Month: September 2020

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

This is Equity Monday, our weekly kickoff that tracks the latest big news, chats about the coming week, digs into some recent funding rounds and mulls over a larger theme or narrative from the private markets. I subbed in for Alex this week, so send your love over to the show on Twitter here and fan mail to me right here. Also, don’t forget to check out last Friday’s episode.

This week, we couldn’t help but weigh into the latest TikTok drama, but we got into why it’s worth following these budgets and moves (and a whole host of other fascinating news):

• Reminder that life makes 0% sense right now, so give yourself grace if you don’t feel 10/10 every single day always.
• TikTok’s latest is that it’s not (yet) getting banned in the States.
• The New York Times has published data on Donald Trump’s tax returns.
• Register to vote.
• Alexis Ohanian has filed paperwork for his new fund, 776, eyeing a $150 million close. The name is fun to noodle over.
• Poshmark confidentially filed its S-1.
• Bill Gurley fans can put their party pants on because Palantir and Asana are direct listing this week, both potentially with a Wednesday debut.
• Chinese fitness tech startup Fiture got a $65 million Series A, Philippines payment processing API startup PayMongo landed $12 million, and another API startup, Noyo, raised the same plus $500,000 to focus on healthcare.

All that, and we didn’t even get to make fun of LinkedIn stories.

Equity drops every Monday at 7:00 a.m. PT and Thursday afternoon as fast as we can get it out, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts.

A survey of responses from more than 30 companies to questions about how they’re approaching EU-US data transfers in the wake of a landmark ruling (aka Schrems II) by Europe’s top court in July, which struck down the flagship Privacy Shield over US surveillance overreach, suggests most are doing the equivalent of burying their head in the sand and hoping the legal nightmare goes away.

European privacy rights group, noyb, has done most of the groundwork here — rounding up in this 45-page report responses (some in English, others in German) from EU entities of 33 companies to a set of questions about personal data transfers.

It sums up the answers to the questions about companies’ legal basis for transferring EU citizens’ data over the pond post-Schrems II as “astonishing” or AWOL — given some failed to send a response at all.

Tech companies polled on the issue run the alphabetic gamut from Apple to Zoom. While Airbnb, Netflix and WhatsApp are among the companies that noyb says failed to respond about their EU-US data transfers.

Responses provided by companies that did respond appear to raise many more questions than they answer — with lots of question-dodging ‘boilerplate responses’ in evidence and/or pointing to existing privacy policies in the hope that will make the questioner go away (hi Facebook!) .

Facebook also made repeat claims that sought for info falls outside the scope of the EU’s data protection framework…

noyb also highlights a response by Slack which said it does not “voluntarily” provide governments with access to data — which, as the privacy rights group points out, “does not answer the question of whether they are compelled to do so under surveillance laws such as FISA702”.

A similar issue affects Microsoft. So while the tech giant did at least respond specifically to each question it was asked, saying it’s relying on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for EU-US data transfers, again it’s one of the companies subject to US surveillance law — or as noyb notes: “explicitly named by the documents disclosed by Edward Snowden and publicly numbering the FISA702 requests by the US government it received and answered”.

That, in turn, raises questions about how Microsoft can claim to (legally) use SCCs if users’ data cannot be adequately protected from US mass surveillance… 

The Court of Justice of the EU made it clear that use of SCCs to take data outside the EU is contingent on a case by case assessment of whether the data will in fact be safe. If it is not the data controller is legally required to suspend the transfer. EU regulators also have a clear duty to act to suspend transfers where data is at risk.

“Overall, we were astonished by how many companies were unable to provide little more than a boilerplate answer. It seems that most of the industry still does not have a plan as to how to move forward,” noyb adds.

In August the group filed 101 complaints against websites it had identified as still sending data to the US via Google Analytics and/or Facebook Connect integrations — with, again, both tech giants clearly subject to US surveillance laws, such as FISA 702.

noyb founder Max Schrems — whose surname has become synonymous with questions over EU-US data transfers — also continues to push the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) to take enforcement action over Facebook’s use of SCCs in a case that dates back some seven years.

Earlier this month it emerged the DPC had written to Facebook — issuing a preliminary order to suspend transfers. However Facebook filed an appeal for a judicial review in the Irish courts and was granted a stay.

