Wednesday, May 8

Author: reuters

Monsanto, Microsoft to Invest in Agricultural Technology in Brazil
5Jul By reutersNo Comments
FUNDING

Monsanto, Microsoft to Invest in Agricultural Technology in Brazil

U.S. biotech company Monsanto Co and Microsoft Corp announced on Monday a partnership to invest in agricultural technology startups in Brazil. Monsanto will join a Brazilian investment fund with up to 300 million reais ($92 million), managed by Microsoft, evaluating ideas for new digital tools to be applied to agricultural production in the country, executives said. Selected ideas will receive initial funding of up to 1.5 million reais ($459,000) for early development. Project owners will have the option to pay back the investment after three years or convert the money into equity. "We want to foster new startups in the agricultural sector. There is a vast area for research and development," Rodrigo Santos, head of Monsanto in Latin America, told reporters on the sidelines of the ...
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Tesla Crash Raises Concerns About Autonomous Vehicle Regulation
2Jul By reutersNo Comments
News

Tesla Crash Raises Concerns About Autonomous Vehicle Regulation

The fatal crash of a Tesla Motors Inc Model S in Autopilot mode has turned up pressure on auto industry executives and regulators to ensure that automated driving technology is deployed safely. The first such known accident, which occurred in Florida in May, has highlighted tensions surrounding efforts to turn over responsibility for braking, steering and driving judgments to machines. It may delay the U.S. government's plan to outline guidelines for self-driving cars this month. The cause of the Model S crash is still under investigation by federal and Florida state authorities, which are looking into whether the driver was distracted before his 2015 Model S went under a truck trailer. Advocates of automating driving point to research that shows 90 percent of accidents are caused...
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China Tightens Rules For Mobile App Developers
28Jun By reutersNo Comments
CHINA

China Tightens Rules For Mobile App Developers

China has tightened rules for mobile app developers including requiring real-name registration and preserving users' activity logs, the country's internet regulator said on Tuesday, as Beijing looks to strengthen oversight of the growing app market. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement that mobile app providers would need to fulfill six requirements to help crack down on "unscrupulous" use of their platforms to carry out fraud, distribute pornography and spread malicious rumors. China's government already exercises widespread controls over the internet. It argues tough restrictions are needed to ensure security in the face of rising threats like terrorism, irking some foreign governments and business groups who say that the controls affect trade. Mobile app...
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Messaging App Line Delayed IPO Launch
27Jun By reutersNo Comments
News

Messaging App Line Delayed IPO Launch

Japanese messaging app firm Line Corp has delayed setting a tentative price range for its initial public offering (IPO) by one day, until Tuesday, the company said in a regulatory filing, citing the "market environment". The IPO price range was originally scheduled to be announced on Monday. Line still plans to list in New York on July 14 and in Tokyo the following day, the filing showed. On Friday, the S&P 500 fell 3.6 percent, its biggest one-day drop in 10 months, and Japan's broad Topix index slid 7 percent after Britain voted to exit the European Union. The equity market in Japan recovered somewhat on Monday as the Topix closed up 1.8 percent, but the delay will allow the company to assess the market in New York and London on Monday before setting the tentative price range, a...
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China Tightens Controls on Baidu Search Engine & Others
25Jun By reutersNo Comments
CHINA

China Tightens Controls on Baidu Search Engine & Others

China's internet regulator said on Saturday that search engines should tighten management of paid-for ads in search results, making clear which results are paid for and limiting their numbers. The Chinese government already exercises widespread controls over the internet and has sought to codify that policy in law. Chinese regulators last month imposed limits on the number of lucrative healthcare adverts carried by Baidu Inc following the death of a student who underwent an experimental cancer treatment which he found using China's biggest internet search engine. Wei Zexi, 21, died in April of a rare form of cancer, and the case sparked widespread public anger. The Cyberspace Administration of China said search engines should investigate the "aptitude" of clients offering paid-for ...
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Uber’s Rival in Pakistan Uses Rickshaws, Low-Tech Phones
20Jun By reutersNo Comments
Story

