July Tech Round-Up: Putting the Band Back Together: Digital Media and Marketplaces
Dear reader,
Digital media and digital marketplaces have spent 30 years competing over advertising budgets. That might be starting to change. This month we explain why, based on our recent experience in advising leading Kiwi media company Stuff on the sale of 50% of Stuff Digital to New Zealand’s favourite marketplace, Trade Me.
Enjoy, from the team at North Ridge Partners.
Original Thinking From North Ridge Partners
Digital media and marketplaces once operated in silos—one built for attention, the other for conversion. But in today’s outcome-driven, post-cookie world, they’re merging. Powered by first-party data and algorithmic precision, this convergence is reshaping the digital landscape. From Amazon’s blend of ecommerce, streaming, and advertising to the Stuff Digital–Trade Me fusion, the logic is clear: integrated platforms drive real outcomes. They compress the funnel, close the loop, and create a seamless path from awareness to action. For brands, it’s about lifetime value. For media, reinvention. For everyone else? A new blueprint for digital value creation. Click here to read our analysis.
Short of Time? Listen to the Podcast
Holly Headline and Jeff Betsos, our two AI podcasters, go to town on digital media and marketplaces. An easy 13-minute listen.
Big Tech
A tale of two cities: Meta writes $100m sign-on bonuses for AI talent as Microsoft lays off 9000 staff.
Nvidia is now the world’s most valuable company.
No longer a figma of their imagination: IPO approaches.
Driverless cars, with drivers: Tesla’s robotaxi is live.
It’s not theft, it’s “transformation”: US court rules on AI and copyright.
I’ll have a piece of that! Cloudflare wants AI firms to pay publishers every time they scrape a site.
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Asia Pacific Tech News
The Aussie tech ecosystem may be underfunded, but it sure punches above its weight. Just look at Canva, plotting another sell down (this time at a $56bn valuation), and the Airwallex founders, up $5bn since they spurned Stripe.
Xero well and truly rolls the dice, agreeing to acquire US fintech Melio for $3bn.
Peter Thiel-backed Syfe raises $80m Series C after acquiring Selfwealth platform.
Insights on the Indonesia unicorn factory.
Singapore tech firms have dominated Southeast Asian funding rounds in H1 2025 .
AWS to invest A$20bn in Australia by 2029.
Stuff We Found Interesting
Ben Thompson of Stratechery rates the Big Five’s AI prospects.
Be scared. You’ve got 1,000 days until AI-mageddon. Ford’s CEO says half of all white collar jobs will be on the chopping block due to AI.
In the first half of 2025, over a third of U.S. VC funds went into just five companies.
Denmark grants personal copyright protections to combat AI deepfakes.
AI Tech Bros suffer setback as Senate kills AI’s regulatory free pass by 99-1
Blockchain, anyone? Robinhood wants to redo Wall Street.
Tech Investment Banking Across Asia Pacific
North Ridge Partners advises tech companies across the Asia Pacific on strategy, capital raising and M&A. We’re experienced dealmakers who have built and sold many tech companies. In partnership with GP Bullhound, we have 200 bankers in 17 global offices.
Contact us here.
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