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Equifax Integrates Entersekt’s Digital Security System
Entersekt, a leader in push-based authentication and mobile app security, today announced a technology partnership with global information solutions company Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX). Equifax has licensed Entersekt’s product Transakt to serve as an additional layer of security protecting the Equifax online and mobile services.
Transakt empowers consumers to play an active role in safeguarding their digital identities and accounts. Whenever access to a digital identity or account is required, an authentication request is pushed to their phone or tablet in real time. They approve or block access by simply tapping Accept or Reject. It’s a highly intuitive, one-touch user experience engineered for a mobile-first world.
Transakt’s ease of use belies its advanced set of security features. Covered by 56 patents in the United States and elsewhere, the digital-certificate–based technology uniquely identifies each registered mobile device; ensures its continued integrity as a factor of authentication; and opens a trusted channel between it and the digital service provider. It is over this trusted channel, impervious to attack, that users confirm their identities when accessing their accounts and initiating sensitive digital transactions.
“Entersekt’s market leading offering enables us to expand our trusted services to various new digital channels,” said Gaurav Khanna, senior vice president global product management and new product innovation at Equifax. “Adding Transakt to our platforms provides us with a secure way to identify, reach out to, and interact with our customers.”
Sherif Samy, Entersekt’s senior vice president North America, said of the new partnership: “We are excited to team up with Equifax in enhancing protection of its customers’ identities and personal data. This alliance plays into our long-standing strategy of partnering with leading global companies to assist them in launching products and services that represent the best in digital innovation, usability, and security.”
Entersekt’s pioneering fintech is deployed across the globe. Spanning multiple use cases in banking, payments, insurance, healthcare, and government, its technology inspires peace of mind in consumers and innovative thinking in digital product developers – all while helping enterprises remain firmly ahead of the security and compliance curve.
Entersekt is an innovator in push-based authentication and app security. The company’s one-of-a-kind approach harnesses the power of digital certificate technology with the convenience of mobile phones to provide financial services companies and their customers with full protection from online fraud. Built on open technologies for high availability, scalability, and simple integration, Entersekt’s patented security products protect millions of devices and transactions daily, while complying with the world’s most stringent regulatory guidelines. Enterprises across the globe look to Entersekt to strengthen the bond of trust they share with their customers, and to build on those relationships by introducing compelling, user-friendly new mobile and online services. For more information on Entersekt, visit www.entersekt.com.
Equifax is a global information solutions company that uses unique data, innovative analytics, technology, and industry expertise to power organizations and individuals around the world by transforming knowledge into insights that help make more informed business and personal decisions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs 10,100 employees worldwide. For more information, visit www.equifax.com.
Media contact for Entersekt
Haleigh Tomasek, 678-781-7208
Stephen Sprayberry, 678-781-7207
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Andersen Global Welcomes Tufiño & Villegas in Bolivia25.9.2018 13:30 | Pressemelding
Andersen Global continues its growth in Latin America with news that one of the premier tax law firms in Bolivia, Estudio Jurídico Tufiño Villegas & Asoc., has become a collaborating firm of Andersen Global. Tufiño & Villegas specializes in providing legal services to both local and foreign corporations that do business in Bolivia. With offices in La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, the signing of a Collaboration Agreement with Tufiño & Villegas kickstarts Andersen Global’s presence in the South American country. The international organization has almost doubled its headcount in Latin America in the past eight months. Through its member firms and collaborating firms, Andersen Global already has a strong presence in the region in several major economic hubs – Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, Brazil, and most recently Paraguay. Led by Founders and Managing Partners Alvaro Villegas Aldazosa and Jose Luis Tufiño, the firm, Tufiño & Villegas, was created in 1995 as a tax b
Arensis and Schneider Electric Launch Smart Microgrid Partnership and Development of ENTRADE IO Blockchain Technology25.9.2018 13:00 | Pressemelding
Arensis, a leading international provider of decentralized energy systems, and Schneider Electric, a leader in microgrid development with integrated efficiency solutions combining energy, automation and software, today announced the joint development of its smart microgrid pilot program. As part of the pilot, Arensis and Schneider Electric will develop a blockchain Application Programming Interface (API) platform for ENTRADE IO, a newly-formed company founded by the CEO of Arensis for off grid project financing and the sale of renewable energy in remote areas around the world. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180925005362/en/ Schneider Electric augmented reality (AR) applications developed for Arensis and ENTRADE IO Smart Microgrid solutions. (Graphic: Business Wire) Joint development of the smart microgrid systems, combining waste-to-energy, solar and storage, will launch in North America with plans for growth
Clarke Valve Closes $5.5 Million Venture Funding Round Led by OGCI Climate Investments25.9.2018 13:00 | Pressemelding
