“Buy now, pay later” (BNPL) startups have gained traction by targeting consumers, but BNPLs for businesses are also starting to take off. One example is Fairbanc, which is based in Singapore but focused on Indonesia. It allows small businesses to take out short-term credit to purchase fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) inventory. Fairbanc announced today it…
Robots relying on AI to learn a new task generally require a laborious and repetitious training process. University of California, Berkeley researchers are attempting to simplify and shorten that with an innovative learning technique that has the robot filling in the gaps rather than starting from scratch. The team shared several lines of work with…
Luminar, the Florida-based lidar company that went public via SPAC in 2020, has formed a close alliance with an auto behemoth in China. It’s making a strategic investment of an undisclosed amount in Ecarx, an auto tech startup co-founded by Eric Li, founder of China’s largest private automaker Geely, Ecarx said on Thursday. The funding…
Amazon appears to have identified another market to launch its fast and affordable internet service, Project Kuiper: India. Job listings show the American e-commerce group is looking to hire managers in India to launch the internet service, for which the company plans to use low Earth orbit satellite constellation. One position, based in Bengaluru, seeks…
Baidu, the Chinese search engine giant that has plowed money into AI and autonomous vehicle technology, unveiled Wednesday a new all-electric robotaxi that it plans to deploy at scale across China. Baidu will add the Apollo RT6 EV – a cross between an SUV and a minivan that comes with a detachable steering wheel –…
Apparently not, if venture capital activity on the continent is any indication Alex Wilhelm Anna Heim 7 hours Did no one tell European venture capitalists and startup founders that we’re supposed to be on the cusp of a global recession? With startups and VCs all heralding the doom of investment activity across the world, you’d think a…
Spinn’s journey started in 2016 with a crowdfunding campaign. It’s come a long way since that time, raising $40 million in freshly brewed venture capital about a year ago, and more recently announced that its machine received a software update that enables it to make cold brew. As a heat wave nestles in across the…
Conversational commerce isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, with countless companies using live chats, messaging apps, chatbots, voice assistants and more to encourage consumers to part with their cash. As part of that broader movement, the mighty WhatsApp, a dominant force in the messaging world, has been pushing deeper into the business arena with myriad tools…
In today’s earnings call, Netflix confirmed the reports that have been circulating since last week that it is renegotiating deals to allow the streamer to put content on its cheaper advertising-supported plan, the arrival of which on the platform has been moved to early 2023. “The vast majority of what people watch on Netflix we…
South Africa’s digital industry is among the fastest-growing segments of its economy. However, the low level of racial inclusion in funding and general financial muscle to compete is a growing concern, which will likely widen inequality in the future if left unaddressed. This is according to a provisional report by the country’s competition regulator, the…
