Jun 06, 2024

I recently read about Thailand experiencing a boom in out-of-home consumption, with FMCG brands being urged to realign their products and marketing to cater to the rising demand for convenience-driven purchases. Additionally, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to see a $15 billion investment in carbon capture and storage over the next decade, with countries like Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia emerging as hubs for carbon capture. However, Indonesia’s money supply fell by 6.9% year-on-year in April, due to disbursed loans and net claims. Furthermore, commitment issues are on the rise amidst climate risks, dampening insurance reliability and leading to Typhoon Koinu alone resulting in over $500 million in insurance claims in 2023.

In other news, Dollar Tree has announced a strategic review of its Family Dollar unit, which could potentially result in a sale or spinoff. The company had acquired Family Dollar in 2015 for over $9 billion, but various challenges have affected the performance of the chain. Meanwhile, in the venture capital space, several companies have raised significant amounts in funding, including Twelve Labs raising $50 million in Series A funding, Eko Health raising $41 million in Series D funding, and Sword Health raising $30 million in new equity funding. Additionally, companies like Avail, Eko Health, and Sword Health have also secured substantial funding in recent funding rounds.

I recently heard about a number of funding rounds and acquisitions in the tech and finance sectors. Some notable ones include HypeSpectral, a pathogen detection startup, raising $8.5m in Series A funding, Aperture Finance, a decentralized finance platform, raising $6.7m in Series A funding, and Everclear, a blockchain interoperability protocol, raising $5m from Pantera Capital. Additionally, The Logic, a Canadian business and tech news publication, raised C$4m from firms like FT Ventures. There were also several acquisitions, such as Accurate Background acquiring Minneapolis-based employee screening company Orange Tree, Advent International and Leonard Green & Partners agreeing to buy Prometheus Group, and Greenbriar Equity Group acquiring Sunvair, a provider of aircraft MRO services.

In addition to the funding and acquisitions, there were also a few public offerings and fundraising activities. For example, Novelis, an Atlanta-based maker of aluminum products, postponed an IPO, while Tempus AI, a precision medicine data and analytics company, set IPO terms to 11.1m shares at $35-$37. Cisco Systems also launched a $1b AI investment fund, and Ulu Ventures, a seed-stage firm, raised over $190m for its fourth fund.

Overall, it seems like there’s a lot of activity in the tech and finance sectors, with a significant amount of funding, acquisitions, public offerings, and fundraising activities taking place.

Stay Well!