Clarke Valve today completed the sale of $5.5 million of Series B Preferred Stock to a group of investors led by OGCI Climate Investments. Along with funding from Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and Chevron Technology Ventures, Clarke has now raised $15.5 million of Series B funding. Clarke’s patented Shutter Valves are typically 1/5th the weight, 1/5th the size and 1/5th the cost of equivalent legacy valves, providing substantial benefits to users of industrial control valves in many industries. In addition, Clarke valves are currently the only control valves in the world to achieve the stringent American Petroleum Institute (API) 641 certification for low fugitive emission performance. Fugitive emissions from legacy valve designs is the cause of significant methane emitted to the atmosphere from industrial facilities. Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, said “We are pleased to support the Clarke team in its journey to reach a global market. We believe that the Clarke Va
Analogix Introduces Industry’s Lowest Power eDP TCON with In-Cell Touch for Latest Generation Notebooks25.9.2018 13:00 | Pressemelding
Analogix Semiconductor, Inc. today announced its ANX2403, the industry’s lowest power Full HD embedded DisplayPort™ 1.4 (eDP) timing controller (TCON) with panel self-refresh (PSR), VESA DisplayHDR™ 400 support, and in-cell finger and active stylus touch for notebook PCs with graphics display resolution up to 1920x1280. Leveraging Analogix’s technology leadership in low-power processes, the ANX2403 reduces the Full HD 60Hz power consumption to 60mW using 28nm process technology, a 35% reduction over the 40nm technology and more than 50% reduction over the 55nm technology, becoming the lowest power TCON in the industry. Moreover, the ANX2403 supports Intel low refresh rate (LRR) and PSR2 for even further power reductions. “The ANX2403 brings together our capabilities in low-power processes, in-cell touch, and high-dynamic-range (HDR) technology, offering the lowest power consumption to date, better image performance, and thinner panels with reduced bezels at a lower cost to display pane
Takeda to Present Positive Data from ALUNBRIG® (brigatinib) ALTA-1L Trial Showing a Reduction in Risk of Disease Progression or Death of More Than 50 Percent Versus Crizotinib in First-Line Advanced ALK+ NSCLC25.9.2018 12:32 | Pressemelding
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502) today announced results from the Phase 3 ALTA-1L (ALK in Lung Cancer Trial of BrigAtinib in 1 st Line) trial, demonstrating that ALUNBRIG reduced the risk of disease progression or death, known as progression-free survival (PFS), as assessed by a blinded independent review committee (BIRC), by more than fifty percent compared to crizotinib in adults with anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive (ALK+) locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had not received a prior ALK inhibitor. Findings from the first interim analysis of the ALTA-1L trial will be presented during the Presidential Symposium at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 19th World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) in Toronto on Tuesday, September 25, 2018. The data were also simultaneously published online in The New England Journal of Medicine. ALUNBRIG is currently not approved as first-line therapy for advanced ALK+ NSC
Softomotive and Enate Partner to Help Clients Orchestrate Workflows across Their RPA Ecosystem25.9.2018 12:15 | Pressemelding
Softomotive, a leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vendor, has announced a strategic partnership with Enate, the pioneering Robotic Service Orchestration (RSO) provider. Together, Softomotive and Enate will allow business enterprises of all sizes to go further and faster with their automation programmes, achieving greater efficiency through orchestration of workflows between human employees and software robots. This partnership will offer Softomotive and Enate’s mutual customers the flexibility to orchestrate workflow between humans and bots whether the enterprise is using just Softomotive bots or more than one RPA provider. “As the RPA market matures, we are finding more and more clients are relying on more than one RPA provider, ” said Marios Stavropoulos, Softomotive’s CEO. “This adds an extra layer of complexity and Softomotive is all about simplifying things for our clients. This new partnership with Enate will do just that by allowing them to continue to orchestrate combined


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Chinese tech giant Baidu has publicly launched its AI chatbot Ernie Bot, making it one of the first conversational AI models approved for public use in China under the country’s new regulations on generative AI.
Ernie Bot Quickly Gains Popularity
Within just 24 hours of its release on Thursday, Baidu’s Ernie Bot crossed 1 million users, demonstrating strong demand in China for a homegrown alternative to ChatGPT. By Thursday afternoon, the Ernie Bot app had become the most downloaded free app on Apple’s iOS store in China.
The chatbot is now available through Baidu’s website and mobile apps, allowing users to have natural conversations with the AI and get it to generate text, images and videos.
Baidu plans to launch more AI products in the future that leverage different capabilities like reasoning and memory, beyond just conversational chatbots.
MUST READ: Jio Sets Sights on Democratizing “AI for Everyone”
China Implements Strict Rules for Public AI Models
The launch of Ernie Bot comes after China implemented comprehensive regulations on generative AI models in January, which require companies to get approval before releasing AI chatbots publicly.
The rules mandate that public AI systems follow “core socialist values,” avoid generating harmful content, respect intellectual property and more. Companies must also implement safeguards against addiction and unlawful use of their AI services.
Regulators require firms submit security assessments and show compliance with the principles before greenlighting the public use of generative AI models.
This approval process has prevented the entry of systems like ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, which remain inaccessible in China. Other foreign models also continue to be blocked.
Baidu First to Get Regulatory Nod; Others in Pipeline
Baidu secured the necessary permits to launch Ernie Bot publicly, making it one of the first conversational AI models to be approved under the new framework.
According to reports, around a dozen companies including ByteDance, Tencent and Huawei have either obtained or are seeking clearance to release their AI systems.
For instance, ByteDance has been testing a ChatGPT-style chatbot called Hanyu, but it hasn’t launched widely yet. Tencent also revealed its AI assistant called Haina, but public access remains limited.
