HERE Technologies today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Micello, a privately held software company based in California that operates a platform for creating, editing and publishing indoor maps.

The planned acquisition supports HERE's strategy to provide world-class mapping and advanced location services both indoors and outdoors. In combination with HERE's unique tracking technologies, indoor maps will enable new and innovative market solutions such as the tracking of parts on a factory floor, the optimization of workspace usage, indoor wayfinding at complex transit interchanges, and last mile guidance in vehicles.

Founded in 2007 by Ankit Agarwal, Micello's mission is to map everything indoors. Its platform enables venue owners and operators to create, edit and securely publish indoor maps. Through Micello's Marketplace, leading technology companies are able to seamlessly integrate Micello's indoor maps within a broad range of customer applications. The Marketplace already includes more than 75 leading industry solutions in multiple market categories such as Internet of Things, analytics, public safety, facility management software, enterprise applications, and more. Micello's customers include North American Fortune 500 companies and organizations across Europe, Asia and Australia.

Indoor maps of buildings such as corporate campuses, shopping malls, airports, museums, convention centers, hospitals, train stations and stadiums have emerged as a key area of growth and major differentiation for digital mapping providers. The first digital maps ushered in a wave of location-based applications, and now the mass availability of indoor maps is enabling a new generation of location-aware applications for indoor environments.

Leon van de Pas, Senior Vice President, Internet of Things at HERE Technologies, said: "The acquisition of Micello is an important strategic investment for us to rapidly grow our ecosystem of partners and accelerate our growth in indoor mapping. I'm excited to welcome the global Micello team into the HERE family." 

Ankit Agarwal, CEO at Micello, said: "This is an exciting opportunity for Micello and our team. HERE's investment in indoor maps will also significantly benefit our customers and Marketplace partners. We look forward to joining HERE, growing our Marketplace of partners and realizing our mission of mapping everything indoors."
 

Many UK businesses are demanding speedy payments from their business customers despite not paying their own suppliers on time, research from eProcurement software company Wax Digital has shown.

While 64% of senior finance managers have ‘sacked’ customers for consistent late payment and 41% have delayed paying wages, only 27% always pay their own suppliers on time and 69% admit to being frequent late payers.

Over 200 executives were questioned independently by Sapio research on behalf of Wax Digital in late 2017. While 43% said late payment is unfortunate and should be avoided, 12% said it was “the norm” and 18% said it was “out of their control”.

The research showed that many invoice payment delays are not intentional but simply down to ineffective and inaccurate processes that could be improved. For example, 31% cited invoice processing timescales as a reason for lateness, 26% said internal errors were to blame, and 29% said it happened when the purchaser was late notifying finance about what they had bought.

As well as the buyer’s shortcoming, often it’s the quality and accuracy of suppliers’ invoices that delays payments. 26% pay late because of supplier errors, such as inaccurate wording, missing purchase orders or incorrect values on invoices. Providing online portals for supplier eInvoicing seems to be a popular solution to these issues – 97% said they would use this technology if supplied by their customers.

If organisations want to maintain a healthy supply base, consistent invoice processing is essential. 88% said being paid without financial errors contributed to a good working relationship, followed by on time payment for 86%. Clients offering early payment discounts was important for 77%.

Daniel Ball, director at Wax Digital, comments, “While in some cases late payments is an unfortunate vicious circle caused by businesses simply not sticking to the terms of their contract, there are many times when it is simply the result of inefficiency. Poor invoicing processes don’t just mean delays with money changing hands; they can also mean an end to carefully sourced supplier relationships, and reputation, costing the business much more in many different ways. But they are very simple to solve, through the adoption of eInvoicing processes.”

Wax Digital has published an in-depth research report studying the impact of Invoice Irritations and what can be done to solve them.

BBVA Continental has picked up the 2017 award for 'Best Private Bank - Peru' in World Finance magazine's yearly line-up, which recognises those in the industry that are outperforming the rest and making astute business decisions in preparation for future trends.

