Latest news with #SupanthaMukherjee
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fintech Klarna to launch $40 per month mobile plan in US
By Supantha Mukherjee STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish fintech Klarna on Wednesday said it would launch an unlimited mobile plan in the U.S., joining other finance companies moving into the telecoms business, including British rival Revolut. A number of fintechs, including Germany's N26 and Brazil's Nubank, have started offering mobile services in various countries as they seek to diversify their revenues. Other investors outside the fintech arena have also put money into the mobile services business such as actor Ryan Reynolds and on Monday U.S. President Donald Trump's family business also licensed its name to launch a mobile service. Klarna's mobile plan, which includes unlimited 5G calls and data for $40 per month, will use the platform provided by U.S. mobile services startup Gigs. Google-backed Gigs, which as a partnership with AT&T, makes it easier for any company to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and sell mobile services to customers without owning the infrastructure that provides them. Klarna, which paused its plans for an initial public offering in April, has more than 25 million users in the U.S. and the fintech is increasingly choosing the country to launch new products. "Our ambition has always been to solve everyday problems ... mobile is a natural next step in building out our neobank offering," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters. Most global fintechs have started a mobile service in other countries before entering the U.S., but Klarna plans to start in the U.S., its largest market, and roll out in the UK, Germany and other markets later this year. "There will be significant disruption to the MVNO market over the next two years, as enterprises try their hand at launching their own MVNO service," Juniper Research analyst Alex Webb said. "However, increased competition brings increased risk, so not all MVNO projects are likely to be successful." U.S. MVNO market size is estimated at $14.83 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach $20.84 billion by 2030, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fintech Klarna to launch $40 per month mobile plan in US
By Supantha Mukherjee STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Swedish fintech Klarna on Wednesday said it would launch an unlimited mobile plan in the U.S., joining other finance companies moving into the telecoms business, including British rival Revolut. A number of fintechs, including Germany's N26 and Brazil's Nubank, have started offering mobile services in various countries as they seek to diversify their revenues. Other investors outside the fintech arena have also put money into the mobile services business such as actor Ryan Reynolds and on Monday U.S. President Donald Trump's family business also licensed its name to launch a mobile service. Klarna's mobile plan, which includes unlimited 5G calls and data for $40 per month, will use the platform provided by U.S. mobile services startup Gigs. Google-backed Gigs, which as a partnership with AT&T, makes it easier for any company to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and sell mobile services to customers without owning the infrastructure that provides them. Klarna, which paused its plans for an initial public offering in April, has more than 25 million users in the U.S. and the fintech is increasingly choosing the country to launch new products. "Our ambition has always been to solve everyday problems ... mobile is a natural next step in building out our neobank offering," Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told Reuters. Most global fintechs have started a mobile service in other countries before entering the U.S., but Klarna plans to start in the U.S., its largest market, and roll out in the UK, Germany and other markets later this year. "There will be significant disruption to the MVNO market over the next two years, as enterprises try their hand at launching their own MVNO service," Juniper Research analyst Alex Webb said. "However, increased competition brings increased risk, so not all MVNO projects are likely to be successful." U.S. MVNO market size is estimated at $14.83 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach $20.84 billion by 2030, according to research firm Mordor Intelligence. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Swedish military joins Telia, Ericsson to boost defense tech
By Supantha Mukherjee STOCKHOLM: The Swedish Armed Forces on Tuesday joined Telia and Ericsson 's 5G innovation program to strengthen military communications , logistics, security and support interoperability within the NATO alliance. Telecom operator Telia and mobile gear maker Ericsson partnered in 2023 to start the NorthStar 5G innovation program to experiment on the latest 5G technologies and had focused on industrial customers. "We need to speed it up due to the geopolitical situation in the last six months," Brigadier-General Mattias Hanson, chief information officer at the Swedish Armed Forces, told Reuters. "We have talked about it for years, but now we have to start it up," he said. European countries have been scrambling to boost their defences against a potential Russian attack after the Trump administration made clear since it took office that the U.S. was no longer willing to be the main guarantor of Europe's security. Sweden, NATO's newest member, currently spends around 2.7% of GDP on defence and said this year it would target 3.5% of defence spending in 2030. The Swedish Armed Forces would work with new players and startups to build new capabilities and solve military problems. One of the areas of cooperation will be communication for drones, Hanson said. "We will try to figure out how to be faster in innovation and how to solve a military problem with civilian technology." The military has its own communication system, but plans to use a combination of different technologies such as radio, satellites, 5G and fiber optics.
