Digital health app Livi secures $2bn valuation after fresh funding round April 27, 2021 Digital GP platform Kry today said it has raised $300m (£216m) in a fresh funding round after enjoying a surge in demand for remote healthcare services during the pandemic. The new cash injection, led by CPP Investments and Fidelity, takes the company’s valuation to over $2bn — almost three times the price tag given after [...]
Facebook advertising chief issued warning over inflated audience figures April 27, 2021 A top Facebook executive warned colleagues the company must “prepare for the worst” over claims it inflated figures on how many people its adverts could reach, court filings have revealed. Carolyn Everson, vice president of the social media giant’s global business group, wrote in an email in 2017 that the company would be “justifiably” criticised [...]
How curing cataracts offers a 1,500% socio-economic return April 27, 2021 | City Talk According to the World Health Organisation, 95 million people worldwide are affected by blindness or severe visual impairment due to cataracts. Cataracts are disproportionately prevalent in low-and-middle-income countries, where they account for 50% of blindness, compared to just 5% of blindness within developed countries. The socioeconomic effect of cataract surgery is substantial. It allows people [...]
Tiktok to open doors to experts in bid to calm safety fears April 27, 2021 Tiktok will allow experts and policymakers to see how it moderates content on its platform in the tech firm’s latest effort to allay safety concerns. The Chinese-owned viral video app said it will open a European Transparency and Accountability Centre, allowing outsiders to see “first-hand” how it runs moderation and safety practices. The centre will [...]
EU to charge Apple with anti-competitive behaviour over Spotify row April 27, 2021 The EU will reportedly file antitrust charges against Apple this week over accusations its dominance of the app market has harmed competition. The case relates to a complaint lodged by Spotify in 2019, which accused the iPhone maker of unfairly restricting rivals to its own Apple Music service and complaining about the company’s 30 per [...]
Yougov acquires open banking start-up Lean App April 26, 2021 Data analytics firm Yougov has acquired open banking start-up Lean App to help improve its services with financial transaction data. Lean App has been acquired by Yougov on a three year earn-out, tied to enriching and expanding the research company’s data in the UK and the US. Lean App’s founders – Luke Dugdale, Tom Stuart, [...]
Developing agile methodologies for algorithm products April 23, 2021 | City Talk Modern software methodologies have some catching up to do to accommodate data science practitioners. It was the early 2000s when The Agile Manifesto marked a step toward a more humane direction for software engineering by placing an emphasis on stakeholder collaboration and rapid feedback. This evolved into prescriptive frameworks like Scrum and Kanban that made [...]
Technology Comes To A Growing Green Market April 23, 2021 | City Talk The intersection of timing, market dynamics, and technology remains unprecedented for the legal market for Cannabis in the USA, where a cultural shift is occurring. The High-Octane Fuel Of Growing Investor Interest The impact of the high-octane fuel of growing investor interest is culminating into a veritable green-hued field of opportunity from something that has, [...]
SpaceX and Nasa launch astronauts in recycled rocket April 23, 2021 SpaceX and Nasa have teamed up yet again to launch four astronauts into space onboard a recycled rocket. In a landmark flight, it is the first time a rocket from a previous flight has been re-launched into space successfully. Currently on-route to the International Space Station, the Crew-2 mission is the third trip SpaceX has [...]
Covid transmission from human-to-cat is possible, scientists confirm April 23, 2021 Two cases of human-to-cat transmission of Covid-19 have been identified by researchers from the University of Glasgow as part of a screening programme. The cats, of different breeds, were living in separate households and displayed mild to severe respiratory signs. Researchers believe both pets were infected by their owners, who had Covid-19 symptoms before the [...]