Alibaba has an AI chatbot called Tongyi Qianwen that it has likely submitted for regulatory approval. But so far, Baidu’s Ernie Bot remains the only approved and launched chatbot in China.
must read: Google Introduces Tool to Detect AI-Generated Images
Navigating Nationalist Tech Policies
The Chinese regulations around content moderation and aligning AI values with government principles adds complexity for local tech firms.
However, Baidu is betting that its familiarity with Chinese policies and integration with local users through its search engine will give it an edge.
While restricting harmful content, China has generally encouraged developing AI to drive economic growth. Baidu aims to balance both while leveraging its strengths in natural language AI.
Race to Keep Up with Microsoft, Google
The launch of Ernie Bot places Baidu at the forefront of Chinese tech giants responding competitively to systems like ChatGPT. However, keeping pace with rapid improvements from Microsoft, Google and others will require massive investment.
Baidu can collect user feedback on Ernie Bot to rapidly improve its foundational Ernie 3.5 AI model. But local rivals like Alibaba and Huawei won’t be far behind once they get regulatory approvals.
The public launch is a starting point for Baidu. Maintaining leadership in conversational AI will depend on continued model iteration and staying aligned with Chinese values.
must read: AI-Powered Drone Beats World Champion Pilots!
Showcasing Baidu’s AI Capabilities
For Baidu, Ernie Bot represents both a strategic product and a showcase of its prowess in natural language processing. It aims to highlight its technical abilities, much like ChatGPT did for OpenAI.
“Making Ernie Bot available to hundreds of millions of Internet users, Baidu will collect massive valuable real-world human feedback,” said Baidu CEO Robin Li. “This will not only help improve Baidu’s foundation model but also iterate Ernie Bot on a much faster pace, ultimately leading to a superior user experience.”
With Ernie Bot now launched, Baidu has staked an early claim in China’s emerging generative AI space. But sustaining that lead will require balancing rapid innovation with government oversight in an increasingly competitive market.

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Hey everyone, welcome back to another article by Cedar Grove Capital Management.
If you like today’s post, please hit the heart button, comment with any feedback, and share it with friends if you find it useful.
This post might be too long for your email so if it abruptly cuts out, just open it in your browser to see the whole thing.
Back in September, we published our thoughts on the consumer and what led us to liquidate our positions due to what we believed was not a light at the end of the tunnel but in fact, another train.
Since it’s been three months since we posted that piece, we thought it would be best to send out another update on our thoughts while touching on different market segments this time.
In this post, we’ll be sharing our thoughts on
State of small businesses in America
Homeownership and how asset prices have destroyed the future
Used car market and what that means
Consumer savings rates not seen since before ‘08
The dinner table is still costly
With that, let’s begin.
Small businesses, the backbone of America
According to the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA), small businesses of 500 employees or fewer make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses and 99.7% of firms with paid employees.
These range anywhere from your local mom-and-pop place around the corner or that small local/regional company.
Of the new jobs created between 1995 and 2020, small businesses accounted for 62%—12.7 million compared to 7.9 million by large enterprises. A 2019 SBA report found that small businesses accounted for 44% of U.S. economic activity.
Without small businesses, the American economy and workforce would be a pretty wild landscape to imagine.
In fact, in 2021, there were 5.4 million new business applications. That’s 23% higher than 2020’s record.
So, small businesses are important, and lots of people have wanted to start them recently. Hell, we just bought one ourselves.
But if we’re looking at the economy, we need to see how small businesses are viewing it themselves.
Recession Scaries & Inflation Pain
To find out how inflation is affecting small businesses, in June, Digital.com surveyed 1,000 owners and co-owners of small businesses with 500 or fewer employees. The results show that inflation – and rumblings of a recession – present a serious threat to the survival of the majority of small businesses.
Key Survey Findings
65% of small businesses say it’s ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ they’ll permanently close if inflation continues at its current rate
The prospect of a recession has 95% of small business owners ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ concerned
Businesses that are in danger of closing are more likely to have already been impacted by declines in revenue and customers, pandemic-related shutdowns, and supply-chain issues
38% of small businesses facing closure plan to lay off employees to stay afloat
“Small businesses have struggled to survive two years of COVID lockdowns. Many of those that made it through are likely to be low on the resources and energy required to now survive the highest levels of inflation in 40 years.” - marketing consultant Dennis Consorte
Additionally, the ongoing economic impact of inflation has led to the threat of a recession.
Small business owners are taking note of this as well, with 60% of all small business owners saying they’re ‘very concerned’ about a possible recession in 2022. Thirty-five percent are ‘somewhat concerned.’ Only 5% of small business owners say they’re ‘not at all concerned’ about a recession.
Referring to the increase in business applications picture from above, inflation might be about to make that boom go bust. Sixty-two percent of businesses founded since 2020 will ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ close down without relief from inflation.
Businesses founded just before the pandemic, between 2017 and 2019, are even more likely to be struggling. Seventy-three percent of these businesses say closure is likely.
Even the majority of well-established businesses are being threatened by inflation. Fifty-seven percent of businesses founded between 2007 and 2011, and 55% of businesses founded before 2007 say permanent closure is ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ if inflation doesn’t ease up.
To add to worrying statistics, more than 40% of U.S. small business owners say they couldn’t pay rent on time or in full for the month of November, the highest this year.1
Analyzing trends in rent delinquency rates, this is up ~4 percentage points from October (37%) and 10 percentage points from September (30%).