The Star
5 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Microsoft lays out data protection plans for European cloud customers
FILE PHOTO: A Microsoft sign is pictured at a trade fair in Hannover Messe, in Hanover, Germany, April 22, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Microsoft on Monday said data stored by its European cloud customers would stay in Europe, under European Law, with operations controlled by its local personnel, and under full control of customers. European companies and governments have been increasingly worrying about their data being moved outside the continent into the hands of other countries such as the U.S., pushing the American companies such as Microsoft to announce safeguards. Microsoft in April laid out plans to protect user data as it expands its cloud and AI infrastructure in Europe, including respecting European laws seeking to rein in the power of large technology companies. On Monday, the company said all remote access by Microsoft engineers to the systems that store and process European data would be approved and monitored by European resident personnel in real-time. Microsoft said its sovereign private cloud is in preview mode currently and will be generally available later this year. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Mint
5 days ago
- Business
- Mint
How VCs are navigating Europes defence spending push
EU plans boost in defence spending by 2030 For venture capitalists challenges include ESG rules Still only three unicorns among European defence tech startups Dual-use technologies help investors navigate ESG concerns Eyes on possible easing of investment rules By Elizabeth Howcroft, Supantha Mukherjee and Michael Kahn PARIS/STOCKHOLM/PRAGUE, June 16 (Reuters) - As venture capital investors look to profit from Europe's defence spending boom, speculators hunting for the next unicorn need to navigate hurdles such as EU sustainability guidelines and difficulties for start-ups in a market dominated by large prime contractors. The European Union has earmarked up to 800 billion euros ($920 billion) for defence through 2030 with a bulk of that amount expected to go to prime contractors such as France's Airbus or Germany's Rheinmetall. But with large defence contractors focused on meeting record demand due to the war in Ukraine, investors and start-up founders are betting that defence technology startups can fill an innovation gap in Europe, developing technology and driving growth and possibly attracting the attention of those big players later on. "We think it's an important trend and we're investing behind it," said Sequoia investor Julien Bek. His firm invested $15.5 million in German autonomous drone company STARK in October 2024, according to PitchBook. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's prodding of NATO countries to raise defence spending to 5% of gross domestic product from a current 2% have spurred the EU to ramp up its military spending plans. It has also drawn venture capital funding into European defence tech, which hit $1 billion in 2024, up from a modest $373 million in 2022. That is up fivefold since 2020, yet Europe's defence tech sector has produced just three unicorns - startups with a valuation of $1 billion - and last year attracted just 1.7% of the venture capital money in Europe, according to startup data provider Dealroom. Among the biggest barriers to entry for venture capital targeting defence tech in Europe are strict EU ESG rules, which forbid investment in lethal, single-use technology, according to more than a dozen investors, companies and government officials interviewed by Reuters. Many funds receive individual state government or EU backing, which in most cases precludes them from investing in defence. Despite the EU's support for Ukraine, only Estonia and Finland have established government-backed funds allowing for investments into lethal, single-use technology. Borys Musielak, managing partner at Smok Ventures, a U.S. VC firm based in Warsaw, said rules there had prompted funds like his to invest in cybersecurity. "In Poland nearly every fund has some part of it government or European funding, which makes it difficult to invest in defence," he said. Jan-Hendrik Boelens, CEO of Munich-based Alpine Eagle, which develops counter-drone systems, the topic of ESG represents a hurdle that remains for investors and startups. "There are changes on the way, but I can't say that they've happened yet, at least not to the extent that they should," he said, referring to governments or investors changing policies to facilitate more defence investment. "If you are not a pure weapon of war, as it is called, then I think that is very fundable. If you cross this line into actually becoming a lethal weapon, that might still be very difficult to fund." Some VCs seek to avoid ESG restrictions by targeting so-called "dual-use" technologies that have civilian as well as military applications. Such technologies include computer vision where AI mimics human vision to interpret visual information, robots, cybersecurity software and autonomous drones. All three of Europe's defence tech unicorns – German battlefield software firm Helsing, German drone maker Quantum Systems and Portuguese drone company Tekever – market themselves as dual-use. Sten Tamkivi is a partner in Tallinn- and London-based investment platform Plural, which has invested in Helsing. "We and our limited partner base are aligned with the idea that defending the future of our democracies is a moral good, but some investor bases at other firms say lethal is not okay," Tamkivi told Reuters. London-based VC firm Balderton in 2025 led a 160 million euro funding round by Munich-based Quantum Systems. "Why this one? I think it's serendipity, right team, right company, right timing," said Rana Yared, a general partner at Balderton. "We passed on almost everything that we had looked at up until that point," she said. Founded in 2015, Quantum Systems' AI-operated reconnaissance drones provide real-time battlefield intelligence and are being used in Ukraine. "We have shown we can deliver due to three years at the battlefront, with more than 800 systems in Ukraine," Quantum Systems co-CEO Sven Kruck told Reuters. "The defence market is getting hotter," he said. "Every investor is now creating a defence fund." Last month the company raised 160 million euros to take its total funding to 310 million euros. It also reached unicorn status, as did Tekever. With its increased defence spending plans, the European Commission is also looking to rewrite the rules to allow more investors to participate and individual governments are doing the same. The Commission has said next week it will propose giving governments more flexibility on defence procurement, which is another challenge startups face. They also need to contend with figuring out how to connect to and sell to the big players and governments who represent the majority of the customer base, investors say. In Finland, the country's pension agency, the Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, has removed a clause that had prevented it from investing in defence. Prague-based Presto Ventures in partnership with Czech arms maker CSG launched a 150 million euro fund last year, which is able to invest in single-use technology. "With dual-use you don't have one market you are focusing on, but you have two, so you have to solve problems and needs of two markets," said Vojta Rocek, a partner at Presto Ventures. ($1 = 0.8687 euros) (Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in Paris, Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Michael Kahn in Prague; editing by Jason Neely)
