Klar has raised USD $257M in funding, including from Prosus Ventures, FJ Labs, General Atlantic, and Quona Capital, to help Mexico’s unbanked population. With around 36% of adults lacking access to basic financial services, Klar sees a lot of opportunities for growth in Mexico’s fintech market, which is still relatively untapped.
Malaysian artificial intelligence (AI) startup, VOX, had bagged a US$250,000 investment in pre-seed funding from Silicon Valley. VOX is described as a “conversational AI company whose focus is to solve issues related to human-to-machine interactions (HMI)”. It does this through a linguist approach, enabling computers to communicate with users and vice versa.
Z1, a digital banking app for teenagers and young adults, has raised US $10.8 million. By using the Z1 app and a prepaid card linked to their account, users can begin their road to financial independence by learning to manage and spend their money, as well as having a place to receive money they earn through jobs and small businesses.
Procrastinators of the world can throw a party whenever they get around to it: Google has once more pushed back complete third-party cookie deprecation. The new target is “early next year.” Reasons for the delay include concerns expressed by U.K. data regulator Information Commissioner’s Office, an ongoing inquiry by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, and widespread discontent in the advertising ecosystem.