Joshua Mollel: Tanzania says student killed in Israel by Hamas
It was initially reported that Joshua Mollel had been taken hostage by Hamas, along with a colleague.This post was originally published on this site
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Sam Altman backs Slope’s $30M round to digitize, scale B2B payments
Slope, a business-to-business payments platform for enterprise companies, closed on a venture round of $30 million to expand its business. The company intends on using the new funds on product development as it continues to take on bigger clients. Since launching in 2021, co-founders Lawrence Lin Murata and Alice Deng have sought to digitize the $125 trillion B2B payments market. The core of Slope’s technology is order-to-cash workflow automation utilizing artificial intelligence-driven tools for checkout, customer and vendor risk assessment, payment reconciliation and cash management. The new investment follows Slope’s recent…
Thailand’s growing gun problem
On 6 October 2022, a gun and knife attack at a nursery in Nong Bua Lam Phu province resulted in 36 deaths, with more than half being toddlers. The government at the time made several promises to tighten gun control, but these remain unfulfilled. Tragically, another mass shooting occurred on 3 October 2023 at the popular Siam Paragon shopping mall in the heart of Bangkok, executed by a 14-year-old with a modified blank gun. The newly formed government responded with promises reminiscent of its predecessor’s, adding even more restrictive regulations…
Israel-Gaza war: What is the price of peace?
The BBC’s Jeremy Bowen asks Israeli and Palestinian activists about their hopes for resolving the conflict.This post was originally published on this site
How 4 post-SVB crisis predictions panned out
How will 2023 be remembered in the tech world? The 72-hour run on Silicon Valley Bank and subsequent crisis only calmed when the FDIC stepped in to ensure customer cash. And the stress of those few days compelled many founders and VCs to realize for the first time why treasury management actually matters. But other than that, has anything really changed? Here’s a look at what some investors predicted in March, and where we are now that the dust has settled. Prediction No. 1: The glory days of SVB’s special treatment of startups are…
Investors turn to Japan for Asia-Pacific exposure
Limited partners chasing market stability are looking to invest in Japan’s private equity and venture capital ecosystems. The country’s relatively predictable government policies against a backdrop of uncertain relations between the US and China, paired with a growing pool of aging business owners in need of succession planning, have fostered an environment primed for foreign investor participation in PE and VC deals. In fact, from 2020 to 2022, investors from outside Japan were involved in an annual average of over 60% of PE deal value in Japan, according to PitchBook’s 2023…
A barbell strategy in generative AI points to an overlooked middle
Deals within generative AI have been hot—depending on where you look. A barbell is forming within the vertical, with more deals flowing to the underlying technologies and vertical applications. Meanwhile, investment in middleware applications—software for audio, language and video—has been declining, according to PitchBook’s recent note on generative AI VC trends. These lagging categories present a potential opportunity for VCs and startups to build up underdeveloped areas within generative AI. Generative AI investment this year has concentrated on the natural language interfaces segment and AI core segments, according to PitchBook data….
Israel determined to finish Gaza operation despite civilian suffering
A senior military adviser tells the BBC Israel will need more than a few more weeks to destroy Hamas.This post was originally published on this site
Private credit lenders yield some ground as competition increases
After a largely slow year in originating new loans, the past three months have seen direct lenders pick up the pace. Yet they are finding the market increasingly crowded amid slim pickings for high-quality deals. Money had been sitting on the sidelines earlier this year, but private credit lenders are now returning to the deal market, said Bill Eckmann, head of principal finance at Macquarie Capital, which has a direct lending arm that lends to middle- and upper-middle-market companies. “People are now feeling a bit more confident about the broader…
SumUp defies fintech slowdown with $306.5M round
London-based fintech company SumUp has managed to raise $306.5 million (€285 million) in a growth round led by Sixth Street Growth, even as overall fintech capital raising slows in the region. The round comes nearly 18 months after the point-of-sale payments provider raised €590 million in equity and debt at a €8 billion valuation in June last year—significantly below the €20 billion valuation it had reportedly been seeking at the start of 2022. This newest capital raise—which includes Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, Fin Capital, and Liquidity Group— is reported to be at a higher valuation than the previous round….
