Allianz X, the venture capital arm attached to German insurance giant Allianz, has increased the size of its fund to €1 billion, around $1.1 billion, according to an announcement made today. The fund was initially €430 million, or around $490 million, when it launched in 2016. This new injection comes directly from parent Allianz SE, the 124-year-old […]
View More German insurance giant Allianz increases its VC fund to $1.1 billionCategory: spokesperson
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 $700MLenovo Watch X was riddled with security bugs, researcher says
Lenovo’s Watch X was widely panned as “absolutely terrible.” As it turns out, so was its security. The low-end $50 smart watch was one of Lenovo’s cheapest smart watches. Available only for the China market, anyone who wants one has to buy one directly from the mainland. Lucky for Erez Yalon, head of security research at […]
View More Lenovo Watch X was riddled with security bugs, researcher saysUsers complain of account hacks, but OkCupid denies a data breach
It’s bad enough that dating sites are a pit of exaggerations and inevitable disappointment, they’re also a hot target for hackers. Dating sites aren’t considered the goldmine of personal information like banks or hospitals, but they’re still an intimate part of millions of people’s lives and have long been in the sights of hackers. If […]
View More Users complain of account hacks, but OkCupid denies a data breachAfrica Roundup: Zimbabwe’s net blackout, Partech’s $143M fund, Andela’s $100M raise, Flutterwave’s pivot
Jake Bright Contributor Jake Bright is a writer and author in New York City. He is co-author of The Next Africa. More posts by this contributor Partech is doubling the size of its African venture fund to $143 million Zimbabwe’s government faces off against its tech community over internet restrictions A high court in Zimbabwe […]
View More Africa Roundup: Zimbabwe’s net blackout, Partech’s $143M fund, Andela’s $100M raise, Flutterwave’s pivotFacebook, Google and Twitter told to do more to fight fake news ahead of European elections
A first batch of monthly progress reports from tech giants and advertising companies on what they’re doing to help fight online disinformation have been published by the European Commission. Platforms including Facebook, Google and Twitter signed up to a voluntary EU code of practice on the issue last year. The first reports cover measures taken […]
View More Facebook, Google and Twitter told to do more to fight fake news ahead of European electionsApple disables group calling in FaceTime in response to eavesdropping bug
Apple has disabled the group calling feature within its FaceTime calling service after it was found to house a nasty bug that allows eavesdropping. Apple’s status page shows that group calling via FaceTime is “temporarily unavailable” — that’s likely a stop-gap move while the company works on a more permanent fix to the problem. We […]
View More Apple disables group calling in FaceTime in response to eavesdropping bugFacebook to encrypt Instagram messages ahead of integration with WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger
Facebook is planning to roll out end-to-end encryption for Instagram messages, as part of a broader integration effort across company’s messaging platforms, including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. First reported by The New York Times, the social media giant said reworking the underlying infrastructure of its three messaging apps to allow users to talk to each other more easily. […]
View More Facebook to encrypt Instagram messages ahead of integration with WhatsApp, Facebook MessengerApple cuts 200 staff from its Project Titan autonomous car division
Apple’s secretive efforts to develop a self-driving car — its so-called ‘Project Titan’ — have taken a hard turn in 2019 after it emerged that the iPhone-maker has reassigned 200 employees previously involved in its development. That’s according to CNBC which, citing sources, reported that a portion of the 200 staff were moved to other […]
View More Apple cuts 200 staff from its Project Titan autonomous car divisionSingapore’s Credit Culture raises $29.5M for its soon-to-launch digital loan business
Singapore’s digital fintech companies are attracting investor attention and dollars in 2019. Fresh from Singapore Life — a digital-only insurer — raising $33 million across two recently closed rounds, so Credit Culture, a digital loan specialist — has banked SG$40 million ($29.5 million) ahead of its imminent launch. Credit Culture has raised its capital from […]
View More Singapore’s Credit Culture raises $29.5M for its soon-to-launch digital loan businessMillions of bank loan and mortgage documents have leaked online
A trove of more than 24 million financial and banking documents, representing tens of thousands of loans and mortgages from some of the biggest banks in the U.S., has been found online after a server security lapse. The server, running an Elasticsearch database, had more than a decade’s worth of data, containing loan and mortgage […]
View More Millions of bank loan and mortgage documents have leaked onlineFacebook is reportedly testing solar-powered internet drones again — this time with Airbus
Facebook last year grounded its ambitious plan to develop a solar-powered drone to beam internet across the world, but the company isn’t done with the concept, it seems. The social media giant is working with aeronautics giant Airbus to test drones in Australia, according to a new report from Germany’s NetzPolitik. Using a request under […]
View More Facebook is reportedly testing solar-powered internet drones again — this time with Airbus