A survey of 4,789 small business owners by Alignable was conducted between Oct. 15 and Oct. 27. The findings partly reflect how inflation is affecting small businesses. More than half say their rent is at least 10% higher than it was six months ago, and one in seven say rents have increased at least 20%.
About 49% of restaurants were unable to pay their rent this month, up from 36% in September, while 37% of real estate agents couldn’t pay their rent, up from 27% last month, reflecting the fallout from a slowdown in home sales as higher mortgage rates chill the housing market.
Small business owners are genuinely concerned about inflation and its effect on their businesses
Many are concerned about a recession and the very likelihood of their business closing
The pace of small businesses not being able to afford rent is at its highest point this year
Now let’s move on to home ownership.
Poorer Than Before
With COVID shooting the median existing-home sales price to a peak of $413,800 in June of this year. Since then, prices have come down ~10%, and are looking to continue that way.
However, with mortgage rates pushing past 7% recently and settling at a national average of 6.6%. This has led to existing home sales plunging over the last year.
November clocked in a 28.4% y/y decline in existing home sales, which was the worst since February 2008.
But this isn’t what I’m concerned about. New home sales only affect those that are taking on new loans at much higher rates than before but as you can see from above, no one is lining up to do that.
In fact, nearly a quarter of Americans had clinched a mortgage rate of less or equal to 3%, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as of the end of June. Only 7.2% of homeowners have a rate higher than 6%.
This means that while many Americans paid a lot more for a house, their mortgage payments are still very much under control due to them locking in low rates.
But here is what I am concerned about. The asset prices of homes are tumbling. As I mentioned above, prices are already down ~10%, but why am I worried about that?
I’m worried about the equity wipe of homeowners that overpaid, which was basically everyone.
What do I mean by this? Well, let’s look at the example below.
For easy numbers, we’re looking at a home that was valued at $500k in 2020, and sold for 50% more in 2021 (more common than you think). With a 20% down payment for a 30-year FRM, that means that you’re putting up $150k in cash (excluding fees, etc) for the home and the mortgage is $600k.
Now that prices are coming back down to reality, the overpriced home you paid for is worth 20% less, at $600k.
You’ve been making payments for ~1 year but the value has taken such a hit that your equity is virtually wiped. Meaning, that $150k you put down to obtain the house in the first place is down to ~$12k after making nearly one year of payments.
This means that you’ve basically paid $150k to only own ~$12k worth of a home in just one year. Not ~$12k in incremental equity, but ~$12k in total equity.
This means three things though.
Unlocking equity from your home via a HELOC/home equity loan is not possible because you basically have no equity left in the home currently
If you had a HELOC or home equity loan, your line of credit from your lender might freeze or reduce your line of credit but you’ll still be on the hook for the payments regardless
Assuming a 2.5% annual appreciation rate, it would take another 10 years after the 2022 drop to get back to the value that you initially paid for it
My concerns with this are that it will tie people up with little to no equity in their homes for years to come which doesn’t allow homeowners to tap their equity to fuel other economic growth with said funds.
Additionally, you can’t sell either without taking a massive loss due to the underlying price of the asset crumbling.
You’re basically held hostage to your home but instead of like in 2008, your mortgage payment is not making you go underwater and into foreclosure.
An expensive and not financially rewarding purchase if you ask me.
Used Car Market Collapsing
Remember during the pandemic when you could sell your old used car for basically double what it was worth? Yea. Those days are long over.
The Manheim used car index has cratered this year as supply chains for chips have eased which has allowed those on the waitlist for new cars to finally get theirs.
While it surprisingly ticked up last month, that’s more a function of people finally pulling the trigger and swapping out their cars before it’s too late for something slightly newer.
But, here’s the real kicker, the market for getting a new/used car is severely under pressure with rates.
Looking at the below chart will show you what the average used car loan rates are on a state-by-state basis.
According to Edmunds, the average interest paid over the life of a car loan hit an ALL-TIME record in November.
New car loan: $8,436 in interest
Used car loan: $10,204 in interest
In October, I was lucky enough to lock in a used car rate at 4.54% on a 5-year term. Mind you, I have an 820 credit score and yet people were still saying I paid too much.
That’s laughable at this point considering the average is now double that.
But not only do you have supply chains easing, rates going up, and people coming to the realization that their used cars are no longer assets but once again liabilities, this puts consumers in a very peculiar spot.
Consumers NEED cars for daily life like commuting to work, family things, etc. Waiting to get a car because prices were too high has backfired since now that prices are down, rates are up and that means people are falling behind on payments.
This is causing delinquencies to start climbing at a faster clip not seen since pre-2008.
Another notch on the belt of what’s holding the consumer down.
This is one that we touched base on back in our September post but back then it was 30bp higher than what it is today.
While it stands at 2.4% right now, it was 2.2% back in October which was the second lowest rate on record only being beaten by July in 2005.
What’s interesting to call out here is the trend. Moving from a 2.2% rate to a 2.4% rate suggests to us that consumers are starting to wake up to the fact that they cannot keep up their spending habits as they have been.
The fact that there was a decent savings rate uptick in virtually nothing but declines since 2021, a slowdown in retail sales, and an increase in BNPL all confirm this hypothesis in our opinion.
