Tech Round-Up: June 2020 - Chaos on Main St
Dear Reader, welcome to the June Tech Round-Up.
How the news cycle has consumed the world this year, fueled by social media. At first the dialogue was focused on climate change, then on COVID-19, and in the past week it has moved to civil unrest in the USA.
With another election pending, social media is truly in the spotlight. Where do you stand on the truth - with Dorsey, or with Zuckerberg?
At North Ridge Partners we are transfixed, watching seismic power shifts that will impact our children and their children. Fortunately, there’s plenty of business to be done during times of change.
All the best.
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Original Thinking from North Ridge Partners:
How an IoT start-up can help Singapore in its battle against COVID-19: Shauraya Bhutani spills the beans.
Travel, Technology and COVID-19: Our team reviews the impact of the COVID-19 on the online travel sector in this Australian webinar.
From Fintech Corner:
Hit the Money Button! In their a16z Fintech blog, Andreessen Horowitz explore the concept of self-driving money. A clever read.
The growing digital divide among banks: By 2021, digital capability may ultimately be a key driver of industry restructuring and consolidation.
Gravity hits the Fintech world: The real world is finally impacting Fintech start-ups - which aren’t exempt from ethical standards or the need to provide a great customer experience.
How Robinhood convinced millenials to trade through a pandemic: The combination of free apps and a bull market delivered the ability to make foolish decisions to a broad audience.
How the humble selfie became a compliance tool: Banks have begun to use selfies as a crime fighting tool!
Tech News from Asia:
Chinese tech giants invade Singapore: TikTok and other Mainland Tech giants are on a tear in the Red Dot, expanding at lightning speed.
Facebook and PayPal invest in GoJek: Bringing funds raised by the Super App to >$3 billion.
Three big lessons for Southeast Asia: What the pandemic has taught us about digitalization.
Your tech startup report card: How these start-ups fared during the lockdown.
2019 VC Funding Report: 2019 was a record year for Emerging Markets.
Tech News from Elsewhere:
Amazon isn’t the only e-commerce company thriving: Etsy said its marketplace grew 100% in April, and its stock has gained more than 90%.
Dream on, Son! “The situation is exceedingly difficult. Our unicorns have fallen into this sudden coronavirus ravine. But some of them will use this crisis to grow wings.”
Robots could help save your local store from going out of business: “It’s as if e-commerce jumped ahead five years,” says the CEO of the firm installing robots in warehouses.
Tougher times for Monzo: The plucky British neobank start-up seeks fresh funding at a 40% discount.
It’s official! Facebook is now running by remote control: Zuckerberg expects that 50% of Facebook’s 48,000 employees will work remotely over time.
On a wing and a prayer: Google’s Wing unit is doing brisk drone delivery business in Australia, Finland, and the US, with deliveries doubling month after month.
Other Stuff We Liked:
Ethical hackers rake in $100m: HackerOne pays out bounties to ethical hackers tracking down bugs in software for companies and governments.
Reality check: Are food delivery apps an awful business?
New solar cells can harvest energy from indoor lighting: Perovskite solar cells could be used to harvest indoor photons three times more effectively than traditional polycrystalline silicon.
Next billion-dollar start-ups: Hear who 300 VCs nominate to be the next likely unicorns.
Global venture funding through the pandemic: In a patchy global performance, late-stage funding stayed strong.
Build, fund and exit your technology company, with North Ridge Partners
North Ridge Partners works with technology companies across the Asia Pacific to achieve transformational outcomes through advice on strategic positioning, raising third party funding, M&A and direct investment. We’re experienced deal-makers who have built, run and sold numerous technology companies.
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