News
Hyundai Mobis (KRX:012330), the Seoul, South Korea-based company devoted to securing future car technologies by developing proprietary technologies and investing directly in global leaders, is investing a total of $20m in two US tech funds in Silicon Valley.
Until now, Hyundai Mobis has been investing KRW 1 trillion each year as R&D expenditures, and concentrating on securing proprietary technologies with the Technical Center of Korea and four global R&D centers playing the central role. The company developed the radar sensor, which used to depend entirely on imports, with its own technology in 2018, and independently secured the camera systems for commercial vehicles and the in-cabin sensing technology. Additionally, Hyundai Mobis has been engaging in direct investments in leading companies at home and abroad. Back in 2018, the company invested in StradVision (Korea), a deep-learning-based camera sensor maker. Last year, it invested $50 million in Velodyne, a global leader in lidar technology, and directly invested in the joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv.
Following its development of independent technologies and investments in leading companies,
Hyundai Mobis invested in global startups, diversifying its investment strategies. The company is planning to foster global startups, which have strengths in future mobility technologies and leverage various collaboration opportunities as part of its mid-to-long-term R&D strategies.
To read more, click here.
The Hut Group, parent of online beauty brands such as Lookfantastic, Illamasqua and Glossy Box as well as online fashion retailer Coggles, has reignited speculation that it is eyeing up a £5bn IPO.
According to The Sunday Times, the fast growing Manchester-based group has been holding meetings with a series of high profile investors, such as Schroders, T Rowe Price and Fidelity, which the report says is a prelude to a float. The highly acquisitive group has been well placed to benefit from the COVID-19 lockdown which forced consumers to shop online and led to a boom in beauty and wellness shopping. Earlier this month it reported that its sales had exceeded £1bn in the year to 31 December 2019. EBITDA for the year hit £111m.
Over the past decade founder Matthew Moulding has grown the group through a series of acquisitions and through white labelling its technology to other beauty brands, through its THG Ingenuity division. Last week it signed deals with Elemis, PZ Cussons Beauty, Burt’s Bees, Nuxe, By Terry and Revolution Beauty to power their direct to consumer strategies. The £100m partnerships add to names such as Nestlé and Procter & Gamble in the THG Ingenuity portfolio.
To read more, click here.
Amazon’s investment in London-headquartered food delivery start-up Deliveroo is looking increasingly likely to be approved by the U.K. competition regulator. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Wednesday that it has “provisionally cleared” an Amazon investment that would give it a 16% stake in the company.
A number of European countries were hoping to impose taxes on digital companies above a certain revenue threshold, which would hit mainly U.S. tech firms given their size.
The United States has shocked Europe by pulling out of negotiations over an international digital tax and threatened to retaliate if the region moves ahead with plans on its own. A number of European countries were hoping to impose taxes on digital companies above a certain revenue threshold, which would hit mainly U.S. tech firms given their size.
However, according to the Financial Times, in a letter to France, Italy, Spain and the U.K., the U.S. said international talks had reached an impasse and there wasn’t even room for an interim deal. The move effectively ends any chance of a deal soon.
To read more, click here.
Walmart and Shopify have announced that they are partnering to bring 1,200 sellers onto Walmart.com's third-party marketplace by the end of this year. The focus of the program is "U.S.-based small and medium businesses whose assortment complements ours," Walmart Marketplace Vice President Jeff Clementz said in a company blog post.
Activating the Walmart e-commerce channel through Shopify allows sellers to sync their assortments with Walmart.com to easily track orders, inventory and fulfillment within Shopify, and manage product information on Walmart.com, according to a Shopify press release.
Shopify sellers won't pay fees to list their products on Walmart.com but will pay "referral fees" when they make a sale, Shopify said.
To read more, click here.
Lemonade, one of the most prominent Insurtechs in the US, has filed an S-1 for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Co-founded by CEO Daniel Schreiber and Shai Wininger, Lemonade seeks to disrupt the traditional insurance market with consumer-friendly plans and a heightened degree of transparency. Lemonade provides renters and homeowners insurance to a good number of US states with plans to cover the entire country. Last year, Lemonade announced the expansion into Germany in advance of a rumored IPO.
The wording of the S-1 foreshadows expansion into other European countries including the UK. Chatter had previously pegged an IPO at raising up to $500 million at a $2 billion valuation. The company had about 730,000 customers at the end of Q1 2020 doubling versus the same quarter year prior.
To read more, click here.
Tictrac, a leading Health Engagement company, has today announced it has secured a further £6m in funding, bringing its total investment to date to £13.5m.
Led by London-based Puma Private Equity, the latest round will allow the company to expand its Employee Wellbeing (SaaS) platform, in a bid to tackle increasing stress levels and health problems in the workplace.
At a time when employee engagement has never been more important, with nearly 80% of workers in the UK experiencing some level of stress, Tictrac’s new Employee Wellbeing platform will support businesses to empower their staff in taking greater control of their health and wellbeing.
The Tictrac platform has been cleverly designed to seamlessly fit into an individual’s daily lifestyle. It uses behavioural science to identify trigger points where extra motivation may be required and provides fresh and engaging content to keep users inspired each day.
This content, contributed by well-known health and fitness influencers, includes fitness, yoga and other training videos, meditation and mindfulness, easy recipes and blog posts which provide users with constant inspiration and advice on how to improve their lifestyle.
Founded in 2010, the company has partnered with some of the world’s biggest healthcare and insurance providers, including Aviva, Allianz and Prudential, and now, through its new employer-focused platform, aims to create the world’s most engaged wellbeing community.
To read more, click here.
Five, a UK-based self-driving company, has raised $41 million in a Series B round of equity funding.
The new investors are Trustbridge Partners, Direct Line Group and Sistema VC. Existing investors Lakestar, Amadeus Capital Partners, Kindred Capital and Notion Capital also participated in the round, which makes Five one of Europe’s best-funded self-driving startups, with $77 million raised to date.
Stan Boland, Five’s CEO, said: “This funding round is validation of the work we are doing and the role our technology is set to contribute to developing and assuring self-driving. We’re excited to be able to accelerate development and engagements with partners."
To read more, click here.
As ‘authentic’ link-ups with bodies focused on conservation projects become more and more popular, Procter & Gamble has forged a partnership with London's Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The consumer products giant has linked with Kew via the global Herbal Essences brand and said this week that the partnership between the two is designed to “help save 20 endangered US plant species from extinction in 2020”.
P&G added that some plants are becoming extinct faster than animal species are but that they get less attention. The plants under threat that the new partnership wants to save include the Venus Fly Trap, Blue Ridge Huckleberry and Douglas Clover. Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank is working with partners like the Center for Plant Conservation in Escondido, California, to help conserve seeds from these species.
To read more, click here.
Selfridges have been recognised for its commitment to sustainability at the inaugural Positive Luxury awards, which celebrate companies and individuals that are working towards affecting positive change in businesses and the world.
Selfridges was presented with the Retailer of the Year award at a ceremony held in London, with Positive Luxury highlighting the department store’s leadership in removing single-use plastics in packaging and products. Selfridges has also developed science-based targets to ensure it achieves net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and in June it launched a Beauty Booth to offer shoppers refillable, packaging-free cosmetics.
Other winners included Nadja Swarovski, CEO of Swarovski, who received Business Leader of the Year; Weleda, which was honoured with the Better World Initiative of the Year; and Stay Wild Swim, which received the Breakthrough Brand of the Year title.
To read more, click here.