BBVA continental is the second largest bank in Peru, but is number one when it comes to the cost of risk, coverage ratio and non-performing loan ratio. It is currently seeing outstanding growth, with a year-on-year increase in performing loans of 2 percent and a 6.1 percent year-on-year increase in deposits. It has also invested heavily in a transformative digital strategy, thereby laying the foundations for further expansion in the future.

A remarkable shift in the way that people carry out transactions illustrates the success of its transition towards digital platforms. In 2008, internet banking comprised just 18 percent of its transactions, but the latest results show that this has now jumped to 26 percent. Moreover, branch transactions have been dramatically overtaken by mobile banking, which now makes up 46 percent of total transactions. New online features and improvements in the user interface have been important developments in setting BBVA Continental apart from its competitors.

Strong economic foundations in Peru are supporting the growth of the bank, with macroeconomic data revealing that Peru is one of the most stable and fast-expanding economies in the region. Strong shareholders are also playing a role in guiding the banks' long-term growth, notably including Breca, which is one of the largest business conglomerates in Peru.

For over a decade, the World Finance award line-up has been recognising key players in the financial industry. Decisions are made by a judging panel of financial and business experts, who are supported by an in-house research team to scour the industry and select those companies that are making waves in the sector.

Fidor will exhibit at the Paris Fintech Forum on 30th and 31st January at booth ST16. The company will showcase its group activities with Fidor Bank and Fidor Solutions teams in attendance. Paris Fintech Forum is France’s leading fintech conference and the perfect place to network with the 2,000 attendees, 200 CEOs and 150 fintechs in attendance.

Fidor Bank will present its digital banking concept built around a 600,000-member community with an expansion plan across Europe. The Paris Fintech Forum will also be the opportunity for Fidor Bank to network with fintech, insurtech and tradetech partners to join its direct-to-consumer marketplace.

Fidor Solutions, the digital backbone of Fidor Bank, will be in attendance to support existing and aspiring banks in realising their digital banking ambitions. Leveraging on fidorOS, Fidor’s open banking platform behind its success, Fidor Solutions offers technology solutions in addition to a range of services to design, deliver, run and grow a digital bank to the benefit of the customers.

In addition to exhibiting, Matthias Kröner, CEO and founder of Fidor, will take the main stage on 31st January at 9:15 to discuss "The lego bricks of finance as a platform”. The panel will be moderated by financial influencer Brett King. In addition to this panel, Matthias Kröner will share his experience in “Raising Funds” in Track Room D on the 31st January from 12 to 12:40 pm.

Matthias Kröner, founder and CEO, Fidor, commented “It is a great honor to be asked again to speak at the Paris Fintech Forum following the huge success of last year. I am excited to share my experience in founding Fidor and how we took it from a Start up to a Grow up company!”. 

Masergy, a leading provider of hybrid networking, managed security and cloud communications solutions has released new capabilities to mitigate Office 365 security risks by leveraging the Masergy Unified Enterprise Security (UES) managed detection and response (MDR) platform. As a fully managed solution, Masergy Office 365 Security Monitoring facilitates enterprise customers’ Software as a Service (SaaS) security strategies with quick deployment, scalability, and minimal customer effort. The capabilities are bundled with all UES deployments for easy customer access.

“SaaS applications, such as Office 365 have many business advantages, but also create significant security risks,” said Craig D’Abreo vice president of security operations, Masergy. “Our integration with Office 365 combines advanced security analytics from Microsoft with Masergy’s threat intelligence, patented machine learning, and 24/7 incident response. The result is a turnkey comprehensive MDR solution for Office 365 that is cost-effective and scales quickly.”

Masergy leverages Microsoft’s built-in Cloud App Security analytics with its UES platform to enable continuous 24/7 monitoring, which is critical for rapid identification and response to attacks before damage occurs.

This expansion of Masergy’s holistic Managed Detection Response ecosystem is the latest cost-effective solution that provides scalable coverage for servers, virtual machines, cloud operating systems, containers, and now SaaS applications.

Block X Capital Corp. is pleased to announce that further to its press release on December 7, 2017, the Company has completed a change of business from a Mining Issuer to an Investment Issuer and has received approval from the Canadian Securities Exchange to resume trading.