Time will tell just how quickly rates continue to change if they change at all and whatever disposable income is left is not used towards just maintaining an already stretched lifestyle.
The Dinner Table Looking A Little Slim
Have you noticed that food costs have continued to go up? Perhaps you’ve already made changes to your weekly grocery store run in order to not spend as much.
Well, according to Bankrate’s Nov. 23 analysis of the cost of holiday essentials, six of 10 of the most inflated prices were for food, including turkey, bakery items, eggs, flour, and prepared mixes.
Let’s take a look at the most recent holiday that just happened, Thanksgiving.
The overall average cost of a "classic" Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people, which includes things like a 16-pound turkey and a dozen dinner rolls, is $64.05. That’s almost $11 or 20% higher than the average for 2021.
How about the upcoming Christmas dinner? Well, ham is up 7.8% year over year, frozen and refrigerated bakery products are up 19.4%, and eggs are up 49.1%.
To pick at eggs real quick, look at Cal-Maine foods.
This company literally does nothing but sell eggs. A company that sells eggs has beaten your tech-heavy, innovation-driving story-type stocks. Eggs…
Because of the rising costs of food, more and more consumers are trading down to private labels in an effort to find value.
About 78% of Americans currently purchase in-store brand products, 61% are buying more private-label pantry items, and 58% are buying more private-label household merchandise.
So with prices still going up for our everyday food, and consumers already buying more private-label products just goes to show why we’re concerned about where discretionary funds will eventually be shifted to.
While we do not want the underlying consumer to be feeling the pressure that they have been, the data as we are interpreting it, all points to nothing but more pain ahead.
One of the easiest ways you can check the pulse of the consumer, aside from the data, is to look and see if you’ve changed anything. If your friends or family have. Odds are you know someone who’s suffering from something from the above. Whether it be trying to get a new/used car, having the price of their home drop, etc.
Our concern is that the market, and many investors, are not seeing the forest for the trees and are too dependent on inflation data and what the FED may or may not do.
That is all short-term thinking and the exact reason why we sat out market volatility for a few months before finding it appropriate again to start new positions.
While this isn’t 2008 with a main point of failure (housing), the consumer is getting hit from all angles and time will continue to show how an earnings recession is coming and quite frankly, has already come.
Thanks for reading everyone and I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas holiday!
Until next time,
Paul Cerro | Cedar Grove Capital Management
Personal Twitter: @paulcerro
Fund Twitter: @cedargrovecm


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Kenyan ride-hailing company Little is expanding to Tanzania and Ghana by May and plans to raise about $50 million more from investors, its chief executive officer said on Friday.
Little, which competes with global players Uber and Taxify in Kenya, is valued at about $70 million to $75 million, Chief Executive Kamal Budhabhatti said, a minnow compared to rivals but it has aims to expand across Africa.
The company will offer rides in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam from next week and plans to launch in Accra by May, Budhabhatti said, adding to operations in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.
“We want to get into a lot more countries than what we are in at the moment,” Budhabhatti said.
He said Little was talking to investors to raise about $50 million in series A funding, the financing received when a start-up opens up to outside investors for the first time. It aims to finalise this by mid-2019.
“We are meeting a couple of investors, both on the continent and in Silicon Valley. The interest is there,” he said, adding that new funds would be used to develop technology and to expand to more countries. He did not name the potential investors.
Without the deep pockets of its ride-hailing rivals in the region, Little has been attracting drivers by encouraging them to offer extra services to earn money, Budhabhatti said.
“Our drivers are agents, they can sell insurance to you, they can sell (mobile) airtime, they can pay light and/or water bills, they can do all those little things around that increases that income,” he said.
Little, which has a marketing partnership with Kenya’s biggest mobile operator Safaricom, is also available to Kenyan customers who do not have a smartphone.
The company worked with mobile operators to introduce a code to identify a passenger’s location. “About 20 percent of our rides actually come from non-smartphones,” Budhabhatti said.
The company, which started up in 2016, has 10,000 registered drivers in Nairobi, with about 60 percent of those active, and more than a million users on its platform across all markets, with more than 60 percent of those in Kenya, he said.
Uber, which has been operating in Kenya for four years, has 6,000 active drivers.
Little launched a bus service in January in Nairobi, on top of its car taxi service and motorcycle taxi service, known in Kenya as “boda boda”. It is also looking at a delivery service.
By Omar Mohammed, Reuters


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Used Car Sales in Poland Return to Pre-Pandemic Volumes: Car Imports Rise Due to Higher Tax Expectations
Until October 2020, the country imported 17.5% less than in the same period in 2019. In September, almost 90,000 used cars were sold in Poland, which is the highest figure in 2020. The number of imported cars that were already in use decreased during the year due to the restrictions imposed on crossing the state borders associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. After the restrictions were eased, sales were gradually recovering to pre-viral levels, however, experts believe that one of the triggers is the market expectation of an increase in the tax imposed on used cars imported into the country. Many Poles decided that now was the time to buy the desired car, before the new tax increased the cost of cars.
Expectations of tax hikes have boosted car sales and they continue to rise. Market experts admit that this record may be broken even before the end of the year due to the expected rise in prices due to changes in taxation and reach a volume of more than 100 thousand used cars.
