CDP Institute

The South African global chat commerce leader – Clickatell, which helps businesses to connect, interact and transact with consumers anytime, anywhere, in chat has secured a $91 million Series C round of funding in a new finance round led by Arrowroot Capital, with Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, Endeavor Global and Harvest participating. They will leverage this Series C round of funding in accelerating their product development and expanding their footprint in the United States.

Africa’s leading Data and Marketing Technology company, Terragon has launched its much-awaited marketing technology platform– TerragonPrime. The platform, which is still in its beta phase, is a realization of a long-time quest and in-house development effort to help Small and medium-sized businesses improve their advertising campaign performance by 50% and acquire customers cost-effectively by leveraging the power of data.

Launched in 2017, Ziada is a mobile application that helps service providers in the informal sector find more jobs and grow their businesses by linking them with clients who are actively seeking trusted services, as well as providing business advisory and access to tool/equipment rental.

India’s leading sound system manufacturer, boAt, has yet again taken a step towards providing the best experience to its users. The parent company of boAt, Imagine Marketing Pvt Ltd, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Singapore based KaHa Pte Ltd, an end-to-end smart IoT product development company.

In 2007, global electronics giant, Panasonic Corporation acquired one of India’s largest electrical materials manufacturers, Anchor Electricals. From their union came Panasonic Life Solutions India (PLS India). Panasonic’s cutting-edge technology, combined with Anchor’s vast customer support network have made PLS India a force to reckon with in the electrical materials market. The company’s innovative and eco-friendly products for lighting, wiring, ventilation, and more make life simpler, safer, and more comfortable for consumers.

Indian Officials have held discussions with Google, Twitter and Facebook for not proactively removing what they described as fake news on their platforms, sources told Reuters, the government’s latest altercation with Big Tech. The officials, from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), strongly criticised the companies and said their inaction on fake news was forcing the government to order content takedowns, which in turn drew international criticism that authorities were suppressing free expression, two sources said.

Deloitte Digital has acquired three digital experience consultancies – Blended Digital, New Republique and Venntifact – adding a team of 70 professionals to its ANZ headcount. With now over 1,100 consultants and technologists across Australia, Deloitte Digital is one of the largest players in the digital transformation space at the nexus of creativity, marketing and technology.

Optus Enterprise, has announced the launch of a new 5G led Innovation Program, designed to bring enterprise, SMBs and startups together.

Group M Australia has become the latest country in the Group M network to launch Inca, an AI-powered influencer and content marketing platform designed to promote brand safety and return on investment. The platform was first rolled out for APAC in 2019, and launched in New Zealand in early 2021 and – with the addition of Australia – now spans across 30 countries.

China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba Group discussed raising at least $1 billion for its Southeast Asian arm Lazada before calling off negotiations with potential investors when talks bogged down over Lazada’s valuation, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting people familiar with the matter.

Philippines’s fintech and online payments company PayMongo has secured US$31m in funding from their series B funding, which they aim to serve local SMEs more. Said investment round participants include Justin Mateen’s JAM Fund, Philippine VC firms ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Lisa Gokongwei’s Kaya Founders, together with existing investors Global Founders Capital and SOMA Capital.

Shopee, Sea Limited‘s e-commerce behemoth based in Singapore, reported a 600% leap in the number of local sellers in Brazil – today, Shopee has more than 1 million Brazilian sellers registered in its marketplace. This means that more than 85% of Shopee’s sales in the country are local. Shopee’s strategy of investing in local sellers is justified: to remain competitive and grow in Latin America, more and more international platforms are betting on a hybrid strategy that combines the operational efficiencies of a global brand with local sellers, such as Amazon and AliExpress.