Issue 328 · Sep 10, 2021 Weekly edition · 3 min read

Issue #328

The circular economy is a huge chance to stand out for the insurance industry to increase ESG coverage. Especially when it is not just claims but well-founded and transparent arguments. This is more frequently demanded

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Circular Economy Could Be a Winner For Insurers

A recent survey by DNV and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) reveals that circular economy is rising on corporate agendas across geographies. Despite the growing attention in the public, among legislators and companies, the shift to business models that design waste out of the system seems to progress slowly.

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In this issue · 9 items

14 corporate seed-stage investors you need to know Skifted — Most corporates don’t invest in startup seed rounds. At this early stage, the companies are usually still pre-revenue, they may only have a prototype ready and it can be difficult to predict when they will be ready to commercialise their technology. Open story ↗ Coinbase Reveals Serious Warning Amid Sudden $400 Billion Bitcoin And Crypto Price Crash Forbes — Now, major bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has revealed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned it will sue Coinbase if it launches a new digital asset lending product. Open story ↗ Standard Chartered to launch digital only bank in Singapore Finextra — Standard Chartered is teaming up with Singapore's National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) to launch a digital-only bank. Standard Chartered subsidiary SCBSL is contributing S$144 million for 60% of the joint venture, with NTCU-controlled BetaPlus holding the other 40% for a S$96 million price. Open story ↗ IOTA tapped by EU to enable region’s blockchain infrastructure Finextra — The IOTA non-profit and its distributed ledger technology has been named as one of seven providers selected by the Commission to develop the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (ESBI). Open story ↗ Wave Closes Largest Series A Round for an African FinTech at $200-Million IT News Africa — No other startup company in Africa has managed to raise such an amount in a Series A round. OPay, likewise a fintech solution provider, managed to raise $400-million in the continent’s largest-ever venture capital investment during a Series C round. Interswitch follows OPay with its $200-million investment from Visa also during Series C funding. Open story ↗ Bank of America debuts overdraft alternative Bankingdive — If a customer overdraws on one Bank of America account, Balance Connect ferries money from another of the user's accounts with the bank for a $12 fee. Open story ↗ PayPal to Buy Japanese Unicorn Paidy in $2.7 Billion Deal Bloomberg — PayPal Holdings Inc. said it will acquire the Japanese upstart Paidy Inc. for 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) as it seeks to deepen a push into buy-now-pay-later products. The acquisition will be “minimally dilutive” to adjusted earnings per share in 2022, PayPal said Tuesday in a statement. The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, will be paid for principally with cash, PayPal said. Open story ↗ JPMorgan to buy majority stake in Volkswagen's payments business Bankingdive — JPMorgan Chase plans to acquire a controlling interest of close to 75% of Volkswagen Financial Services, the German car manufacturer’s payments platform, the bank announced Wednesday. The New York City-based bank said the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2022, will expand the bank’s digital payment capabilities and "see the platform extended and accessible to the broader auto industry for the first time." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Open story ↗ Which are the best European fintechs to work for in 2021? skifted — And the winner is... Paris-based expense management platform Spendesk came top of Glassdoor’s European ranking, with an average rating of 4.9 across over 50 employee reviews. Open story ↗

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Circular Economy Could Be a Winner For Insurers

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