Circles.Life offers free unlimited data for COVID-19 front-liners in Singapore
Singapore’s digital telco Circles.Life said today it will provide a special package for COVID-19 front-liners, including healthcare workers, security and defence professionals, and operators of ambulance and transportation.
The package will include six-month’s worth of unlimited data with 4G rollover and unlimited talk time free of charge worth US$180.
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To support Singapore’s students undergoing home-based learning and who do not have a broadband connection, Circles.Life will supply SIM cards with three months’ free unlimited data to ensure that children will be able to continue online classes. For this, the telco has partnered with charities like Eton House Community Fund.
“This is a crucial time for us to unite as one nation. As we battle COVID-19 together, we want to acknowledge what our front liners have done, and to thank them for their service. In addition, we want to play our role to ensure that everyone in Singapore can resume their lives as much as possible and stay digitally connected,” said Mateen Kirmani, Head of Partnership, Circles.Life.
India’s Locale.ai secures seed funding from Better Capital
Bengaluru-based location analytics company Locale.ai has secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from early-stage venture capital firm Better Capital, says a report by The Economic Times.
Two unnamed angel investors also joined the round.
The startup said the new funds will be used for global scaling, especially in the US.
“We help companies decrease their customer acquisition cost by expanding in areas based on latent demand, reduce user churn by providing better SLAs in locations where they drop off and increase existing customer revenue by doing geo-targeting based on users they move and where they order from,” Aditi Sinha, Co-founder of Locale.ai, said.
Founded in 2019, the company provides location intelligence software for real-time and business decisions. It has partnerships with a number of data vendors.
SoftBank cautions US$24B in losses due to plummeting performance of its tech bets
Japanese multinational conglomerate SoftBank has cautioned against its first operating loss in 15 years due to collapse in the value of its tech investments, according to CNN Business.
Over 2019 and early 2020, several of SoftBank’s tech bets have been slipping, most notably WeWork, whose value dropped from US$40 billion to around US$8 billion.
“Much of the damage to SoftBank’s Vision Fund credibility has already occurred with the very public failed WeWork float,” Dan Baker, an analyst of Morningstar, told CNN.
Other companies in SoftBank’s portfolio — for example, Uber, OpenDoor and Compass, Brandless, Wag, DoorDash and hotel chain Oyo — have also faced a rough road in recent times.
About 7,300 people have also been laid off across dozen SoftBank-backed startups in the four months ending in February, as per a CNN Business tally.
India launches first contact tracing app Aarogya Setu to combat the pandemic
The government of India has launched a contact tracing app, called Aarogya Setu, to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The app features a self-assessment test option, along with a ‘ready to volunteer in the time of need’ option.
Users can download the app from the Android Playstore or Apple AppStore and simply add in their contact details which includes their name and phone number.
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Image Credit: Circles.Life, Softbank
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