Tech Round-Up: August 2020 - Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose!
This month, Amazon recorded record profits, Southeast Asian eCommerce continued to grow at pace, the China-US Tech Cold War intensified and the Aussies had a crack at Facebook and Google. Welcome to the August Tech Round-Up. Cheers from all of us at North Ridge Partners.
Original Thinking from North Ridge Partners:
Getting deals done in a pandemic: 24/7 deal-making by Zoom continues at North Ridge Partners, with the refinancing of Magic Memories and sale of the SMART Group to Acquire BPO.
Turning back time. COVID-19: From 2020 to 2005. Fiona Robertson questions our ability to survive the pandemic had it happened in the past decades.
Our partners are going mad! Here’s what they’re up to in their spare time.
In Global Tech News:
The tech giants’ quarterly results are out: eCommerce rocked. Advertising didn’t.
Big Tech goes to Washington (as it were): Big Tech CEOs appear before the US Congress in a virtual antitrust hearing.
The Tech Cold War: The US-China rift is causing seismic shifts throughout the tech world.
Microsoft hunts down TikTok: But why, you may ask?
Pandemic sinks Uber: In a sign of the times, ride sharing falls 75% while Uber Eats booms.
In Regional Tech News:
Reliance and Jio Platforms clean up: Jio wraps up its amazing fundraising spree at more than $20 billion.
The hunt for the next Alibaba is underway in Southeast Asia: SooHai Lim is bullish on eCommerce in Southeast Asia.
The Aussie regulator pushes back: Facebook and Google may have to pay traditional news media to publish their content if the ACCC has its way.
Go, Jek! This 11-year-old wunderkind contributed more than US$7.1 billion to Indonesia’s economy last year.
Yet another Australian neobank launches: Yawn.
Stuff we liked:
More fizzle than sizzle: Whatever happened to digital contact tracing?
Be worried: Brad Slingerlend’s masterclass in semiconductors.
150 million kids can’t be wrong: The Roblox gaming platform is now used by over half of the kids under 16 in the US.
Crisis? What crisis? Silicon Valley’s richest just keep getting richer, pandemic or not.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX guides NASA astronauts home: The atypical ride from space to water.
From Fintech Corner:
The humans fight back: Forbes believes that people will always play a vital role when it comes to managing your money.
Fintech feels the icy draft of a downturn: Tough times in Fintech land.
Fintech in the land of Brexit: The Lord Mayor of London shares his vision (shouldn’t he be reading the last article??)
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