General News

April 21, 2021 @ 9:38 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Global enterprise software company R3’s Development Fund has reportedy reached the milestone of $10 million in capital deployed “across over 30 investments in more than 20 of the most promising early-stage blockchain and confidential computing companies,” according to a release shared with CI. As noted… Read More

April 21, 2021 @ 11:36 am By JD Alois  |  

Today, the European Commission proposed new rules and actions as part of an effort to turn the European Union into a global hub for Artificial Intelligence (AI). The “first-ever” legal framework is designed to ensure trust and safety while fostering AI innovation. In a speech… Read More

April 20, 2021 @ 2:07 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  MPOWER Financing, a U.S.-based fintech platform for educational loans to international and DACA students, announced on Tuesday it has joined forces with student loans lender Sallie Mae to expand global access to higher education, particularly to international and DACA students. MPOWER revealed Sallie Mae currently provides… Read More

April 20, 2021 @ 11:25 am By JD Alois  |  

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, has scheduled a meeting for Friday, April 30, 2021, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (ET). This will be a virtual meeting and the event will be open to the public via a… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 7:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The founder of digital banking challenger Revolut is reportedly planning a new round of funding that could value the Fintech at over £7.2 billion (appr. $10 billion). Sky News reports that the digital bank may be looking to work with  FT Partners, the US-headquartered Fintech-focused… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 5:27 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BNPL Fintech Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) notes that last year’s holiday shopping season set many digital commerce records, including in its “volume of purchases” made through Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services. Affirm cites Salesforce data which reveals that BNPL transactions surged 109% when compared to the… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 12:47 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The craze around virtual tokens recently led to DogeCoin or DOGE (had started off as a joke coin and still to a great extent) putting Robinhood Markets‘ trading system under great pressure due to excessive activity. Robinhood‘s management confirmed: “On Friday morning, we saw a… Read More

April 18, 2021 @ 12:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital lending software provider Blend Labs, Inc. revealed on April 15, 2021, that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relating to the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. As… Read More

April 17, 2021 @ 10:55 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Leading crypto exchange Binance notes in its weekly report that it completed a record-breaking Binance Coin (BNB) token burn. The weekly report (April 10 – 16, 2021) from Binance reveals that the digital assets firm burned “a record $593 million in BNB.” The digital currency… Read More

April 15, 2021 @ 10:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

B2B healthcare service provider Biddano is planning to streamline offline pharma distribution networks by bridging key supply chain gaps between distributors and chemists. The company leverages the latest technology to develop its platform and is currently looking to expand its network to 25 cities across… Read More

April 15, 2021 @ 10:11 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, Maxine Waters, and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Sherrod Brown, have jointly announced a new round of hearings that will see the CEOs of the top US banks testify in front of each… Read More

April 14, 2021 @ 3:21 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a floor vote yesterday, the US Senate approved the selection of Gary Gensler as the next Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The current SEC Commissioners joined in welcoming the new Chair stating: “A warm congratulations to Gary Gensler on his Senate confirmation… Read More

April 14, 2021 @ 8:28 am By JD Alois  |  

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) released Q1 earnings results this morning and the prominent investment bank delivered a beat on both top and bottom line. According to the release, Goldman’s revenue came in at $17.7 billion with net earnings at $6.84 billion or EPS of $18.6 during… Read More

April 13, 2021 @ 11:47 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a significant endorsement of the city, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has opened an office in Birmingham, UK – a community that has been promoting itself as an alternative to super pricey London. Goldman Sachs stated that Birmingham offers access to a deep talent pool, excellent… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 11:04 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CommBank’s x15ventures has reportedly made a £1 million investment in order to acquire a significant minority stake in Payble, an Identitii bill payment subsidiary. As mentioned on its official website: “Payble™ is a better way to get paid. Improve cash collection, lower transaction costs and… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 10:57 pm By JD Alois  |  

Accelerating Asia has announced the fourth cohort of its flagship 100-day program for pre-Series A startups. According to a release, the 11 startups have raised over S$6 million coming into the program. The 11 new portfolio companies cover ten verticals and include companies from Singapore,… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 10:39 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Just six months into its launch, Maybank SME Digital Financing has reportedly cleared RM1 billion (appr. $240 million) worth of financing, serving over 8,200 SMEs, of which around 85% or 6,950 are startups and micro-enterprises based in Malaysia. Maybank stated that all applications that were… Read More

April 12, 2021 @ 3:23 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

  Talon Cyber Security, an Israel-based cybersecurity solutions provider, announced on Monday it raised $26 million through its Seed funding round, which included participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Team8, and Zohar Zisapel. Founded earlier this year by Ofer Ben-Noon and Ohad Bobrov, Talon Cyber Security… Read More

April 10, 2021 @ 8:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ping An OneConnect Bank (PAOB) recently revealed that it has teamed up with JETCO in order to provide cardless ATM withdrawal services. PAOB clients will now have the option to make cash withdrawals from over 1,700 JETCO ATM machines based in Hong Kong. Customers may… Read More

April 8, 2021 @ 11:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Axiata Group and Telenor Asia revealed on Thursday (April 8, 2021) that they’ve revisted and confirmed their merger plans involving Celcom and Digi. At present, the deal is in advanced discussions. Malaysian telecoms company Axiata Group Bhd and Norway-based Telenor ASA will be focused on… Read More