HSBC to Acquire AXA Singapore for $575 Million

HSBC’s Asian arm has entered into a definitive agreement which will see them acquire 100% of the issued share capital of AXA Singapore. HSBC is buying the life insurer for a reported $575 million.

HSBC in its press release has said that the acquisition of AXA Singapore is a “key step” in becoming the leading wealth manager in Asia. Post the completion of the transaction HBSC Life Singapore and AXA Singapore will combine their operations.

“This is an important acquisition that demonstrates our ambition to grow our Wealth business
across Asia. Wealth is one of our highest growth and highest return opportunities, and plays to our strengths as an Asia-centered bank with a global reach. We are acquiring a good business that fits well with our existing operations, and which strengthens our status as one of Asia’s leading wealth and insurance providers,” said Noel Quinn, Group Chief Executive, HSBC Holdings plc.

There is a growing population of affluent and high net worth population in Singapore and across Southeast Asia that is driving the demand for health and insurance solutions for individuals, their families and SMEs. HSBC’s expansion in Singapore will help it reach this demography in Singapore and the region.

The acquisition will create a combined business that will make HSBC the 7^th largest life insurer and 4^th largest retail health insurer with over 600,000 policies in-force covering life, health and P&C1.

 

Singapore-based Cloud Delivery Platform Parcel Perform Raises $20 million

 

The cloud-based delivery experience platform Parcel Perform announced that it has secured $20 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Cambridge Capital, with new investor SoftBank Ventures Asia. Existing investors Wavemaker Partners and Investible joined the round too.

The Singapore-based company manages over 100 million parcel tracking updates every day and provides real-time visibility of tracking data. It also helps businesses to increase customer lifetime value by up to 40%. The company has seen fantastic growth, with its revenues growing five times since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are thrilled that our investors recognize our ability to build a sustainable and profitable business by serving some of the most sophisticated enterprise customers worldwide to help them boost their customer satisfaction online,” said Dr. Arne Jeroschewski, CEO and Co-founder of Parcel Perform. 

Parcel Perform will be using the fresh funding to support its global expansion and recruitment efforts. The company will also use the funding to build its technology offerings and invest in AI solutions, which will include scaling its proprietary ‘Date of Arrival’ prediction engine which allows customers to know precisely when their parcels will arrive. Further, the company also plans to establish a regional headquarters in North America and grow its global employee count to 150 by the end of this year.

 

HONOR Magic3 Series to Feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Platform

The technology brand HONOR has announced its new HONOR Magic3 Series. This new series by HONOR will include HONOR Magic3, HONOR Magic3 Pro, and HONOR Magic3 Pro+. The brand new Magic3 Series has the backing of the new Snapdragon® 888 Plus 5G Mobile Platform. This new platform has been upgraded from the Snapdragon 888 in terms of CPU and AI computing. The new chipset has boosted the AI performance by 20%.

HONOR announced the launch of the Magic3 Series in a special event. “HONOR has always showcased our most innovative ideas through the HONOR Magic Series, and the HONOR Magic3 Series continues this legacy,” said George Zhao, CEO of HONOR Device Co, Ltd. “Representing HONOR’s vision for the future of mobile technology, we are proud of the industry partnerships we’ve forged which have helped in the development of this ground-breaking new smartphone as well as the continued efforts from our R&D team to reintroduce HONOR to the global market, in a never-before-seen display of exceptional technology.”

Along with the Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Platform, the HONOR Magic3 Series will also feature OS Turbo X, which was transferred to the Snapdragon 8 series chipset for the first time. It contains Low-latency engine, Anti-aging Engine, Smart Memory Engine that improve fluency, anti-aging, and allow more apps to remain alive in the background.

Additionally, HONOR’s LINK Turbo X, a self-developed state-of-the-art technology, will help the HONOR Magic3 Series successfully make use of Wi-Fi and cellular networks together to deliver a peak download speed of 6.1Gbps10, the fastest download speed available on a smartphone today.

 

India’s Lenskart to Recruit 2,000 Employees by 2022

Indian eyewear brand Lenskart has said that it will be hiring over 2,000 employees in India and 300 more overseas by 2022 to reach more people.