Uber’s Rival in Pakistan Uses Rickshaws, Low-Tech Phones

As taxi hailing giant Uber enters Pakistan, a little-known local competitor is counting on a mix of new ideas and old technology to tap what could be a big chunk of the market: low-income residents who travel in rickshaws, not cabs. Known as Rixi, the Lahore-based service hails rickshaws instead of cars. Its platform is not smartphones, but older SMS phone messaging that allows nearby drivers to bid for any user's business. Pakistan has more than 130 million cellphone subscriptions, but only 21 percent subscribe to data packages, and, while the proportion is rising, there are opportunities across emerging economies in Asia to tap a relatively low-tech customer base. In Thailand, Taxi Radio uses calls and text messages to put cabs and people in touch and is popular with those without s...
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Airbnb Inc Secured $1 Billion Debt Facility From US Banks
17Jun By reutersNo Comments
FUNDING

Airbnb Inc Secured $1 Billion Debt Facility From US Banks

Apartment-sharing startup Airbnb Inc has secured a $1 billion debt facility from some big U.S. banks to aid its new services and finance its expansion plans, a source close to the company said. JPMorgan, Citigroup Inc, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp led the debt deal, the source said. Airbnb, which expects to achieve profitability in 2016, raised over $100 million in a round of funding late last year. Bloomberg reported the funding deal earlier on Wednesday. Representatives at JPMorgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America were not immediately available for comment outside regular U.S. business hours. Priceline, Expedia and other travel companies have been facing increased pressure in their hotel bookings business from the rise of startups such as Airbnb.
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Nokia Signs $1.5 Billion Framework Deal With China Mobile
14Jun By reutersNo Comments
BUSINESS

Nokia Signs $1.5 Billion Framework Deal With China Mobile

Nokia has signed a 1.36 billion euro ($1.5 bln) one-year framework deal with China Mobile, the Finnish company said on Monday, easing fears that it would lose market share while it merges operations with Alcatel-Lucent. Shares in the company were up 0.2 percent as of 1120 GMT versus a Helsinki bourse down 1.42 percent. Nokia's network equipment sales fell more than expected in the first quarter as buyers held off due to the Alcatel integration process.China Mobile is Nokia's biggest customer in China. "In the light of this announcement, China is not the market which one should be very worried about this year. They've managed to hold on to the positions of old Nokia and old Alcatel," said Nordea analyst Sami Sarkamies, who holds a 'buy' rating on the stock. He added that N...
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Online Lender Marketlend Raises $1 Million in Funding
13Jun By reutersNo Comments
FUNDING

Online Lender Marketlend Raises $1 Million in Funding

Australian online lender Marketlend on Monday said it has closed on a $1 million investment lead by fin-tech entrepreneur Jon Barlow and former KKR dealmaker Mati Szeszkowski. Marketlend, which helps connect businesses that are looking for funding with investors, will use the new money to further automate its technology systems and originate more loans, the company's founder Leo Tyndall said in an interview. Marketlend's fundraising marks the latest sign of continued investor interest in online lending globally, despite a slowdown in loan originations and increased regulatory scrutiny in the United States. Marketlend's platform allows businesses to borrow money against unpaid invoices, helping to relieve a cash flow shortage. If a company is waiting for a customer to pay them, it can se...
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Larry Page Backing Two Start-ups Making Flying Cars
10Jun By reutersNo Comments
News

Larry Page Backing Two Start-ups Making Flying Cars

Google co-founder Larry Page is backing two start-ups that are working on flying cars, including funding one of them with more than $100 million so far, Bloomberg said on Thursday, citing sources. Zee.Aero, into which Page has poured more than $100 million since it started in 2010, conducts test flights of its prototype at an airport hangar in Hollister, California, Bloomberg said. The start-up has a manufacturing facility on NASA's research center at the edge of Mountain View, the news agency said. Since last year, Page has also been funding another start-up, Kitty Hawk, that is working on a similar competing model, Bloomberg said. Kitty Hawk, which employs about a dozen engineers and has its headquarters about half a mile away from Zee.Aero, is working on "something that rese...
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Silicon Valley Founding Father Tom Perkins Dies at 84
10Jun By reutersNo Comments
News

Silicon Valley Founding Father Tom Perkins Dies at 84

Thomas Perkins, one of the founding fathers of Silicon Valley, died on Tuesday at age 84 at his home in Belvedere, California, according to the Marin County coroner's office. As co-founder of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, Perkins played a major role in the formative years of the computer and biotech industries. The firm that bears his name went on to fund some of the biggest names of the internet era, including Google and Amazon. Perkins helped start Kleiner Perkins in 1972 with Eugene Kleiner after working as the first general manager of Hewlett Packard Co's computer division and later starting University Laboratories, a laser company that used Perkins' own optical inventions. "He was there at the start of the biotech industry and the computer revol...
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