In an affidavit filed to the court the tech giant appeared to claim it could shut down its service in Europe if the suspension order is enforced. But last week Facebook’s global VP and former UK deputy PM, Nick Clegg, denied it could shut down in Europe over the issue. Though he warned of “profound effects” on scores of digital businesses if a way is not found by lawmakers on both sides of the pond to resolve the legal uncertainty around U.S. data transfers. (A Privacy Shield 2 has been mooted but the European Commission has warned there’s no quick fix, suggesting reform of US surveillance law will be required.)

For his part Schrems has suggested the solution for Facebook at least is to federate its service — splitting its infrastructure in two. But Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for the internal market, has also called for “European data…[to] be stored and processed in Europe” — arguing earlier this month this data “belong in Europe” and “there is nothing protectionist about this”, in a discussion that flowed from US president Trump’s concerns about TikTok.

Back in Ireland, Facebook has complained to the courts that regulatory action over its EU-EU data transfers is being rushed (despite the complaint dating back to 2013); and also that it’s being unfairly singled out.

But now with data transfer complaints filed by noyb against scores of companies on the desk of every EU data supervisor, and regulators under explicit ECJ instruction they have a duty to step in a lot of pressure is being exerted to actually enforce the law and uphold Europeans’ data rights.

The European Data Protection Board’s guidance on Schrems II — which Facebook had also claimed to be waiting for — also specifies that the ability to (legally) use SCCs to transfer data to the U.S. hinges on a data controller being able to offer a legal guarantee that “U.S. law does not impinge on the adequate level of protection” for the transferred data. So Facebook et al would do well to lobby the US government on reform of FISA. 

Streaming media device maker Roku is updating its lineup in advance of the holiday season with the addition of two new products: a redesigned version of its high-end Roku Ultra which, for the first time, adds Dolby Vision support as well as Bluetooth. The company is also introducing a combination player and soundbar device, called the Roku Streambar. And the Roku OS software update will bring a handful of new features to customers, including, most notably, Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support.

On the hardware front, Roku continues its strategy of refreshing devices and plugging other holes in the market with the launch of the two new players.

With the revamp of the Roku Ultra, the company promises up to 50% more wireless range and the addition of Bluetooth support. The expanded range will allow customers to use their Ultra even further away from the internet router without compromising their streaming quality and experience. Meanwhile, the addition of Bluetooth means you’ll be able to pair your smartphone with the device in order to stream music or other audio through the Roku Ultra to the TV.

The updated Roku Ultra adds Dolby Vision support along with Dolby Atmos sound, to cater to customers who have Dolby Vision TVs. And Roku is future-proofing the device with the addition of the AV1 codec, which offers higher quality video at a lower bitrate.

The device will ship with an HDMI cable as well as the Roku Voice remote with TV power and volume buttons, personal shortcut buttons, headphones for private listening and the lost remote finding functionality. The price remains the same, at $99.99.

The second new device is the Roku Streambar. This 2-in-1 device combines 4K HDR streaming and premium audio into one product. On the player side, the egg carton-sized device is the equivalent of the Roku Streaming Stick+ and works with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. The soundbar attaches to the TV via an HDMI cable, and if the TV offers ARC support that’s all you’ll need to get started. Otherwise, you can use the included optical cable that comes in the box.

The soundbar has four premium drivers including two forward-facing drivers to bring out the dialogue and center channel and two on the side, angled to help fill the room with sound. The device will also support Roku features, like the ability to quiet loud commercials, boost the volume of voices, or optimize the sound for night listening.

The device also supports Bluetooth, Spotify Connect, Alexa and Google Assistant, and a voice remote that controls the TV, sound and streaming.

While the soundbar is largely being pitched as an entry level device for newcomers to Roku or an all-in-one solution for use with a new TV, it still allows a customer to expand their home theater setup over time. Customers can choose to later add surround sound with Roku’s Wireless Speakers and bass with the Roku Wireless Subwoofer, says Roku.

Over the next few week, these devices and others will be able to download the Roku OS 9.4 update which brings a number of new features, including AirPlay 2 and HomeKit support. With AirPlay 2, customers with Apple device will be able to stream content directly to their Roku player — whether that’s personal content from their own library or from other streaming apps.