Rumors of a price hike emerged after Yadviga Emilevich announced last month about a possible amendment to tax legislation to revise tax rates. The rate of the new tax was supposed to depend on the age of the car, the size of the engine and the level of emissions that it produces. After the Minister of Development's statement about this, no further information was published.
In fact, this may not happen in the near future, since the affected farmers continue their protests, such measures will further reduce the rating of the current government.
Historically, supported cars from wealthier Western European countries are gradually moving to the east of the continent, where cheaper older cars are still in demand. This is mainly due to the pressure of the legislation of developed countries, which encourages people to get rid of old cars with high emissions. So from Poland, used cars are often sent further to the east, but among the EU countries, it has the largest number (more than a third) of all EU passenger cars that are more than two decades old. Poland is followed by Estonia, where about 30 percent of such cars are in the European Union, and then Finland with a quarter of the total.
Most imported cars run on gasoline and are often converted to LPG, which lowers operating costs as well as emissions, but their number is only about 15 percent, while more than 40 percent of used vehicles carried are diesel.
After the Diesel Gate scandal, when the Volkswagen concern deceived consumers and underestimated the real data on diesel emissions of new models, the popularity of cars with this type of engine, which had been at its peak for more than 20 years, quickly declined and the same countries began to get rid of diesels, again along the chain to the east. So in Poland now the number of imported diesel cars is approaching half of all supported car imports.
The main supplier of old cars to the country is Germany, which has sold more than 300 thousand units to Poland this year, followed by the Benelux countries - with more than 80 thousand imported used cars, and France, which imported more than 60 thousand units. At the same time, the number of vehicles imported into Poland from other EU countries has been decreasing for several years, while imports from overseas are growing, which in 2020 is already approaching 30 thousand units.


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A security flaw in Qatar’s controversial mandatory coronavirus contact tracing app exposed sensitive information of more than one million users, rights group Amnesty International warned on May 26.
Alibaba’s business-to-business marketplace launches online global trade show for pandemic-hit merchants
The event, which will last until May 24, is expected to attract the participation of about 200,000 wholesalers each day. China’s total foreign trade in the first quarter fell 6.4% year on year amid weak global demand due to antivirus measures adopted in the US and Europe.
A navy intelligence report from 2017 warned of the danger the world’s bestselling camera drone brand could be hacked.
Text messaging has become a popular means of family conversations as opposed to face-to-face communication or phone calls, poll finds. But researchers from the University of Hong Kong warn against spamming family members with more than 20 messages a day.
Facebook Inc’s “Like” button makes third-party websites responsible for processing people’s data under the European Union’s privacy rules, according to the EU’s top court.
Jumia Technologies AG's plan to expand its online retail and trading platform in less developed parts of Africa has long had one significant challenge: A lack of formal addresses for deliveries.
In the first quarter Tencent reported a 2% year on year decline in mobile games revenue to US$3bil.
It’s six in the morning and Samuel Romero is already pulling his bicycle out of a small garage.
Indonesian e-commerce unicorn Tokopedia is investing in two logistics companies and using artificial intelligence to predict buying behaviour as part of an effort to speed delivery and slash shipping costs in the world’s biggest archipelago.
The video-sharing platform YouTube is striving to block those who would use it to promote racism, hate speech, violence and disinformation, its number two executive has told AFP, as the Google-owned company comes under increasing scrutiny.


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Stay ahead of developments in federal and state health care law, regulation and transactions with timely, expert news and analysis.
The Food and Drug Administration's responsibilities continue to “outstrip” available resources, FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg said April 23 at the annual conference of the Food and Drug Law Institute.
“Having adequate resources remains a constant concern,” she said.
Hamburg said the agency will lose $209 million this year due to sequestration. Under sequestration, industry user fees also will remain in the Treasury and cannot be used, she said.
Additionally, she said the majority of FDA's budget increase in President Obama's budget request for fiscal year 2014 comes mostly from “enhanced” industry user fees.
The Obama administration's FY 2014 budget proposal, released April 10, seeks $2.6 billion in budget authority and $4.7 billion in total program resources for FDA (70 HCDR, 4/11/13).
The overall FY 2014 request is $821 million, or 21 percent, above the 2012 enacted level, according to the budget proposal. Of the $821 million increase, only $52 million is from budget authority. Industry user fees would fund 94 percent of the proposed budget increase.
Hamburg said the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA) gave FDA new responsibilities, which, among others, require the agency to speed medical product reviews and reduce drug shortages.
Under FDASIA, FDA also is required to consider patient views on treatments, Hamburg said.
She said FDA is launching a patient network website that is meant to encourage patients to share ideas.
FDA also “has nearly completed an implementation plan” for FDASIA and “you can look for that in the near future,” Hamburg said.
Hamburg said the agency has seen some quality lapses in recent years that have caused drug shortages. “Drug shortages have increased fivefold since 2006,” she said.
Hamburg said quality is a major concern for the agency, and quality depends on the companies that manufacture drugs and devices.
“Quality has to be built into products,” she said. “Quality that's built into a product prevents problems.”
Hamburg said, “We've made progress in correcting and heading off drug shortages.” She noted, however, that quality issues continue.
Quality issues also caused the recent fungal meningitis outbreak that is linked to 53 deaths, Hamburg said. The outbreak was caused by contaminated drugs produced by a compounding pharmacy.
