September Tech Round-Up: Above and Beyond Edition
With the commercial race into space in full swing, expect an old rule to ring true - in a gold rush, it’s often the people selling picks and shovels who get rich.
In this edition, we look beyond the attention-grabbing headlines celebrating billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Elon Musk, and highlight the activity of the new generation of space companies. The people building the picks and shovels.
Enjoy, from all of us at North Ridge Partners…
Original Thinking From North Ridge Partners
Investment in Space companies hit record highs in 2020, attracting the billionaire class, tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon, and a new class of sky-gazing entrepreneurs. Given the amount of interest that Space has ignited interest across our investor and client community, we’ve dedicated this edition to the Final Frontier.
While the technology may be space-age, the problems being solved are age-old - from quarantine, to agricultural resource utilisation, to helping investors identify the next best bet.
Not to be outdone, our partner Christin Burns tells us to focus on the practicalities of space to understand where new wealth will be created in this month’s minicast.
For more space-themed audio, listen to the new Talking Tech podcast from our friends at Jarden. On Friday 17th September they’ll be featuring Fleet, one of Australia’s space-tech pioneers… and if you can’t wait that long, let your imagination soar as you watch clips from some of the best space movies of all time or listen to our space-themed music playlist.
Big Tech
A first chink in the armor for Apple’s walled garden? - Judge loosens Apple's grip on app store
Chip prices sizzle - TSMC’s price hike is broken down
Dumb and dumber? Smart glasses made Google look dumb - Now Facebook is having a try
Share the success…or else - Alibaba to invest billions by 2025 for ‘common prosperity’
Tech takes on the banking system - It’s ‘Silicon Valley vs the banks’: Apple’s big threat
Under scrutiny - Google faces a DOJ antitrust lawsuit over its ad-tech business
Markets
A tale of two SPACS - the SEC cracks down, just as Singapore joins the SPAC band wagon - are SPACs the spark that’ll re-ignite the IPO market for SGX?
IPO watch - Automation Anywhere gears up for IPO while Reddit reportedly mulls going public next year just as India’s IPO market booms
This ain’t no Noah’s Ark - Cathy Wood’s Ark cuts China positions ‘dramatically’
Less vroom at Zoom - Zoom hits $1 billion in quarterly revenue, growth slows and stock falls
Blue skies - How Amazon’s cloud business generates billions in profit
Asia Pacific Tech News
Common prosperity, little transparency - Xi’s common prosperity becomes financial black box
Consolidate your payments! - Prosus acquires India’s BillDesk for $4.7 billion
Gigless commerce - Chinese firms turn to autonomous delivery to counter rising costs
Clash of the titans - Tencent backs J&T to take on Alibaba in eCommerce logistics
Not playing around - China forbids minors from gaming more than three hours per week
To Infinity and Beyond!
Record investments - The state of space start-ups
Lift off - Rocket Lab begins trading on the Nasdaq, with SPAC merger growing its cash pile
Microsoft and Nokia team up for new Space and 5G agreement with New South Wales Government
Virgo ascendant - Branson’s Virgin Orbit to go public through a SPAC at $3.7 billion valuation
Sky high opportunities? - ‘Space revolution’ stocks get exponential returns in the market
Star Wars - Pentagon poised to unveil and demonstrate classified space weapon
Stuff We Found Interesting:
Another Uber retreat - Yandex spends $1 billion for more control of Russian venture with Uber
Beating deepfakers at their own game - Artificial Intelligence and the ‘gods behind the masks’
A growing market, sadly - Giants pledge billions for cybersecurity
Attack vectors - The common vulnerabilities leaving industrial systems open to attack
Distantly Emerging Tech
Beyond the horizon, technologies emerge to disrupt the next decade of business.
Early mover - Quantum Machines to expand platform with $50 million investment
Innovative cornucopia - Future technology: 22 ideas about to change our world
Nanotech vs virus - Computing at the frontiers of nanomedicine
Video - Here’s how accurately 1960s cartoon sitcom The Jetsons predicted the future
North Ridge Partners: technology investment banking across the Asia Pacific
North Ridge Partners works with technology companies across the Asia Pacific to achieve transformational outcomes through providing strategic financial advice, advising on M&A transactions and raising capital. We’re experienced deal-makers who have built, run, and sold numerous technology companies.
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