The addition will be particularly useful for those times a streaming service launches without Roku support. In recent months, Roku has gotten bogged down in negotiations with media companies now that it runs its own subscription channel platform through its own hub, The Roku Channel. During its negotiations with NBCU, for example, a dispute led to NBCU threatening to pull its TV Everywhere apps off Roku before the two sides worked things out. Today, HBO Max, another major new streaming app, is still not available on Roku. Customers are the ones who really lose in these sorts of battles, of course, so the AirPlay 2 support will be a decent workaround for those times when apps are not available.

Roku OS 9.4 will also bring HomeKit support to select 4K devices so customers can control their Roku via the Home app and Siri on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch or HomePod.

The update will also bring a new “Live TV” tile to the homescreen featuring a live guide to The Roku Channel’s over 115 free live channels. Users will also see helpful hints on using voice commands on their TV at times and will receive updated theme packs with optional sounds. These will feature themes like Jungle, Western, Nautical, Kids, and more, which can be swapped in place of the standard background and design. The update will bring other performance improvements, more free channels to The Roku Channel, and surround level control for multi-channel audio, among other things.

Roku will also soon ship a dedicated free app for The Roku Channel for iOS and Android smartphones.

The Roku OS 9.4 update will roll out this month and will reach all supported players, including the new Ultra and Streambar, in the weeks ahead. Roku TVs will get the update in the coming months.

The new players, meanwhile, are available for pre-order today on Roku’s website, and will ship in October. They’ll also arrive in major retailers and online next month.

 

 

Skydio only just recently announced its expansion into the enterprise and commercial market with hardware and software tools for its autonomous drone technology, and now it’s taking the lid off a brand new big partnership with one commercial partner. Skydio will work with EagleView to deploy automated residential roof inspection using Skydio drones, with service initially provide via EagleView’s Assess product, launching first in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area of Texas.

The plan is to expand coverage to additional metro areas starting next year, and then broaden to rural customers as well. The partners will use AI-based analysis, paired with Skydio’s high-resolution, precision imaging to provide roofing status information to insurance companies, claims adjustment companies and government agencies, providing a new level of quality and accuracy for property inspections that don’t even require an in-person roof inspection component.

Skydio announced its enterprise product expansion in July, alongside a new $100 million funding round. The startup, which has already delivered two generations of its groundbreaking fully autonomous consumer drone, also debuted the X2, a commercial drone that includes additional features like a thermal imaging camera. It’s also offering a suite of “enterprise skills,” software features that can provide its partners with automated workflows and AI analysis and processing, including a House Scan feature for residential roof inspection, which is core to this new partnership.

A few weeks after teasing its new product, French startup Klaxoon is launching Board, a visual interface that lets you work together during a video call. Instead of staring at other people’s faces, you get a shared canvas that you can use for presentations and to suggest ideas.

Klaxoon is well aware that many companies have strong opinions about video conferencing services. Some companies are already using Microsoft Teams for everything, others are using Zoom or Google Meet. That’s why the company is trying to make it as easy as possible to use Board while you’re on a call using Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet.

Given that you’re already in Board when you’re generating a Zoom link, you can also use Klaxoon’s own video-conferencing service called Live.

“Video represents less than 10% of your screen real estate. Our goal isn’t to compete with other services when it comes to pixels, high definition or the number of thumbnails,” Klaxoon co-founder and CEO Matthieu Beucher told me.

Instead, when you use Live, you accept multiple constraints that could help you remain focused on your meeting. For instance, you can only have 15 people in your meeting. The person organizing the meeting can set a limit — it can be 5 minutes, 15 minutes or 30 minutes. But you can’t use Live for a meeting that lasts longer than 30 minutes.

And finally, other people on the calls are represented through tiny thumbnails on the right side of the screen. Most of the screen is filled with a sort of digital whiteboard that you can use to write text, insert images or videos. You can work on your board before starting the meeting or you can add a table from a template library.

People joining your meeting can submit ideas through digital sticky notes. You can also switch from the freeform view to a more structured column view to move ideas from one category to another.

Klaxoon has been working on interactive whiteboards and meeting tools for quite a few years now. Board combines some of the stuff that the company is already providing to its clients, but with a focus on remote meetings. The service is launching today for €9.90 per month.

