Pluto announces joint venture to form new gaming blockchain and metaverse studio

Pires Investments plc (AIM: PIRI), the investment company focused on next generation technology, is pleased to provide an update on its investment in Pluto Digital plc ("Pluto"), a technology company operating in the exciting digital assets sector. 

AlHuda CIBE and Tawhid Bank signed an agreement to set up first Shariah Based Insurance (Takaful) company in Tajikistan

AlHuda CIBE UAE and Tawhid Bank Tajikistan signed an agreement to set-up the first Takaful Company in Tajikistan. It is the first Shariah legitimate solution to Tajikistan's insurance industry. The MoU signing ceremony was held Dubai - UAE.

• SuperSeed is a London based seed-stage venture capital firm investing in startups focusing on business and industrial automation. The firm has now completed the first closing at £31m of its Fund II, which will target a final close of £50m.
• Started in 2018 by Partners Dan Bowyer and Mads Jensen, both ex-founders with multiple exits, who passionately believe that venture capital investors need to better support early stage entrepreneurs.

SME retailers currently spend £22k on average a month on transaction fees
Open Banking technology could reduce these fees by 90%, according to new research from Yolt
Other innovations for UK retailers include instant refunds and fraud reduction

Jai Bifulco, Kinesis Money, Chief Commercial Officer

With the crypto market doubling in value over the last year alone, it’s no surprise that fund managers around the world are taking notice of this growing financial revolution, despite the recent fluctuations. The appeal is clear: an alternative to the traditional banking system, providing new opportunities to market analysts, willing to back new coins or startups with seemingly endless potential.

Like many other sectors of the economy, the insurance industry is facing disruptive innovation, with the impacts of the pandemic, economic uncertainty, rising unemployment and rapidly changing customer demographics and expectations forcing insurers to adapt or die.

According to a new Bank of America analysis, US consumers will soon face a new financial reality: a central bank digital currency. US-backed CBDCs “are an inevitable evolution of today’s electronic currencies,” Bank of America crypto strategists Alkesh Shah and Andrew Moss wrote in a client note on Monday, according to Bloomberg.

Virtual IBAN and corporate account provider Monneo, has formally announced its partnership with Kantox, a global leader in currency management automation software. The partnership will give Monneo’s customers additional flexibility when managing outgoing payments.

• Lightyear is a new European investment app backed by Mosaic Ventures, Taavet+Sten, Metaplanet & Eileen Burbidge, which launched in Q3 2021.
• The company has today announced the launch of Lightyear Profiles, where customers can share details of their portfolio with friends and online.
• As more people are talking, sharing and getting inspiration from each other, Lightyear built Profiles to make it easy to share and stay connected with investing.

Baghdad, Iraq: UR Islamic bank for Investment, a privately-owned bank in Iraq, has successfully gone live on ICS BANKS Islamic Banking software solution from ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions.