Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

pozzito.com/2017/07/21/your-business-needs-viber/

Viber is really going up. The number of unique Viber user IDs from June 2011 to December 2016 has risen from 11 million  to 858 million. That’s 78 times!

Viber was the only other messaging app to claim 10 or more countries in a very short period of time, and now Viber is used in 193 countries and has  260 million monthly active users.  Other apps like Whats App, We Chat, Hangouts, etc. didn’t have such a big growth in a short time.


More Viber stats
Viber fan growth:  + 280 by day and +9600 by month
Each group can have up to 250 participants
Viber is available in more than 30 languages
Ability to call non-Viber users through a feature named Viber Out

Quelle: siehe letztes Posting

“We believe ride hailing, or a version of it, is the best way to build public transport today,” Mudassir Sheikha said in an interview in Dubai, where Careem is based. There’s a Middle Eastern city “that’s building a metro bus system for $700 million dollars that will transport 200,000 people. If they invested the same amount in ride-hailing, it would have capacity for 1.5 million people and create 100,000 jobs.”

Careem, Uber Technologies Inc.’s largest rival in the Middle East, is one of the most visible technology companies in a region drawing growing interest from investors. According to Magnitt, an online data platform for the technology ecosystem in the Middle East and North Africa, 2017 is on track to be a record year for funding, with the number of deals and the amount of startup investment increasing. Careem is the region’s only unicorn company, counting Rakuten Inc., Kingdom Holding Co., China’s Didi Chuxing and Daimler AG among its investors.

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...pend-beats-road-investment

Uber rival Careem closes $500M raise at $1B+ valuation as Daimler steps in
Posted Jun 14, 2017 by Ingrid Lunden (@ingridlunden)

Amid ongoing struggles at Uber, one of its stronger regional rivals in transportation on demand has raised a significant round of funding, picking up a significant strategic investor in the process. Careem, a transportation startup currently in 80 cities across the Middle East, has raised another $150 million — closing out a $500 million Series E round that it confirmed in December when it announced the first $350 million tranche. With the new funds, Mudassir Sheikha, Careem’s co-founder and CEO, confirmed that Careem’s valuation is now over $1 billion. A separate source tells us more precisely that the funding is now $1.2 billion.

techcrunch.com/2017/06/14/...b-valuation-as-daimler-steps-in/

Nachdem von dem japanischen Marktplatz Rakuten in Deutschland lange Zeit keine größeren Änderungen zu vernehmen waren, kommt jetzt eine richtig große Änderung: Ein gut durchdachter Prime-Konkurrent.

Rakuten, das ist vermutlich wenigen Händlern und Kunden bekannt, hat ein recht buntes Universum an attraktiven Diensten: einen Streaming-Dienst, den Messenger Viber und einen Marktplatz, auf dem vom Apfel bis zum Zirkuszelt so ziemlich alles gekauft werden kann. Bisher verstand Rakuten es noch nicht, die daraus entstehenden Möglichkeiten gut auszunutzen – jetzt ändert sich das mit der Einführung des neuen Rakuten-Clubs – ein neues Kundenbindungsprogramm, das intelligent Mehrwert und Versandvorteile kombiniert.

t3n.de/news/rakuten-club-prime-programm-877154/

www.rakuten.de/events/rakuten-tv

Der VoD-Dienst zeichnet sich vor allem durch sein unkompliziertes und unverbindliches Konzept aus. Ihr meldet euch mit eurer E-Mail-Adresse an, erstellt ein Konto und müsst anschließend nichts weiter unternehmen, bis ihr einen Film oder eine Serie schauen wollt. Ihr seid, anders als bei Netflix und Amazon Prime Video, nicht an ein Abonnement gebunden, eine Grundgebühr als Bedingung der Mitgliedschaft entfällt. Ihr könnt immer dann auf das Rakuten TV-Angebot zugreifen, wenn es euch gerade passt. Hier klären wir die wichtigsten Fragen zu dem VoD-Anbieter.