Holiday shopping season is getting a big head start this year. Amazon today announced that it will hold Prime Day — its annual mega global sale event on a big range of items, including toys, TVs, electronics, fashion, beauty, kitchen, home, and Amazon Devices — on Tuesday, October 13 (midnight PT) and carrying on through Wednesday, October 14, just weeks ahead of Black Friday. Prime Day will take place in the U.S., U.K, U.A.E, Spain, Singapore, Netherlands, Mexico, Luxembourg, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, China, Canada, Belgium, Austria, Australia, and (for the first time) Turkey and Brazil.

Prime Day, as its name implies, is a sale aimed that people who are members of Amazon’s Prime loyalty program, which provides free shipping on a big range of items, access to Amazon’s various streamed media services, and other perks, for a monthly or annual fee. There are some 150 million+ people globally who now take out Prime memberships and Amazon offers free trials for people to sign up so that they can buy during the two-day event. 

(Pricing for Prime starts at $119 a year or $12.99 a month for individuals, with discounts for students, those on government assistance and others. Business Prime for businesses starts at $69 per year.)

The event, which is still called “Prime Day” even though it has grown over time to 48 hours, is usually held over the summer as a way of boosting buying activity in what can otherwise be more sluggish shopping months — 2019’s event was in July — but this year, it was postponed because of COVID-19.

That was likely due to multiple reasons. Given that the virus was peaking in the US this summer, having a big sales event might have been a bad look. But in addition to that, the economic impact of the virus has also taken a toll: for many budgets have tightened, and so if consumers are going to take the time to buy big-ticket items, Amazon is possibly banking on them doing that only once this year, during holiday shopping, rather than twice.

It will be interesting to see how Prime Day stacks up in that context. Last year, Amazon said that its Prime Day (which was extended for the first time to 48 hours in 2019) sold 175 million items, more than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

Those are the key dates to note. Thanksgiving weekend — bookended by the US holiday and Cyber Monday and including Black Friday — have over the years become the unofficial “start” of the holiday shopping season. That period has become the key moment for retailers offline and online, when they bank on doing the most selling of the year and hitting (or hopefully passing) their numbers.

By placing its Prime Day event just a month ahead of that period, Amazon is essentially extending out the start time of that period, experimenting with the idea that they might actually get to “own” the whole start to the shopping season.

That may sound bold, but Amazon’s impact on wider shopping patterns and “shopping holidays” had already been proven. Last year, some 250 other online retailers, competitors to Amazon, set up promotional events to coincide with Prime Day, taking advantage of people being online and ready to buy things, and trying to make sure they are not cut out of the spending sprees.

Yet it’s not a sure thing, in the current climate. Even though Amazon, like a lot of other online retailers, have been raking in the sales as more people have turned away from physical stores to comply with social distancing rules, the longer term picture has been less sure. The job market is not strong, and people are watching their wallets.

So Amazon is taking all that on board and trying to pin bigger sweeteners into the mix on both sides of its marketplace. In addition to offering free trials of Prime (which it always does) it said it will give $10 credits to people to use on Prime Day if they spend $10 with selected small businesses between now and October 12.

“In the midst of an unprecedented year, we’re committed to making this the most successful Prime Day ever for our small businesses and excited for Prime members worldwide to discover new ways to support local entrepreneurs and save big on everything they need and love,” said Jeff Wilke, Amazon CEO Worldwide Consumer, in a statement. “This year’s Prime Day is the perfect opportunity for Prime members to get their holiday shopping done early from the comfort of their homes – and to have more time to spend with their families and friends throughout the season.”

Although Amazon sells a giant amount of merchandise directly, its network of third party sellers, many of which are small businesses who have come to rely on Amazon as the central piece of their e-commerce strategies, is a critical part of its wider catalogue, so getting them on board has been a major effort for the company. (Not least because it helps the company in its general antitrust profile, too.)

“In such an unsettled economy, we’ve actually been able to grow our sales with Amazon, allowing us to pay our employees more and pivot quickly when supply chain shortages struck,” said Colleen Sundlie, owner of Date Lady in Springfield, MO, in a statement. “Selling online has helped us stay connected with customers and continue growing our small business despite the challenging times.”