Over the next few years, Lenskart is going on the offensive to expand its consumer base. The company will hire 1,500 employees to add to its retail locations and more than 100 engineers to beef up its technology team across India. In addition to this, Lenskart will recruit over 300 employees to join its supply chain and manufacturing operations. One hundred more people will be hired for corporate functions.

“We have continued to grow exponentially, in international markets as well as in India, and we are building a strong presence in regional markets as well through our stores and e-commerce. This has opened up several job opportunities across Lenskart to serve and delight our customers at a huge scale. So, hiring is a key aspect in our growth journey, and we are looking at actively hiring skilled talent across verticals for regions like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi, among others,” said Lenskart’s CEO and founder Peyush Bansal, in a statement.

Founded in 2010, Lenskart has a huge presence as an eyewear brand in India. It has over 5,000 employees on its payroll, including engineers, designers, and data scientists. The company serves over 7 million people all over the world.

 

IronNet Makes its Collective Defense Solution Available To All Singapore Enterprises

IronNet has announced that it is making its flagship Collective Defense solution available to all enterprises in Singapore. The technology will empower organizations in Singapore to stay ahead of the evolving threats and defend their network through real-time cyberattack intelligence sharing and collaboration across industries and sectors.

“It is very exciting to see IronNet's Collective Defense platform expanding globally into Singapore. Our approach is truly a revolutionary one, enabling AI-based threat detection and collaboration across enterprises for a stronger, more proactive cyber defense,” said General (Ret.) Keith Alexander, Founder and Co-CEO at IronNet Cybersecurity.

The Collective Defense Solution platform uses behavioral analytics and artificial intelligence to deliver visibility across enterprise ecosystems, group-level detection and correlation, and instant collaboration with fellow defenders.

“Given the shortage of skilled cybersecurity operations resources coupled with rapidly evolving cyber threats, it is vital to build a cyber-defense framework that can leverage our collective wisdom across enterprises and help scale over time. This expansion of the Singapore Collective Defense community allows businesses in Singapore to detect threats together and defend together,” said Gaurav Chhiber, VP of Asia Pacific and Japan at IronNet.

 

Popular investment firm Aretha Capital Partners is gearing up to launch a new real estate platform to ease buying and selling

Aretha Capital Partners, a popular name in the investment segment, has recently made an announcement that it will be launching a platform called Novyy.com. The new platform is expected to be a unique integrated platform aimed at global real estate investing and buying. The main motto of the platform is to democratize the retail real estate segment so that there is reduced friction while the buyers have to go through various stages. The cost is also expected to reduce, and the fees will also be lower by almost 50-70 percent for the buyers.

As of now, Novyy.com has properties listed in the UK, India, and Key European markets with a valuation that is the same for any buyers globally. New features are expected to be added soon to identify and fulfill the requests. The integration for real estate was long overdue, and it was left unaddressed for a long time.  Heft price and multiple prices offered for the same property was creating a huge gap in the buying and selling process of the real estate. More than 100 million people are expected to buy homes in the coming decade, and half of the same are expected to be in the emerging market.

 

The lawmakers requested gaming companies in the US to make kids-friendly designs

preventing cybercrimes, online services, software, technology, the silicon review

Lawmakers in the U.S. have urged gaming companies to promote child-friendly designs for their games. Many major gaming companies like Sony, Walt Disney, Epic Games, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Niantic were called upon to protect kids from schemes that are predatory. The lawmakers have also asked the game creators to comply with U.K.’s AADC for the U.S. The letter had stated that it is important for Congress to act with urgency and bring in strong privacy laws for the teens and children of the 21st century.

As the lawmakers continue to work towards that goal, the companies were requested to consider the teens and children living in the U.S. to enhance privacy and comply with the AADC. Last year, the data privacy regulators from the U.K. had introduced a new set of design guidelines for the providers of digital services to follow, and it was aimed at safeguarding children under the age of 18 from committing cybercrimes. The AADC code has 15 regulations that must be followed while designing and developing online services to protect the interest of the child. The lawmakers have also reached out to cover websites that children often frequent to promote data privacy.