Thursday, July 25, 2019
We view India as our future, says WhatsApp global head
WhatsApp payments beta test has gone better than expected: Zuckerberg
Unity announces it is raising $525M from D1 Capital Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Light Street Capital, others, doubling its valuation to $6B (Lucas Matney/TechCrunch)
Unity announces it is raising $525M from D1 Capital Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Light Street Capital, others, doubling its valuation to $6B — Unity's private valuation is climbing but it's growing unclear whether the company's leadership is planning to take the 15-year-old gaming powerhouse public anytime soon.
Digital payment firms wait for new finance secretary to discuss MDR
Australia's ACCC releases final report on anti-competitive behavior and market power of tech giants, offers 23 recommendations including a stronger Privacy Act (NEWS.com.au)
Australia's ACCC releases final report on anti-competitive behavior and market power of tech giants, offers 23 recommendations including a stronger Privacy Act — Tech giants including Google, Facebook will face greater scrutiny after the ACCC handed down its landmark final report today.
Govt fears WhatsApp may share payments data with Facebook, others
SoftBank announces AI-focused second $108 billion Vision Fund with LPs including Microsoft, Apple and Foxconn
SoftBank Group announced today that it will launch its second Vision Fund with participation from Apple, Foxconn, Microsoft and other tech companies and investors. Called the Vision Fund 2, the fund will focus on AI-based technology. SoftBank said the fund’s capital has reached about $108 billion, based on memoranda of understandings. SoftBank Group’s own investment in the fund will be $38 billion.
It is worth noting that the second Vision Fund’s list of expected limited partners does not currently include any participants from the Saudi Arabia government (the first Vision Fund’s close ties to people, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who have been implicated in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has understandably been a major source of concern for investors, companies and human rights observers).
But SoftBank Group also said is still in discussions with other participants and that the total amount of the fund is expected to increase. The full list of participants who have signed MOUs so far are: “Apple, Foxconn Technology Group, Microsoft Corporation, Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, MUFG Bank, Ltd., The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., Daiwa Securities Group Inc., National Investment Corporation of National Bank of Kazakhstan, Standard Chartered Bank, and major participants from Taiwan.”
SoftBank’s intention to launch Vision Fund 2 was first reported earlier this week by the Wall Street Journal. The new fund is expected to decrease SoftBank’s reliance on Saudi Arabian investment and also potentially change the relationship between startups, corporate giants like Microsoft and investors.
Vivo Z1 Pro to Go on Sale in India Today: What You Should Know
SoftBank announces Vision Fund 2, will commit $38B to it with the goal of raising $108B; Apple, Microsoft, and others are expected to contribute (Pavel Alpeyev/Bloomberg)
SoftBank announces Vision Fund 2, will commit $38B to it with the goal of raising $108B; Apple, Microsoft, and others are expected to contribute — SoftBank Group Corp.'s founder Masayoshi Son launched a second Vision Fund, seeking to extend his reign as the world's most influential technology investor.
Sources: Nubank, a Brazil-based digital bank, is raising $400M led by TCV in a deal that would value the company at more than $10B (Wall Street Journal)
Sources: Nubank, a Brazil-based digital bank, is raising $400M led by TCV in a deal that would value the company at more than $10B — TCV expected to lead a $400 million financing in Brazilian financial technology business After SoftBank talks fell through
Long Island Iced Tea Corp's pivot to blockchain in 2017 is being investigated by the FBI for insider trading and securities fraud, according to search warrants (Quartz)
Long Island Iced Tea Corp's pivot to blockchain in 2017 is being investigated by the FBI for insider trading and securities fraud, according to search warrants — Even during the heady days of the epic bitcoin bubble in 2017, Long Island Iced Tea Corp.'s pivot to blockchain was a particularly brash ploy to latch onto the crypto hype.
Amazon's New Superhero Series The Boys Is Now Streaming on Prime Video
Unity, now valued at $6B, raising up to $525M
Unity’s private valuation is climbing but it’s growing unclear whether the company’s leadership is planning to take the 15-year-old gaming powerhouse public anytime soon.
The company announced today that is has received signed agreements from D1 Capital Partners, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Light Street Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Silver Lake Partners to fund a $525 million tender offer that will allow Unity’s common shareholders — the majority of which are early or current employees — to sell their shares in the company.
The tender offer gives employees “the opportunity for some liquidity,” Unity CFO Kim Jabal says. The total amount raised will depend on the enthusiasm of common shareholders to sell their stakes in Unity.
This event could potentially signify that the company is pushing back its timeline for an IPO, keeping employees that have been sitting on equity for several years happy as Unity labors on in private markets. It’s worth noting that the company has raised hundreds of million previously with the same intent of buying back employee shares.
It was reported earlier this year that Unity was targeting an IPO in the first half of 2020.
The company also confirmed that it wrapped up a $150M Series E funding round in May that doubled the company’s valuation to $6 billion. The announcement confirms the valuation we reported on in May though at a higher amount of capital raised.
SF-based Unity has more than 2,000 employees. The company builds developer tools which are used game studios to create video games across a number of platforms. The company claims that half of all games are created using the company’s game engine.
WhatsApp to roll out its payments service in India this year, after developing a system that stores data locally to comply with Reserve Bank of India's policy (businesstoday.in)
WhatsApp to roll out its payments service in India this year, after developing a system that stores data locally to comply with Reserve Bank of India's policy — WhatsApp's ambitious payment services' blueprint in India has been caught in a bind over concerns around authentication and its data storage practices
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Byju's to replace Oppo on Team India jersey
Experts say ChatGPT, Gemini, and other Western AI models are turbocharging Iran's cyber operations, helping it develop malware and launch phishing attacks (Jacob Judah/Financial Times)
Jacob Judah / Financial Times : Experts say ChatGPT, Gemini, and other Western AI models are turbocharging Iran's cyber operations, h...
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Sohee Kim / Bloomberg : South Korean authorities are investigating a data leak at e-commerce giant Coupang that exposed ~33.7M accounts; ...
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The first project we remember working on together was drawing scenes from the picture books that our mom brought with her when she immigrate...