Playing with Holiday Shopping dates is really par for the course for Amazon, which also said that it’s getting a jump on its own Prime Day with sales starting today on Amazon Devices like the Echo Dot (get for $39.98) and Fire TV Recast ($129.99), and $100 off on Fire TV Edition Smart TVs, as well as deals on its streaming and media services, for example subscribing to four months of Amazon Music for $0.99.

It’s also pushing its payments services for the event. Prime members who sign up to Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Cards get $100 gift cards among other perks.

Uber has won its appeal against having its licence to operate withdrawn in London.

In today’s judgement the court decided it was satisfied with process improvements made by the ride-hailing company, including around its communication with the city’s transport regulator.

However it’s still not clear how long Uber will be granted a licence for — with the judge wanting to hear more evidence before taking a decision.

We’ve reached out to Uber and TfL for comment.

The ride-sharing giant has faced a multi-year battle to have its licence reinstated after Transport for London, the city’s transport regulator, took the shock decision not to issue a renewal in 2017 — citing safety concerns and deeming Uber not “fit and proper” to hold a private hire operator licence.

It went on to win a provisional appeal back in 2018 — when a UK court granted it a 15-month licence to give it time to continue working on meeting TfL’s requirements. However last November the regulator once again denied a full licence renewal — raising a range of new safety issues.

Despite that Uber has been able to continue operating in London throughout the appeals process — albeit, with ongoing uncertainty over the future of its licence. Now it will be hoping this is in the past.

In the appeal, Uber’s key argument was it is now “fit and proper” to hold a licence — claiming it’s listened to the regulator’s concerns and learnt from errors, making major changes to address issues related to passenger safety.

For example Uber pointed to improvements in its governance and document review systems, including a freeze on drivers who had not taken a trip for an extended period; real-time driver ID verification; and new scrutiny teams and processes; as well as the launch of ‘Programme Zero’ — which aims to prevent all breaches of licence conditions.

It also argued system flaws were not widespread — claiming only 24 of the 45,000 drivers using the app had exploited its system to its knowledge.

It also argued it now cooperates effectively and proactively with TfL and police forces, denying it conceals any failures. Furthermore, it claimed denying its licence would have a “profound effect” on groups at risk of street harassment — such as women and ethnic minorities, as well as disabled people.

It’s certainly fair to say the Uber of 2020 has travelled some distance from the company whose toxic internal culture included developing proprietary software to try to thwart regulatory oversight and eventually led to a major change of guard of its senior management.

However it’s interesting the court has taken the step of choosing to debate what length of licence Uber should receive. So while it’s a win for Uber, there are still some watchful caveats.

Offering commentary on today’s ruling, Anna McCaffrey, a senior counsel for the law firm Taylor Wessing, highlighted this element of the judgement. “The Magistrates Court agreed that Uber had made improvements and addressed TfL safety concerns. However, the fact that the length of extension is up for debate, rather than securing Uber’s preferred five year licence, demonstrates that Uber will have to work hard to continue to prove to TfL and the Court that it has really changed. If not, Uber is likely to find itself back in Court facing the same battle next year,” she noted in a statement.

She also pointed out that a decision is still pending from the Supreme Court to “finally settle” the question as to whether Uber’s drivers are workers or self-employed — another long-running legal saga for Uber in the UK.

It is also now facing fresh legal challenges related to its algorithmic management of drivers. So there’s still plenty of work for its lawyers.

The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU), meanwhile, offered a cautious welcome of the court’s decision to grant Uber’s licence renewal — given how many of its members are picking up jobs via the platform.

However the union also called for the major of London to break up what it dubbed Uber’s “monopoly” by imposing limits on the numbers of drivers who can register on its platform. In a statement, ADCU president, Yaseen Aslam, argued: “The reduced scale will give both Uber and Transport for London the breathing space necessary to ensure all compliance obligations -– including worker rights — are met in future.”

This morning, Noyo, a startup that provides APIs that link players in the health insurance space, announced that it has closed a $12.5 million Series A round of funding. 

The new capital comes less than a year after the startup disclosed that it had raised around $4 million in pre-seed and seed capital, and that its product was already in the market.

At the time it was clear that Noyo had a laser focus on its part of the healthcare world. Now, nearly a year later, the company confirmed to TechCrunch during conversations surrounding its new capital raise that it’s keeping its focus for now.

