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LATEST TECH NEWS: Facebook closes $5.7B capital investment in India. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, April 22, 2020

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These 5 latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Facebook closes $5.7B capital investment in India’s Reliance Jio

Zuckerberg's refusal to attend UK hearing forced seizure of documents, reports say

World’s largest social media company, Facebook, has announced investing $5.7 billion for a 9.99% stake in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms. The platform, according to user experience reviews, is a three-and-a-half-year-old subsidiary of the nation’s most valued firm, Reliance Industries, and the biggest telecom operator in the country with more than 370 million subscribers.

Venture capitalists and investment evaluators have noted that the deal, which valued Jio at a pre-money valuation of $65.95 billion, makes Facebook the largest minority shareholder in the Indian telecom network. According to Facebook, the investment marks its “commitment to India”, where it will focus on collaborating with Jio to create “new ways for people and businesses to operate more effectively in the growing digital economy.”

2. Seedstars records first investment from its $100m Africa Fund

Emerging markets startup competition sponsor, Seedstars, has recorded its first investment from the $100-million Africa fund initiative. This was revealed on Wednesday, April 22, by Seedstars co-founder Pierre-Alain Masson as he reminded the public that the initiative was launched last year April.

According to him, the idea came to life in order to invest in African startups, and was in collaboration with Paris based First Growth Ventures. Seedstars has re-emphasised that the fund aims to make investments of between $250 000 to $5-million in Series-A and Series-B deals. Press has reported that the first investment was made into a Kenyan education startup, with name undisclosed.


Tech Trivia:

What’s the first computer graphical game?

  1. Tic Tac Toe
  2. Mario
  3. Car race
  4. Virtualcop
  5. Awale

Answer: See end of post.


3. Medallia acquires voice-to-text specialist Voci Technologies for $59M

Customer experience platform, Medallia, has announced acquiring Voci Technologies, a speech-to-text startup, for $59 million in cash. Having managed its business,  a customer experience platform that scans online reviews, social media, and other sources to provide better insights into what a company is doing right and wrong and what needs to get addressed, Medallia plans to integrate the startup’s AI technology so that voice-based interactions can be part of the data crunched by its analytics platform.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: VanMoof unveils new electric bikes. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, April 21, 2020

Commenting on the new development, the acquiring company on Wednesday, April 22, noted that the purchase will facilitate its speedy result-reaching upon adoption. “Voci transcribes 100% of live and recorded calls into text that can be analyzed quickly to determine customer satisfaction, adding a powerful set of signals to the Medallia Experience Cloud.”

4. Houzz lays off 155 employees as COVID-19 persists 

Online platform for home renovation and design, Houzz, has laid off 155 employees. Staff strength review revealed that the lay off chopped off roughly 10% of its staff members. As the coronavirus pandemic lingers on, more tragic decisions are been taken by the startup. While announcing the lay off on Wednesday, April 22, the company also noted that it has slashed its executives’ salaries to match the low-revenue trend.

Just last year, however, the company was valued at $4 billion, hence, less expected to toll this lane. Confirming the development, the company’s spokesperson submitted that the pandemic influenced its decision. “Due to the impact of COVID-19 on small businesses in the home renovation and design space, and the resulting impact on our core business of pro subscriptions, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to part ways with 155 employees, which is approximately 10% of our team.”

5. Ugandan Xeno raises $150k pre-seed from Nordic Impact Funds

Ugandan Fintech Xeno has raised $150 000 from Nordic Impact Funds in a pre-seed funding round. The 3 year old startup, which was founded in by Aeko Ongodia, runs an online platform that assists clients to plan, save, and invest their money in a diversified investment portfolio.

According to the startup, it has raised a total sum of $430 000 since its inception. Among recent developments, the startup partnered with MTN Uganda to make investment advice and management available to anyone looking to invest as little for as little as 10,000 Ugandan shillings ($3.70). Xeno has been investing its client funds through four unit trust funds, to stay in business.

Tech Trivia Answer: Tic Tac Toe

Written in 1952, the first computer graphical game was called OXO, a tic-tac-toe game for the EDSAC computer at the University of Cambridge. That year, A. S. Douglas wrote the Noughts and Crosses Offsite Link, on the cathode ray tube (CRT) screen of the EDSACOffsite Link at Cambridge University. Today, the game is a free feature on Google chrome upon search query: TIC TAC TOE.

 

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