By Jessica Sier for Financial Review
Around $16 million worth of Bitcoin is up for auction in Sydney next month after they were confiscated as proceeds of crime last year.
Meet the 9 startups selected for UOB’s FinLab accelerator programme
By Kevin McSpadden for e27
UOB kicked off its inaugural The FinLab accelerator programme last week, with nine companies participating in a three-month programme focussed on the financial sector. (more…)
8 for fortune: OCBC fintech accelerator reveals its participants
The startups cover — among others — blockchain asset transfers, robo investment advisory and mobile wallets (more…)
Venmo is turning our friends into petty jerks
By Kari Paul for QZ
Stephanie, a 24-year-old living in New York City, went over to a friend’s apartment one recent night for a laid-back night of watching Master of None on Netflix. When she got there, the friend offered her some wine, and they spent a few hours catching up. (more…)
SyndicateRoom raises $4.5M Series A to push for growth in equity capital markets
By Haje Jan Kamps for Tech Crunch
SyndicateRoom, the U.K. equity crowdfunding platform that last week announced that the world’s first equity-crowdfunded Hollywood film has signed Antonio Banderas to appear in its movie, has some big news of its own today, announcing a £3.1 million ($4.5 million) Series A from a number of heavy hitting angel investors. (more…)
China online lending crackdown shutters Guangdong P2P site
By Reuters
A large Chinese online lending platform accused of illegal operations has suspended operations, one of hundreds that have been shut this year by the government, as China cleans up a sector ridden with stories of Ponzi schemes. (more…)
Singapore’s national university and Microsoft launch program to boost data science
By Michael Tegos for TechinAsia
If data is the “new oil,” data scientists are the refineries that spin all kinds of value out of it. And nowhere in the world is that being embraced more wholeheartedly than in Singapore. (more…)
How Blockchain Technology Could Change The World
By Bernard Marr for Forbes
There’s a lot of hype in the air about blockchain technology at the moment. A recent World Economic Forum report predicts that by 2025 10% of GDP will be stored on blockchains or blockchain related technology. This means it’s probably something which everyone involved in business should take notice of. However, there’s still a lack of understanding about what it is, and what it does. (more…)
The omnichannel customer experience is poised to take off in regulated industries
By Clara Shih for techcrunch.com
The omnichannel customer experience is nothing new, especially in the consumer and retail industries. Many companies and brands are using data and automation technologies to engage seamlessly with their customers at any time and place and across any device. (more…)
Blockchain tech could save cash equities market $6bn a year – Goldman Sachs
By Finextra
The use of blockchain technology for clearing and settlement in the cash equities market could save banks around the world $6 billion a year, mainly through lower headcounts and back office IT costs, according to a Goldman Sachs report. (more…)
Apple is ‘working rapidly’ to launch Apple Pay in more countries in Asia and Europe
By John Russel for techcrunch.com
Apple Pay may only be available in six countries right now, but the iPhone maker is keen to extend the footprint of the digital payment service worldwide. (more…)