Linking the carriers and platforms of other insurance verticals, or varietals, will have to wait.

But Noyo is working in an enormous market, namely the U.S. health insurance universe, one that could provide it with space to grow for years to come. The startup sells the use of its application programming interfaces, or APIs, which in Noyo’s case allow customers to “execute, track, and confirm the fulfillment of member transaction requests to carriers,” citing the startup’s documentation. 

The company’s product was born out of frustration that Noyo co-founders Shannon Goggin and Dennis Lee dealt with while working for Zenefits, an HR tech unicorn that ran into problems with regulators and customers alike. For more on that story, our prior reporting is useful. (Notably, AgentSync is another API startup play under construction by Zenefits alums.)

The American healthcare market is enormous, lucrative and fraught with inefficiencies and antiquated technology. And the insurance portion of the healthcare market is similarly titanic and broken, providing an outsize opportunity for a startup that can navigate its politics and unique needs with a technology solution able to help incumbents speed up, and save money.

The Series A

Noyo’s new funding event was led by Costanoa Ventures and Spark Capital. Prior investors Core Innovation Capital, Garuda Ventures, the Webb Investment Network, Precursor Ventures and Homebrew upped their investment in the new round.

Homebrew’s Satya Patel was effusive about the company in a comment provided to TechCrunch, saying that Noyo’s “technology and strategic vision have convinced major industry leaders to get on board right out of the gate.” This tracks with what the company has said, including that it has lined up new partnerships with insurance providers Ameritas and Humana.

Patel also noted that “Noyo is helping connect insurance companies and the growing ecosystem of insurtechs,” a portion of the startup market that TechCrunch has worked to track in the last year as it has raised piles of capital, seen notable liquidity and continues to drive headlines more recently.

A good question to ask startups that don’t run their cash accounts near zero before raising new funds is why they raised now. In Noyo’s case, I was curious what was the catalyzing factor for it to go out and raise more capital. 

Goggin said that Noyo had found “really good signal and pickup from our early clients and partners.” That, combined with what she described as a “very clear sense of what we needed to do, and how we could accelerate bringing our future vision to life” were enough for her team to say “alright, let’s settle down, this is working, let’s be able to take the big swings.”

And thus the Series A came together.

Noyo has plans to keep hiring, with Goggin telling TechCrunch that her company is currently around 20 people, but will be around 30 by the time 2021 kicks off. She added that “the nice thing” about her new capital raise is that her startup won’t have “a staffing constraint” when it wants to “roll out a new product.”

The pace at which Noyo builds, then, should accelerate.

Which, in turn, should yield more revenue growth. Goggin cautioned that Noyo is not aiming for profitability but is, at the same time, “a real business with a viable model.” The Series A stage is generally a bit early to press founders on growth metrics, as most won’t share unless they are outlier-good. But happily, by the time that Noyo raises a Series B, it should have enough revenue history for some useful year-over-year comparisons, and we will ask for them.

The Noyo round is another data point that API-delivered startups are seeing good market traction, and that investors are taking notice. Expect to hear from a few more related companies in the next few weeks if my inbox is any indicator of what’s coming up.

Stripe has led a $12 million Series A round in Manila-based online payment platform PayMongo, the startup announced today.

PayMongo, which offers an online payments API for businesses in the Philippines, was the first Filipino-owned financial tech startup to take part in Y Combinator’s accelerator program. Y Combinator and Global Founders Capital, another previous investor, both returned for the Series A, which also included participation from new backer BedRock Capital.

PayMongo partners with financial institutions, and its products include a payments API that can be integrated into websites and apps, allowing them to accept payments from bank cards and digital wallets like GrabPay and GCash. For social commerce sellers and other people who sell mostly through messaging apps, the startup offers PayMongo Links, which buyers can click on to send money. PayMongo’s platform also includes features like a fraud and risk detection system.

In a statement, Stripe’s APAC business lead Noah Pepper said it invested in PayMongo because “we’ve been impressed with the PayMongo team and the speed at which they’ve made digital payments more accessible to so many businesses across the Philippines.”