“This terrible tragedy must be a wake-up call to our nation,” she said.
Hamburg said FDA recently completed a series of inspections of compounding pharmacies and in some facilities found sterility problems and other issues that could cause contamination. For instance, Hamburg said inspectors found that some technicians were handling sterile products with their bare hands.
FDA inspectors “ran into resistance” from some compounding pharmacies, Hamburg said. “These obstacles are not new, and this is why I've asked Congress for additional authorities.”
Under these new authorities, nontraditional compounding would be subject to federal standards, Hamburg said. Traditional compounding pharmacies typically produce a small amount of custom-made medications for consumers who have a prescription. Nontraditional ones manufacture without prescriptions large quantities of drugs that are sometimes shipped over state lines.
Hamburg said under the new authorities, nontraditional compounding pharmacies would be required to report adverse reactions to FDA, and the agency would have clear authority to examine their records.
Hamburg said FDA's current authorities over compounding pharmacies “are limited and lack clarity.”
“New legislation is needed to address safety concerns and to provide a more tailored approach for compounding,” she said.
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Jeff Koons Art is Now Available at H&M… And it Won’t Cost You a Lot
Art and fashion have always gone together but H&M latest partnership with artist Jeff Koons is totally unique. The contemporary artist created a special limited-edition leather handbag that features one of his most iconic work, the Balloon Dog.
To celebrate the partnership, H&M hosted a party in their newly opened flagship in NYC in attendance were notables including Olivia Wilde. The actress gushed about the dream collab, saying “It’s so smart of H&M to pick an artist like Jeff Koons and to collaborate with the Whitney Museum, and vice versa”, before adding “as a company, H&M’s always ahead of the game with fashion. It’s such a cool thing to have an iconic image on a piece of fashion – it’s says you are into art and fashion and it’s chic.”
Also, in attendance, was Jeff Koons, who was “very happy” for to work with the brand and party, “it’s really exciting to be celebrating the opening of their flagship store and I’m very proud the bag,” he said.
The Balloon Dog leather handbag, which retails for just $49.99, is available at select select markets across the US including Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas, H&M online and a select number of pieces will are available at the Whitney Museum of American Art during the Retrospective as well as on Whitney.org.


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When David Cameron was asked last week about the future of his embattled chancellor George Osborne, the PM replied: "He's not going anywhere."
How very honest. Even the most bullish economist reckons the UK economy is flat-lining and we get another chance to see just how short a distance George has travelled with a string of economic announcements this week.
The British Retail Consortium sales monitor (out Monday night) is expected to show muted sales for July (apparently there's been some bad weather) with optimists hoping that a few punters were moved to stock up on the beer and crispy snacks as the nation's couch potatoes limbered up for the Games.
Tuesday will also see industrial production numbers for June, and those figures are sure to be knocked by the month's two-day public holiday. "The only question is just how dire will the industrial production figures for June be?" muses IHS economist Howard Archer, which makes a cheery segue into Wednesday's Bank of England quarterly inflation report.
There the Bank will do what it does best – and revise its previous guesses on inflation and growth. All of which will leave it with the option of another monetary stimulus, just to try to get things moving again.
Mining merger questions remain
A big week for the big miners, with Xstrata reporting on Tuesday and Rio Tinto following them up on Wednesday. Both have been hit by a sluggish market for metals and minerals, with fears that demand from China – which has powered the sector – might slide further as its economic growth falters. However, while many analysts reckon that shares in both companies have been showing signs of perking up a little of late, pointing to attractive yields on both stocks, all that technical talk is largely academic, as only one big question remains: will Xstrata still be an independent by the end of the year?
Glencore's proposed takeover of Xstrata still lurks in the background and even though analysts don't expect an update this week, it looks precariously balanced. The cheeky move by the Qataris to build a 10% Xstrata stake and then demand better terms may still be an issue, but with the shares now at much lower levels, many investors might feel that they can rebuff Glencore without damaging their own investment. City scribblers at Liberum also question whether Glencore's owners would bid more. Crunch time approaches.
A taste for Greggs
For investors – just as for many of its customers – high-street baker Greggs has become something of a guilty pleasure.
We scoff our way through 140m of its sausage rolls each year, and City analysts seem to like what the baker has to offer too – with one such fan being Shore Capital's Clive Black, hardly a loyal supporter of food retailers (though he may have indulged in the odd product).
The weak performance on the high street on the back of all the usual weather and consumer spending excuses are the typical reasons for avoiding these companies, but within that depressed scenario Greggs seems to have a decent enough story to tell, with plenty of new store openings to go alongside fresh places to sell its products, such as Moto service stations.
We'll hear that all again this week when the company updates the market. Yet despite Black pencilling in like-for-like sales in the second half of the year that look flatter than a chapati (the same could also be said of the group's share price graph), Black still reckons that Greggs' "sales growth" and "strong balance sheet" make it his "positive play, for now".
Just like a weight-watcher caught with a jam doughnut – it's best to have a convincing explanation ready.


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Project Lead(s): Michele Bruni
Food safety regulation in industrialized countries and adoption of the Codex Alimentarius have not managed to reduce the global incidence of food-borne diseases, because such strict regulation does not exist in many developing countries.
