Social investing and trading platform eToro announced that it has acquired Danish smart contract infrastructure provider Firmo for an undisclosed purchase price. Firmo’s platform enables exchanges to execute smart financial contracts across various assets, including crypto derivatives, and across all major blockchains. Firmo founder and CEO Dr. Omri Ross described the company’s mission as “…enabl[ing] our […]
View More Social investment platform eToro acquires smart contract startup FirmoCategory: financial services
Movius raises $45M for its business communications service
Atlanta-based Movius, a company that allows companies to assign a separate business number for voice calls and texting to any phone, today announced that it has raised a $45 million Series D round led by JPMorgan Chase, with participation from existing investors PointGuard Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and Anschutz Investment company. With this, the company […]
View More Movius raises $45M for its business communications serviceGrab launches SME loans and micro-insurance in Southeast Asia
In its latest move beyond ride-hailing, Southeast Asia’s Grab has started to offer financing to SMEs and micro-insurance to its drivers. The launch comes just weeks after Grab raised $1.5 billion from the Vision Fund as part of a larger $5 billion Series H funding round that’ll be used to battle rival Go-Jek, which is […]
View More Grab launches SME loans and micro-insurance in Southeast AsiaOmidyar Network spins out its fintech investment arm as Flourish, with up to $300 million
After 12 years spent investing in impact-oriented financial services startups around the globe, the Omidyar Network, which serves as the family investment office for eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, is spinning off its financial inclusion investment arm as Flourish Ventures. Equipped with up to $300 million in capital for operations and investments, the new Flourish will […]
View More Omidyar Network spins out its fintech investment arm as Flourish, with up to $300 millionMotif and Goldman Sachs launch new, co-branded indexes for better performing ETFs
Motif, the startup using machine learning to develop investment strategies for consumers and institutional investors, and Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s leading investment banks, have launched new technology-driven indices to power a series of co-branded exchange traded funds. “All these [current] indices are built with humans doing research to go in and figure out […]
View More Motif and Goldman Sachs launch new, co-branded indexes for better performing ETFsGrab confirms $1.46B investment from SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Grab has become the newest addition to the SoftBank Vision Fund after it announced today that it has pulled in a $1.46 billion investment from the super fund. Grab said the new money will be used to further its super app strategy, which is aimed at making its service a daily app for Southeast Asian […]
View More Grab confirms $1.46B investment from SoftBank’s Vision FundLyft unveils its S-1 and nearly $1B in 2018 losses
According to the filing, Lyft recorded $2.2 billion in 2018 revenue on a net loss of $911 million.
View More Lyft unveils its S-1 and nearly $1B in 2018 lossesRevolut CFO resigns following money laundering controversy
This hasn’t been a good week for challenger bank Revolut . The company, which offers digital banking services and is valued at $1.7 billion, confirmed today that embattled CFO Peter O’Higgins has resigned and left the business. The startup and O’Higgins have been under pressure after a Daily Telegraph report that revealed that Revolt switched […]
View More Revolut CFO resigns following money laundering controversyTesla’s top attorney leaves after two months on job due to ‘poor cultural fit’
Tesla’s general counsel, a veteran trial lawyer, has been replaced with a company insider just two months after taking the post. Dane Butswinkas, who was named Tesla general counsel in December, is leaving the company, Tesla confirmed. Jonathan Chang, who was most recently vice president of legal at Tesla, has taken over the general counsel position. […]
View More Tesla’s top attorney leaves after two months on job due to ‘poor cultural fit’Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys UK currency exchange giant WorldFirst reportedly for around $700M
Ant Financial, the financial services behemoth affiliated with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has made its first big move into Europe. It’s acquired London-headquartered payments company WorldFirst in a deal that sources tell us is valued at around $700 million. (That price would also line up with multiple reports from December claiming the two were in […]
View More Alibaba’s Ant Financial buys UK currency exchange giant WorldFirst reportedly for around $700MPlaid expands financial service API to include all US banks
Plaid, developers of financial services APIs, has been helping developers connect an app to a major US bank account for several years, but today they expanded that API to include all US banks, including smaller banks that might not have as advanced technology. The product in question is called Auth. Prior to today’s announcement, this […]
View More Plaid expands financial service API to include all US banksChat app Line injects $182M into its mobile payment business
Japanese messaging app company Line is pumping 20 billion JPY ($182 million) into its mobile payment business as it tries to turn things around following a challenging year in 2018. The company announced the infusion into Line Pay, a subsidiary that it fully owns, in a filing which stated that the new capital is “necessary […]
View More Chat app Line injects $182M into its mobile payment business