www.moviepilot.de/news/...enst-fur-die-neuesten-filme-193549#

www.computerbild.de/artikel/...ckzug-Deutschland-18045891.html

Rakuten acquired Bitnet blockchain IP assets to build Rakuten Blockchain Lab

Rakuten has confirmed that it has acquired the assets of Bitnet, a bitcoin wallet startup it invested in, which will be used to create a ‘blockchain lab’ for the Japanese retail giant.
The transaction is undisclosed but it follows a Wall Street Journal report in July which speculated that a deal was in the works. Rakuten took part in a $14.5 million investment round for Bitnet nearly two years ago, which was led by Highland Capital Partners.
Rakuten integrated Belfast-based Bitnet’s payment option into some of its online commerce sites last summer. Bitnet was supposed to rival bitcoin payment heavyweights Coinbase and Bitpay, but after a spate of executives left and the startup reportedly laid off half of its staff to cut costs, it struggled to grow its business. That led to this strategic asset-stripping move from Rakuten.
The Japanese e-commerce giant is taking Bitnet’s IP and “assets” and two of the startup’s key personnel to create a Belfast-located research facility to explore the potential of the blockchain. That makes a lot of sense given Rakuten’s empire of e-commerce websites and banking services in Japan and elsewhere in the world

techcrunch.com/

What Is Voyagin?
Voyagin is an online discovery and booking platform for unique and popular experiences, specialising in destinations around Asia. The founders of Voyagin created this platform after facing the struggle of exploring Asia without local expertise. They realised that guide books can only take you so far, then you need a little local help.
Originally started in Japan, Voyagin offers excellent coverage in Asia and is now expanding into the Middle East, Europe and USA with more destinations and attractions coming online regularly.
travelwithbender.com/product-reviews/voyagin-review-asia

www.tourmega.com/users/408/public_profile

Rakuten hasn’t always been as hands-off in its approach to expansion. In 2012-13, it launched online marketplaces for Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, spreading its Japan-born business model into Southeast Asia. But something about that model didn’t catch on, and in early 2016, Rakuten announced it was shutting down all three websites. Its next move was even more revealing: this August Rakuten led a $35 million Series B round for Carousell, a Singapore-based online marketplace. Rather than expand itself, it seems, Rakuten has opted to invest in or acquire locally bred tech.

carousell.com/app/

eigene E-Commerce-Töchter in hunderten Ländern durchzudrücken, zeigt die Bewertung von fast einer Milliarde von Carousell:

www.funderbeam.com/startups/carousell?ref=teleport

OverDrive Education helps educators serve more than 7 million students with eBooks & audiobooks
PHOENIX—NOV. 9, 2017—eBooks and audiobooks support literacy goals and encourage reading in more than 18,000 schools and districts across the U.S. With the OverDrive Education reading platform, school librarians are leveraging the power of digital to bring eBooks and audiobooks to more than 7 million students. They will share their successes and best practices at the American Association of School Librarians National Conference at the Phoenix Convention Center, Nov. 9-11.
In 2017, students in 2,500 new schools gained access to digital reading on an OverDrive platform, which offers eBooks and audiobooks in every subject from languages to leisure reading. To maximize budget and resources, 1,200 of those schools joined a Shared eBook & Audiobook Collection, a model that enables two or more schools to access digital content via a joint platform, with all purchased titles available to all members through this central access point. Sharing means schools can access more digital titles than any one institution could purchase on their own. Thirty new Shared Collections were formed in 2017, ranging from 26 schools in the Connect Shared Digital Collection in Ohio to statewide groups in Nebraska and Montana.
company.overdrive.com/...aders-aasl-champion-digital-reading/

National Library Board of Singapore Launches Digital Business Library
Companies of all sizes now have 24/7 access to thousands of top business resources
SINGAPORE – October 23, 2017 – Companies, from startups to multinational conglomerates, will be able to get access to top business resources in a new Digital Business Library. The new resource is a one-stop portal launched by the National Library Board of Singapore (NLB), in conjunction with OverDrive, the leading digital reading platform for libraries and schools.
The Digital Business Library provides 24/7 access to over 19,000 eBook and audiobook titles from the world’s foremost business authors, and are available for borrowing instantly on smartphone, tablet or desktop computer with a valid library account at www.nlb.gov.sg. With the Digital Business Library’s curated collections, the latest trends in businesses will now be at the fingertips, including topics on cybersecurity, business intelligence, neuroscience and data analytics.
company.overdrive.com/...e-launches-digital-business-library/

A Bulgarian Service at Viber Promotes Us as a Tourist Destination
www.novinite.com

''For the first time all Viber users will be able to get to know the tourist attractions of our country.'' This is what Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelova told during the presentation of the first Bulgarian service in the Viber search engine, which is a joint project between the Ministry of Tourism and iLoveBulgaria.