North Korean embassy closures point to struggle and starvation
In November 2023, North Korea decided to close its foreign diplomatic missions in Angola, Hong Kong, Nepal, Spain, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Senegal and Guinea. These closures likely come as the result of financial hardship due to international sanctions as well as the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. But an impending domestic food crisis may also be behind the decision. For a country that prioritises spending on its military and luxury goods for its elites, a food shortage would stretch limited resources even further. A North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said in…
Can you put a price on happiness? Millennials seem to think so. | Newsletter
Our weekly tech newsletter. Subscribe today on our blog. Quick Hits Auto buy: Amazon to sell cars next year. Crypto coup: Bullish buys CoinDesk. Reel pretend: Meta makes AI generated movies. Taste tube: Japanese inventor creates lickable screen. Cord cut: Discord unplugs bot Clyde. Dino tour: Ancient Earth gets you prehistoric. Coaster crown: Riyadh claims longest ride. Books hacked: British Library reports cyber attack. Hands-free AI: Humane lands another $100M. Price of happiness? $500k will do Six in 10 Americans can name a price for their happiness. Millennials say over $500k yearly will make them financially secure, nearly doubling the typical “happiness salary” of Gen X, Z and…
Gen Z is already burned out, but what now? | Newsletter
Our weekly tech newsletter. Subscribe today on our blog. Quick Hits No longer open: ChatGPT closes to new users. Open source LLM: Finland startup releases model. ‘YC for growth’: Accelerator targets post-Series A. ‘YC for arts’: L.A. group accelerates art careers. War, games: Sega-CEO-turned-VC backs military veterans. Accelerating finance: Brokers get an accelerator of their own. ‘Social harmony’: Nepal bans TikTok. Galactic monitoring: Canadian startup measures CO2 emissions from space. Bionic tights: Bay Area startup helps those with MS walk. ‘Tipflation’: Pushy checkout screens seem to work. A bit of optimism: Bitcoin is spiking. Auto finance: Ramp taps AI. Safe call: Meta wants parents to approve teen app downloads. Noted: Notion chat bot reads your notes for you. VCs use AI to…
What would you give up for a 4-day workweek? | Newsletter
Our weekly tech newsletter. Subscribe today on our blog. Quick Hits Gator tech: UF opens $150M center. Delivery drones: Prime Air takes to skies. Blue chips: IBM launches AI venture fund. Open for business: OpenAI launches API. Boss bot: Company appoints robot CEO. Paint-by-bot: Figma’s AI cuts meeting pain. Video vox: YouTube tests chatbot summaries. ‘Federated’ future: Mozilla bets on Web3. No more play: Microsoft cuts Xbox perk. Funny AI?: Musk teases Grok AI bot. Switched off: Twitch drops Nintendo. Off budget: Mint shuts down. What’s your work persona? New research from the Imaginary Institute puts tech workers into nine personas based on work preferences. Are you an “Avatar” loving remote freedom or a “Community-seeker” craving office…
Do you work for a ‘forever company’? | Newsletter
Our weekly tech newsletter. Subscribe today on our blog. Quick Hits Word of the year: Collins picks ‘AI.’ No. 1 in AI: ChatGPT out-earns others. Claude cashes in: Anthropic gets $2B. 50/50: AI chief foresees AGI in 5 years. Out of touch: Mac kills the touch-bar. Retro gaming: Atari buys Digital Eclipse. Game on: Comcast boosts sports startups. Green seed: Conservancy backs founders. Teaching style: Canva unveils class tools. Design heavyweight: Pentagram turns 50. Search th.ing: Google introduces .ing. Ad-free: Meta starts European paid plans. Cities close in on carbon neutrality Lahti, Finland aims to become carbon neutral in the next 5 years through initiatives like biking infrastructure, public transit, cutting coal, and waste-to-energy. The city tracks over…
Can AI deliver a 4-day workweek? | Newsletter
Our weekly tech newsletter. Subscribe today on our blog. Quick Hits Digital doppelgangers: D-ID app clones you into AI videos. New breathalyzer: Test delivers instant COVID results. What’s a yoko?: Developers declare death to captchas. Python power-up: Snowflake acquires Ponder. Apple’s AI aims: Company’s $1B-per-year catchup plan. Brand morphing: AI introduces shape-shifting logos. Small science: Stanford unveils world’s first mini accelerator. AI modeling career: Bot builds 3D worlds from text prompts. ‘Data poisoning’: Developers unleash unique bot breakers. Plant power: Waterloo researchers grow tiny, soft med bots. Stanford study: LLaMA 2 wins in transparency. New wave: Firm invests $150M underrepresented founders SF hackathon taps AI for city issues Former tech workers launched Accelerate SF, a hackathon aimed at driving…
Patrick – the saint who ‘liked a drink’
Published 16 March 2019 Share close panel Share page Copy link About sharing Image source, PAcemaker By Ciarán Dunbar BBC News NI St Patrick’s Day is celebrated across the world by Irish people, their descendants and anyone else who wants to join in. The day, known in the modern era for huge parades, turning things green and having a drink, has, on occasion, led to excess. However, it seems that a little tipsiness has always been the way to remember the saint. The Book of Armagh, from the 9th Century,…