The startup launched in June 2019 with $2.7 million in seed funding, which the founders said was one of the largest seed rounds ever raised by a Philippines-based fintech startup. PayMongo has now raised a total of almost $15 million in funding.

Co-founder and chief executive Francis Plaza said PayMongo has processed a total of almost $20 million in payments since launching, and grown at an average of 60% since the start of the year, with a surge after lockdowns began in March.

He added that the company originally planned to start raising its Series A in in the first half of next year, but the growth in demand for its services during COVID-19 prompted it to start the round earlier so it could hire for its product, design and engineering teams and speed up the release of new features. These will include more online payment options; features for invoicing and marketplaces; support for business models like subscriptions; and faster payout cycles.

PayMongo also plans to add more partnerships with financial service providers, improve its fraud and risk detection systems and secure more licenses from the central bank so it can start working on other types of financial products.

The startup is among fintech companies in Southeast Asia that have seen accelerated growth as the COVID-19 pandemic prompted many businesses to digitize more of their operations. Plaza said that overall digital transactions in the Philippines grew 42% between January and April because of the country’s lockdowns.

PayMongo is currently the only payments company in the Philippines with an onboarding process that was developed to be completely online, he added, which makes it attractive to merchants who are accepting online payments for the first time. “We have a more efficient review of compliance requirements for the expeditious approval of applications so that our merchants can use our platform right away and we make sure we have a fast payout to our merchants,” said Plaza.

If the momentum continues even as lockdowns are lifted in different cities, that means the Philippine’s central bank is on track to reach its goal of increasing the volume of e-payment transactions to 20% of total transactions in the country this year. The government began setting policies in 2015 to encourage more online payments, in a bid to bolster economic growth and financial inclusion, since smartphone penetration in the Philippines is high, but many people don’t have a traditional bank account, which often charge high fees.

Though lockdown restrictions in the Philippines have eased, Plaza said PayMongo is still seeing strong traction. “We believe the digital shift by Filipino businesses will continue, largely because both merchants and customers continue to practice safety measures such as staying at home and choosing online shopping despite the more lenient quarantine levels. Online will be the new normal for commerce.”

A U.S. federal court has said a ban on TikTok will not go into effect on Monday as scheduled.

The move to delay the anticipated ban will allow Americans to continue using the app while the court considers the ban’s legality and whether the app poses a risk to national security as the Trump administration claims.

For weeks since President Donald Trump signed two executive orders in early August, the government has threatened to shut down the viral video sharing app over fears that its parent company ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing, could be forced to turn over user data to the Chinese government. TikTok, which has 100 million users in the United States alone, has long rejected the claims.

TikTok first filed a lawsuit against the administration on September 18, and on Thursday this week filed a last minute injunction in an effort to stop the ban going into effect Sunday night. On Friday, the government asked the court to reject the injunction in a sealed motion, which the government later refiled as a public motion with some redactions. A public hearing on the injunction was set for Sunday morning. The case is being heard in DC District Court presided by judge Carl J. Nichols.

In its ruling on Sunday, the court gave just its decision, with the formal opinion handed over privately to just the two opposing parties. Due to sensitive material included in the government’s motion, the parties have until Monday to ask for any redactions before the final opinion will be published.

The decision is just the latest episode in the continuing saga of the sprawling fight over the future of the fastest-growing social app in America. A deal reached between ByteDance and the U.S. government last weekend was believed to have resolved the standoff between the two parties, but the deal has frayed over disputed details between buyer Oracle and ByteDance.

The administration first launched an action against TikTok on August 6, with President Trump arguing in an executive order that the app posed an unreasonable national security risk for American citizens. That order mirrored a similar one published the same day that put restrictions on the popular Mandarin-language messenger app WeChat, which is owned by China-based Tencent.

Last weekend, a federal magistrate judge in San Francisco put in place an injunction on the Commerce Department’s ban on WeChat, pending further court deliberations. TikTok, whose arguments mirror those in the WeChat lawsuit, was hoping for a similar outcome in its own legal proceedings.

One difference between the two lawsuits is the plaintiffs. In WeChat’s case, a group of WeChat users filed a lawsuit arguing that a ban would hurt their expression of speech. TikTok is representing itself in its own fight with the government.

The court case is TikTok Inc. et al v. Trump et al (1:2020-cv-02658).