Baidu has made its second investment in a U.S. fintech company inside a month after it put an undisclosed sum of money into ZestFinance, a big data firm specializing in credit scoring. Baidu, which operates China’s dominant search platform, took part in a $60 million round for payments firm Circle in June. Read More
from TechCrunch
SoftBank is bidding to buy chip giant ARM, one of the world’s most influential technology companies, according to multiple media. Read More
from TechCrunch
Encrypted comms company Silent Circle, which also makes a security-focused Android smartphone called the Blackphone, has announced it’s closed a $50 million Series C round of financing, led by Santander Bank. Read More
from TechCrunch
PureLifi, the University of Edinburgh spin out that is developing what it calls ‘LiFi’ technology, an alternative to Wi-Fi that uses modulating LED light as a way of sending data from one LiFi-equipped device to another, has raised just over £7 million in Series B funding. Leading the round is Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek, while the startup says the new… Read More
from TechCrunch
Fresh from a positive listing in New York on Thursday, messaging company Line saw its share jump as high as 50 percent after it listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in its native Japan. Read More
from TechCrunch
Last week, I decided to buy a motorcycle for my family. I did extensive research before settling on the best motorcycle for beginners. I knew a Suzuki GSXR600, Kawasaki Ninja 600, or Honda CBR600R would be too much power for my wife or daughter. I also knew that a 50cc or even 125cc would be too weak for any highway use. This narrowed our choices to 250cc or 300cc bikes. So this is where I focused my research.
We chose the Kawasaki Ninja 300 because of the small details that made it stand above the others. The seat height is low enough for my wife and daughter who are both around 5′ 4″ to 5′ 5″. They can plant both feet on the ground and walk the bike on level surfaces. The power band is manageable and will prevent bad outcomes from over-throttling. The Ninja also has a slipper clutch which reduces the engine breaking when downshifting. The $500 rebate also helped with the decision.
Finally, insurance on a Kawasaki was much lower than a Honda or Suzuki. My daughter, who only completed the Motorcycle Safety course a week ago, looks confident riding the Ninja. I am certain that after she logs a few more hours on it, she will be able to handle the streets without any issues.
Atlassian today announced that it has acquired StatusPage, a Y Combinator-incubated service that allows online businesses to keep their users updated about the status of their online services. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. This marks Atlassian’s first acquisition since going public last December. Adding a service like StatusPage, which launched three… Read More
from TechCrunch
Guns are bad (and good). The EU is great (and terrible). Mr. Trump is full of shit (and a genius). The news landscape is complicated and there is always another side to the story. Enter Discors, who today launched an iOS app and announced they’ve raised a healthy stack of Benjamins to help people get a deeper view on what’s going on in the world. Read More
from TechCrunch
Despite six months of deteriorating labor market conditions (based on The Fed’s 19-factor all-sining-all-dancing ‘experimental’ model”) initial jobless claims beat expectations printing a near 43-year low 254k. Once again, providing no excuses for a data-dependent Fed to hike rates…
So who is right – The Fed or The Department of Labor?
from ZeroHedge
Rentomojo, a startup pioneering an interesting alternative for furnishing homes in India, has landed $5 million in fresh financing to further scale its business. The money was provided by Accel and IDG Ventures, and it follows a $2 million raise last November from the same investors. Read More
from TechCrunch