In connection with the change of business, the Company has changed its name to "Block X Capital Corp.".  Trading of the Company's common shares will resume under the new name and under the new ticker symbol "BXXX" at market open on January 24, 2018.

The Company will seek investment opportunities in early-stage to mid-level blockchain and emerging technology companies, and will leverage its extensive network of operators and global thought leaders to provide investors with unparalleled access to investments that are not normally accessible to the average retail investor.

The Company is pleased to announce that it has appointed several notable individuals to form its core management team and board of directors.

• Darius Eghdami: Chief Executive Officer
  
  A Chartered Accountant by trade, Darius Eghdami is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and has successfully exited multiple companies. Darius has previously founded and led multiple businesses in digital, data analytics, and the consumer internet. Darius founded FansUnite in 2012, the first social sports book harnessing the power of Blockchain technology. Darius has extensive experience managing companies, raising capital, and developing overall vision and business frameworks. Additionally, Darius was recently named one of Canada's Next 150 Top Entrepreneurs by the TMX Group.

• Rahim Rajwani: Chief Financial Officer
  
  Rahim Rajwani brings over 22 years of extensive public and private company experience to Block X Capital. Rahim began his career at Yorkton Securities, and then later moved on to Union Securities where he worked as Chief Compliance Officer and Vice President of Compliance with a primary focus on risk mitigation. Rahim served in successive roles of increasing responsibility at Salman Partners, moving from Chief Compliance Officer, to Vice President, to Managing Director. Rahim aims to bestow his deep expertise in the regulatory, compliance, risk mitigation, and M&A transaction fields in order to support Block X's process of identification, evaluation, and investment in the most promising blockchain and emerging technology companies.  

• Michele Romanow: Director
  
  Michele Romanow is a serial entrepreneur who started three companies before her 30th birthday. A "Dragon" on CBC's hit show Dragons' Den, she is a co-founder of Buytopia.ca (acquired by EMERGE Commerce), SnapSaves (acquired by Groupon), and co-founder of Clearbanc, an online financial services platform. She is a Director for Whistler Blackcomb (acquired by Vail Resorts) (NYSE:MTN), Freshii (TSX:FRII), and SHAD Valley. Furthermore, Michele was included in the WXN's "100 Most Powerful Women in Canada", Forbes "Millennial on a Mission" list, and winner of the Toronto Board of Trade Award for entrepreneurs under 30.

• Cale Moodie: Director
  
  Cale Moodie is currently Chief Executive Officer & Director of Neptune Dash Technologies (TSX-V:DASH), a builder and operator of Dash Masternodes and exclusive public investor in the Dash digital currency eco-system. He is also a co-founder of Brixton Metals (TSX-V:BBB). Previously, Cale was the Chief Financial Officer of Underworld Resources Inc. until its sale to Kinross Gold in June of 2010. Prior to becoming a successful public market executive of multiple companies, Cale worked for KPMG LLP's Vancouver Industrial Markets Group, with an emphasis on audits for mining and resource-based companies. Cale holds the CPA designation and is a graduate of the University of British Columbia.

• Zyshan Kaba: Director
  
  A corporate and securities lawyer by background, Zyshan Kaba is a venture investor and advisor that focuses on financial technology, blockchain, and cryptoassets. With a deep interest in disruptive technology and emerging markets, he focuses on early stage technology companies and his experience covers a variety of areas, including legal counsel, business and regulatory strategy, product development, market research, token sale structuring and analysis, and raising venture capital. Zyshan is also a former executive of a venture backed financial technology company where he was Head of Business and Legal Affairs. Zyshan received his J.D. from the University of Toronto and is called to the bar in Ontario and the state of New York.

Darius Eghdami, CEO, states, "Today marks an incredible milestone for us as the Company has been hard at work surveying the emerging blockchain-enabled industry and is ready to now resume trading, invest its capital, and unlock value in the space. At Block X, we've assembled a world-class team of accomplished investors and pioneers in the emerging technology sector. We look forward to capitalizing on the skill and experience of this executive team we have put together to facilitate investment and create real shareholder value in some of the most promising and disruptive blockchain and emerging technology companies of today and tomorrow."