Tag: finance
Industrial automation startup Bright Machines hauls in $435M by going public via SPAC
Bright Machines is going public via a SPAC-led combination, it announced this morning. The transaction will see the 3-year-old company merge with SCVX, raising gross cash proceeds of $435 million in the process. After the transaction is consummated, the startup will sport an anticipated equity valuation of $1.6 billion. The…
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New Relic’s business remodel will leave new CEO with work to do
For Bill Staples, the freshly appointed CEO at New Relic, who takes over on July 1, yesterday was a good day. After more than 20 years in the industry, he was given his own company to run. It’s quite an accomplishment, but now the hard work begins. On the positive…
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Why SPACs aren’t targeting African startups
One. That’s the number of African tech companies that have gone public on the NYSE in the last 10 years. Two, if you’re counting local exchanges. The former is African-focused e-commerce company Jumia and the latter is Egyptian fintech company Fawry. As a tech company, Fawry’s listing on the Egyptian…
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Is buying and selling short-positions in private companies next? This fintech startup is banking on it
Even the most casual industry observer has to be stunned at times by the pace of dealmaking right now. Not quite halfway through 2021, startups are routinely closing new rounds just months apart and sometimes seeing their valuations triple and even quadruple with every new round. Maybe they will all…
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Signalling that privacy is coming to DeFi, Sienna Network raises $11.2M for its platform
Last week we saw some major backing of the Secret Network blockchain, as significant blockchain players Arrington Capital and Blocktower Capital invested in the privacy-first smart contract platform. What this is signaling is the rise of privacy-oriented financial blockchain projects, which are crucial if “DeFi” (decentralized finance) is to have…
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Credit Karma reinvents cash-back rewards with instant payback
Credit Karma Money, a new checking and savings account from the company best known for its credit monitoring service, recently launched a significant new feature. Called Instant Karma, the program rewards users by randomly refunding purchases. So far, since launching the feature, Credit Karma says it has rewarded 100,000 transactions,…
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