Tencent, the internet giant that recently became Asia’s first $500 billion company, is continuing its investment spree after it agreed to buy $604 million in shares of Chinese online retailer Vipshop. The deal is being made with long-time partner JD.com, which will invest $259 million into Vipshop, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. That takes the total between the two to… Read More
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Digital security solutions provider Gemalto has agreed to a €51 per share acquisition offer from French aerospace and defense firm Thales — in a deal worth around $5.43BN. Read More
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Andover, Massachusetts-based Casa Systems had a tough time pulling off its IPO this week. The broadband solutions company initially wanted to debut Thursday, but pushed its launch back to Friday, likely due to weak initial demand. Casa had planned to sell 8.4 million shares, but reduced it to 6 million, following the investor roadshow, where companies pitch institutional investors and other… Read More
from TechCrunch
Airwallex, an Australia-based fintech startup that helps banks and businesses handle cross-border transactions at scale, has closed a $6 million investment ahead of a planned Series B next year.
The new funding comes from Square Peg — a VC firm located in Melbourne, the same city as Airwallex HQ — which joins Tencent, MasterCard, Gobi Ventures and Sequoia China as backers of… Read More
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“There are two types of competition for us at Loot: the banks and the money management apps,” Loot founder Ollie Purdue tells me. The U.K. startup, founded in 2014 while now 24 year old Purdue was finishing up university, offers a digital-only current account aimed at students and millennials. It comes with a Mastercard and mobile app, with a particular focus on spending insights… Read More
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Go-Jek, the company leading Uber and Grab in Southeast Asia’s largest market, has bagged a hattrick of deals to advance its mobile payment strategy. Indonesia-based Go-Jek revealed it has acquired offline payment firm Kartuku, payment gateway Midtrans and payment and lending network Mapan for undisclosed sums. Together, the trio process $5 billion in payment across cards and… Read More
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In the eight years since Frederic Descamps and Jordan Maynard launched their last gaming startup, the industry they helped shape now brings in more than $100 billion in revenues globally. There’s been a resurgence in gaming on PCs. User-generated content has produced a string of wildly popular hits. Those trends are exactly what the two are hoping to harness with Manticore Games. Read More
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Hyperloop One co-founder and early Uber investor Shervin Pishevar has announced his resignation from Sherpa Capital, the venture capital firm he co-founded, following sexual misconduct allegations. “I have decided on my own accord to end my association with Sherpa Capital, effective immediately,” Pishevar tweeted, as part of a lengthy statement. I have only admiration and affection… Read More
from TechCrunch
Getting the myriad of devices involved in the industrial internet of things provisioned and communicating with one another in a secure way will be one of the great technological challenges facing companies in the coming years. Xage (prounounced Zage) emerged from stealth today with a blockchain-based security solution that could help simplify this. The company also announced that Duncan… Read More
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Boston biotech startup Gingko Bioworks has announced the raise of $275 million in Series D funding to build out its Bioworks3 production facility. The funding comes from previous investors Viking Global, Y Combinator’s Continuity Fund, Cascade Investment, Bill Gates, as well as new investor, General Atlantic. The company previously raised over $154 million, bringing the total up to… Read More
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