Amazon employees call on Amazon to stop selling books deemed as anti-trans

In 2021, a handful of Amazon employees quit the company over its decision to sell books that suggest kids who identify as transgender are mentally ill. Now, a group of employees is protesting its continued sale of those books by disrupting a Pride event at its headquarters in Seattle. According to The Washington Post, around… Continue reading Amazon employees call on Amazon to stop selling books deemed as anti-trans

Cathay Capital hits $240m first close of Growth RMB Fund II, targets $448m …

Global investment firm Cathay Capital has secured the first close of its second RMB-denominated growth fund at over 1.6 billion yuan (almost $240 million), while it targets 3 billion yuan ($447.6 million) for the final closing, the firm announced on Thursday. Cathay Growth RMB Fund II is backed by cornerstone investors Valeo, a publicly-listed automotive… Continue reading Cathay Capital hits $240m first close of Growth RMB Fund II, targets $448m …

SG crypto finance startup Cloudwall Capital nets $6.3m and other SE Asia deals

Cloudwall Capital, a Singapore-based crypto-focused digital asset risk management startup, has announced raising $6.3 million in a seed funding round co-anchored by UK-based venture capital investors LocalGlobe and Illuminate Financial. Launched in 2021, Cloudwall Capital seeks to bridge the traditional finance world with digital assets and decentralised finance. Its product, Serenity, is building risk management… Continue reading SG crypto finance startup Cloudwall Capital nets $6.3m and other SE Asia deals

Data Vantage: Tiger Global backs KitaLulus and HitPay, and other updates

Indonesia-based jobs platform KitaLulus has secured $8.15 million in a Series A funding round led by Tiger Global Management, according to regulatory filings. The round was joined by Rocketship.vc, Go-Ventures, Indogen Capital, FEBE Ventures and Goodwater Capital. Several angel investors also participated in the round, including former GoPay CEO Aldi Haryopratomo, Pluang CEO Claudia Kolonas,… Continue reading Data Vantage: Tiger Global backs KitaLulus and HitPay, and other updates

Scientists Propose Turning Skyscrapers Into Massive Gravity Batteries

Here’s how it works. High Rise Battery Researchers have come up with an ingenious idea to tackle our renewable energy storage woes — effectively turning skyscrapers into massive gravity-powered batteries. A team from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria suggest to take advantage of the vertical height of tall buildings, a… Continue reading Scientists Propose Turning Skyscrapers Into Massive Gravity Batteries

Sheryl Sandberg and the Death of ‘The Deal’

Five years. That’s how long Sheryl Sandberg figured she’d be spending at Facebook, now called Meta, when she took the job as chief operating officer and Mark Zuckerberg’s much-ballyhooed partner in 2008. Enough time to modulate the company’s swaggering culture into something sustainable, build a wildly successful ad business, and set up a policy operation… Continue reading Sheryl Sandberg and the Death of ‘The Deal’

How Mdou Moctar’s Music Went Viral Via Bluetooth

Depending on where you are in the world, life after the death of physical music looks very different. In West Africa, the post-CD landscape was populated by market stalls selling SIM and micro-SD cards preloaded with tracks. Eventually, pals started sharing songs directly by Bluetooth, phone to phone. After WhatsApp began to spread in the… Continue reading How Mdou Moctar’s Music Went Viral Via Bluetooth

Elon Musk tells SpaceX and Tesla workers they must return to the office full-time

Elon Musk delivered an ultimatum to Tesla and Space X’s corporate workforces: Spend a minimum of 40 hours a week in the office, or leave the company. Musk today confirmed in a tweet that screenshots of an email sent to workers was real. According to The New York Times, workers at both companies received similar… Continue reading Elon Musk tells SpaceX and Tesla workers they must return to the office full-time