Angelkova said that, according to the latest data, about 900 million people use this chat. "Last year we launched the project iLove Bulgaria. We started with the hundred national tourist sites. We added a lot of objects that are located on the Black Sea coast and in our winter resorts, "she said, adding that at the moment the tourist landmarks in the application are 5 000.

Read more: www.bulgarianproperties.com/...tination_7367.html?property=545

From David Del Valle in Madrid
November 9, 2017

Streaming service Rakuten TV has launched its offer on 4K HDR (High Dynamic Range) for Smart TVs.
Over 100 titles will be available, including 2017 hits Transformers: The Last Knight, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Baby Driver and Baywatch among others.

Users of Samsung Tizen UHD HDR TV sets will have a 4K HDR app in their devices to have access to the service with films on 4K HDR through the channel TV Plus UHD 4002. The latest released films are available at €5.99.
Jacinto Roca, CEO and founder of the company, said that Rakuten TV is working with the best TV manufacturers and the best US studios “to give the fastest access and the best content through this technology offering a real cinema experience”

finance.yahoo.com/news/...-first-international-161106644.html

Rakuten Leads $530M Investment In Lyft
- Investment in Lyft represents investment in the sharing econo,y

TOKYO, March 12, 2015  – Rakuten, Inc. (TOKYO: 4755), today announced that it has agreed to purchase a 11.9% stake in Lyft, the San Francisco-based ride-sharing service provider and sharing economy pioneer. Rakuten is investing $300M as the lead investor in Lyft’s series E investment round.
global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2015/0312_01.html

Von Kirsten Korosec
12. April 2017
Das Ride-Hailing-Dienstleistungsunternehmen Lyft hat bei seiner jüngsten Fundraising-Runde eine Reihe neuer Investoren gewonnen, darunter die bekannte Private-Equity-Gesellschaft KKR (kkr-co-lp) , AllianceBernstein (awf) , Baillie Gifford und Kanadas Public Sector Pension Investment Board.
Die bisherigen Investoren Rakuten (rkunf) und Janus Capital (jns) kehrten zur Teilnahme an der Runde zurück, bei der neues Kapital in Höhe von $ 600 Millionen mit einer Post-Money-Bewertung von $ 7,5 Milliarden geschlossen wurde.  Fortune berichtete zuvor, die Finanzierungsrunde sei "mehr als 500 Millionen Dollar".

translate.google.de/...lliancebernstein-uber/&prev=search

Lyft raises $1 billion at $11 billion valuation led by Alphabet’s CapitalG
Posted Oct 19, 2017 by Darrell Etherington (@etherington

techcrunch.com/2017/10/19/...ation-led-by-alphabets-capitalg/

Japanese owners of an Android phone running KitKat or higher are able to make use of Android Pay today, provided they use Rakuten Edy.

In its announcement, Google said Rakuten Edy is available at over 470,000 locations, with users able to create a new Edy card or use an existing card.

www.zdnet.com/article/...ay-arrives-in-japan-with-rakuten-edy/

Fintech innovator expands into APAC: Rakuten Securities
DECEMBER 6, 2017

Rakuten Card, Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Pay, Rakuten Life Insurance – Rakuten’s agile, innovative fintech companies have already cemented their positions as major players in the domestic financial landscape. Now they’re beginning to make inroads outside Japan. Since 2015, Rakuten Securities has taken major steps to expand in APAC, offering low-cost, user-friendly services to customers across the region.

rakuten.today/blog/..._medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS+Reader

amounts can be reduced dramatically. And while robo-advisers manage trade decisions through sophisticated algorithms, they still draw on the same modern portfolio theory that has driven the investment industry for decades.
Rakuten arrived on the scene in mid-2016, when Rakuten Securities launched a robo-adviser-powered online asset management service, Raku-Wrap (the “wrap” refers to a type of account with annual fees, rather than per-trade fees). The service mainly targets individuals in Japan
OCTOBER 24, 2017

Robo-advisers are nothing new – the idea has been around for nearly a decade, making it practically ancient by internet standards. What is new, however, is that they’ve found a receptive market in millennials, who are now starting to think about investing and are naturally looking for a tech solution to do so.

The idea behind robo-advisers is to lower the barrier to investing by removing costly human advisers from the equation. Without the human element, annual charges and minimum investment looking to start investing with small amounts of money and the strategy appears to be working. Raku-Wrap now manages more than 20 billion yen of investments, making it the second largest robo-adviser in Japan, following current market leader WealthNavi, which was established in April 2015.

rakuten.today/blog/raku-wrap-winning-young-investors.html