Philippines startup Parallax removes the friction from cross-border payments
Sending money across borders is filled with friction, like long wait times, high transaction costs and markups on currency exchange. A Philippines-based startup called Parallax wants to make the process faster and cheaper with a cross-border payments system that can be used for stablecoin, crypto or traditional currencies. Parallax has
Read moreEnglish learning platform ELSA lands $22.5M Series C
ELSA, the English language learning platform, announced today it has raised $22.5 million in Series C funding. It also launched ELSA AI Tutor, which draws on years of speech recognition data collected by the app and reproduces conversations through generative AI to help learners correct their pronunciation, grammar and tone.
Read moreTikTok Shop officially launches in the U.S.
After months of testing, TikTok has finally launched its e-commerce product, TikTok Shop, in the U.S — where it has more than 150 million users. As part of the rollout, the company is bringing features such as a dedicated shop tab on the home screen, live video shopping, shoppable ads,
Read moreE-bike subscription service Dance reaches 10,000 active subscribers
Here are two interesting tidbits of news about Dance, the German startup that offers electric bikes and mopeds via subscription packages. First, the company just added a handful of investors to top up its recent €12 million funding round. Second, Dance now has 10,000 active and paying members. For the
Read moreAscento’s robots aid overstretched security guards
Like in many industries, there’s an acute shortage of security guards. This means guards still on the job have to pull extra hours and are more likely to make mistakes because of fatigue. Ascento is stepping into the gap with autonomous security patrolling robots called Ascento Guards. Distinguished by their
Read moreCalifornia bill to ban driverless autonomous trucks goes to Newsom’s desk
In a blow to the autonomous trucking industry, the California Senate passed a bill Monday that requires a trained human safety operator to be present any time a self-driving, heavy-duty vehicle operates on public roads in the state. In effect, the bill bans driverless AV trucks. AB 316, which passed
Read moreWhy Lime says the time is almost right to go public
Lime, the startup with shared e-scooters and e-bikes in 280 cities around the world, has been talking about going public for years. Now, Lime CEO Wayne Ting says the economic stars are finally aligning to actually make it happen. The public markets have been in the doldrums for nearly two
Read moreIndian consumers’ rising appetite for premium
Indian consumers, traditionally seen as price-conscious, are showing a growing appetite for premium items across a range of sectors, from real estate to smartphones and luxury hotels. The trend, documented by AllianceBernstein analysts in a note to clients this week, signals a shift in the spending habits in the world’s
Read moreHTML5 Template: A Basic Boilerplate for Any Project
Tired of building HTML5 templates from scratch? Learn the key elements of an HTML5 document, and grab our free, ready-to-use boilerplate. Continue reading HTML5 Template: A Basic Boilerplate for Any Project on SitePoint.
Read moreTaiwan-based lifestyle app FunNow merges with Eatigo to broaden its Southeast Asia reach
FunNow, the Taiwan-based app that lets users book activities on-demand in five Asian countries, is growing its reach in Southeast Asia through a merger with restaurant booking app Eatigo. Terms of the deal were undisclosed, but FunNow CEO TK Chen says it is the largest post-COVID O2O M&A deal in
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