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Newton raising conditional $15 million round with DV Trading
(BETAKIT)
DV Trading will invest up to $15 million in debt and equity in Newton.
Zafin Recommends: It’s Time to End the Deposit Rat(e) Race and Begin the Deposit Growth Arms Race (ZAFIN)
“If deposits are the lifeblood of banks, then regional banks are beginning to bleed out. Before they can start taking proactive measures, these banks need to triage and stop the bleeding. A good starting point is ensuring that new deposits are truly sustainable.”
Cryptocurrency and blockchain bring Asia funds to the forefront of US tech
(TECH CRUNCH)
Since early 2017, there’s been a new trend in the U.S. where a number of Asian funds have been actively involved in early-stage crypto investing. Many folks in traditional tech have not heard of them before, but these funds will only be growing more important as cryptocurrency and blockchain solidify their position in the American tech industry.
Credit Karma continues Canadian expansion with launch of mobile app (BETAKIT)
The company expanded into Canada in November 2016, and has since established over 1.5 million users.
Amazon reportedly acquires Tapzo to boost its payment service in India (ITPROPORTAL)
Amazon intends to leverage Tapzo’s app to grow its Amazon Pay payment service in India.
Google is supercharging its Tez payment service in India ahead of global expansion (TECHCRUNCH)
Google launched its Tez payment app in India a year ago, and now the company is giving the service a major push into retail as it prepares to expand it to other parts of Asia and beyond.
ZestMoney raises $13.4M, led by Xiaomi (PYMNTS)
Founded in 2015, ZestMoney provides loans that focus on the consumer, with terms that are more customer-friendly than a payday loan.
Paystack, with ambitions to become the Stripe of Africa, raises $8M from Visa, Tencent… and Stripe itself(TECHCRUNCH)
Paystack is a Stripe-like startup that provides online payment facilities to merchants and others by way of an API and a few lines of code.
AI creating big winners in finance, but risks emerge (FINEXTRA)
Equity Group Holdings, Kenya’s second-largest bank, is spinning off its tech subsidiary into a commercial entity, dubbed Finserve.
San Francisco-based Upgrade plans to open development centre in Montreal
(BETAKIT)
Upgrade is planning to hire 75 engineers over the next two years to join its existing team of 25 members.
SoftBank Vision fund to invest $100M in JV with China’s ZhongAn (DEAL STREET ASIA)
SoftBank’s giant Vision Fund will own 51 percent of the venture that aims to sell the Chinese firm’s technology to financial and healthcare firms in Asia-Pacific.
Warren Buffett is investing in Paytm, his first Indian company (CNN)
Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway has taken a stake in One97 Communications Ltd, which owns Paytm.