In today’s top news, Uber sells its India food delivery service to Zomato for a stake in the business, and JPMorgan created a $100 billion funding arm to expand investments in emerging markets. Also, Amazon leads the pack in Europe’s expanding smart home market.
Uber Sells India Uber Eats to Zomato for Cash, Stake in Business
Uber is selling its India food delivery service to rival Zomato for a 9.99 percent business stake, according to reports on Tuesday (Jan. 21). The rideshare giant also recently dumped ventures in Russia, China and Southeast Asia, keeping its promise to get rid of money-losers and turn a profit.
JPMorgan Creates $100B Funding Arm to Help UN
JPMorgan has created a $100 billion funding arm to expand investments in emerging markets and help the United Nations meet its sustainable development goals. The JPMorgan Development Finance Institution will be headed by Faheen Allibhoy, a country manager responsible for JPMorgan’s West African division.
Amazon Unseats Google in Fast-Growing EU Smart Home Market
Amazon’s Fire TV led the way in top smart home entertainment choices in 2019, although more new players are expected to join the crowded field. Europe’s smart home market growth increased 18.1 percent year over year and is anticipated to be at 185.9 million units by 2023.
Lawmakers Get Earful About Big Tech Biz Practices from Smaller Tech Players
At a House Judiciary Committee “field” hearing titled “Online Platforms and Market Power: Competitors in the Digital Economy,” a number of smaller tech firms called out Big Tech giants for what they called unfair business practices. They claimed that Big Tech has been abusing its dominance of various marketplaces to stack the playing field against small to mid-sized companies.
How Shutterstock Fast-Tracks Royalty Disbursements
For creative gig professionals like photographers and videographers, hustling from job to job can often result in an unpredictable cash flow. To drive worker satisfaction, job marketplaces must update disbursement processes or risk losing talent to their competition. In the latest Disbursements Tracker, Paul Brennan, VP of content operations for Shutterstock, discusses how the company is enabling faster disbursements for its one million contributors to drive retention.
Mastercard on Helping Retailers Strike the Right Innovation Balance
Brick-and-mortar retail is changing, and brands need to stay outside their comfort zone to stay relevant to customers, according to Michelle Carter, head of data and services in global retail for Mastercard. The challenge for merchants is figuring out which out-of-the-box ideas to pursue — and how.
Group Effort for Central Banks and Digital Currencies?
Some of the world’s central banks are forming a group to study the ways and means of issuing central bank digital currencies, focusing on “potential use cases” within their home jurisdictions. The group will be co-chaired by Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe and Benoit Coeure, head of the BIS Innovation Hub and former ECB official.
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