A lack of certified processing facilities is one of the major contributors to the ongoing problem of food-borne diseases.
!nspiraFarms aimed to demonstrate that it is possible to bring low-cost, food-safety certification-ready and modular processing facilities to small-scale farmers in developing countries, such as Guatemala.
By using such facilities, farmers can supply higher-value markets, such as supermarkets and export markets.
The proof-of-concept pilot involved installing a low-cost and food-safety certifiable processing facility for small-scale vegetable producers in Guatemala, and testing it to ensure that the conditions in which the food processing was being undertaken complied with food safety requirements.
The !nspiraFarms HACCP-ready Horticulture Processing Facility comprises: 30 cubic meters of solar-powered cold storage and 70 square meters of processing area; a water-harvesting, purification and recycling system; equipment, machinery and agrochemical segregation storage; production management spaces; and workers’ areas (for both open field and processing work).
This project successfully designed, manufactured and installed the first food-safety certifiable Horticulture Processing Facility in Guatemala, which is now being used by farmers.
These farmers are already diversifying their markets and products, and creating jobs for local women.
More than 110 farming families were directly impacted through improved agrochemical management, and more than 30,000 people who will consume the food produced at the !nspiraFarms location are safe from food-borne diseases.
The single facility has generated 30 jobs, mainly for women, and will generate at least 10 new jobs in suppliers, logistics and direct operations.
The project was able to generate additional resources from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) fund: a 79,000 EUR grant to match over 100,000 EUR of company’s capital for R&D in Guatemala for a second pilot, and also from the DOEN Foundation (Netherlands) of 41,000 EUR, which co-financed the pilot of the dairy facility in East Africa.
A policy recommendation paper was be presented in mid-May to the Guatemalan Ministry of Agriculture. One of the facilities has been visited by a CEO of a major UK supermarket, as well as other industry members. The Ministry of Agriculture of Guatemala has recently publicly launched one of the !nspiraFarms plants. After the initial commercial sales, more than 150 potential clients have expressed interest in acquiring !nspiraFarms' facilities. To date, more than 100 formal quotes (5M EUR value) have been supplied to customers.
!nspiraFarms is scaling up in Central America and East Africa, doubling production and planning to sell and install one unit every two weeks over 12 months.


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Project Runway’s Shirin Askari to Host IADT’s Annual IMAGINE Fashion and Arts Show
March 10, 2011
SAN ANTONIO (March 10, 2011) – The International Academy of Design and Technology’s (IADT) graduating class of 2011 will be showcasing their talents and designs at the annual IMAGINE Fashion Runway Event and Art Show. The showcase will be held on Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt (600 E. Market St., 78205). Fashion designer Shirin Askari who was featured in season six of Project Runway will serve as the event’s emcee.
Showcasing their final work before graduation, fashion and graphic design students from IADT will be sharing their special night with two gracious beneficiaries. Proceeds of the show will support Career Education Scholarship Fund (CESF) and local non-profit, Eva’s Heroes. CESF provides need- and merit-based scholarships to qualified students who are attending one of its many participating institutions. Founded by Eva Longoria and Christiane Perkins-Garcia, Eva’s Heroes is an organization that creates opportunities for teens and young adults with special needs to integrate and flourish in society.
“IMAGINE allows students to exhibit their talents and show the final product behind years of preparation,” said IADT-San Antonio President Brian Silver. “Our students have the ability to make a significant impact on the fashion and graphic design industries – locally, nationally and even internationally.”
Doors will open at 6 p.m., providing photo and interview opportunities. Tickets are now available for purchase. General admission tickets are $20 and VIP tickets are $35. For more details and ticket information, please visit www.iadt.edu/san-antonio.
About the International Academy of Design and Technology in San Antonio
With more than 30 years as an established institution, the International Academy of Design and Technology offers students a hands-on education with experienced faculty dedicated to providing students with the necessary skills, knowledge, support and guidance to pursue fulfilling career opportunities in the design and technology fields. The San Antonio campus (IADT-San Antonio), which opened in 2007, offers degree programs in graphic design, fashion design and merchandising, merchandising management and advertising design. Students also have the opportunity to take a portion of their coursework online through IADT-Online. The school is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS). ACICS is a national accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. IADT-San Antonio does not guarantee employment or salary and is part of Career Education Corporation network of schools (NASDAQ: CECO). For more information, visit www.iadt.edu/san-antonio or call (210) 530-9449.


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Did she cross the line?
Kim Kardashian loves to dress up, but her latest fashion choice has got people reeling.
Fans are lashing out at the mother-of-two for dressing her daughter, North West, in an outfit that may be more suited for adults. As outrage spread across social media, many accuse the reality star of sexualizing her 4-year-old at a young age.
Playing Dress Up
It’s no secret Kim Kardashian loves dressing up North West in the hottest trends. From fur coats to custom made Yeezys, the reality star has spoiled her little girl with must-have accessories at every turn.
The reality star and her husband, Kanye West, even recently launched a kids clothing line inspired by their daughter and son, Saint West. The collection — which was first unveiled in May — featured Calabasas-themed pieces like reversible bomber jackets, hoodies, sweats, graphic tees, dad caps, dresses and chokers.
Ahead of the release of their second collection, Kim faced major backlash when North was seen stepping out in a questionable piece of clothing that many deemed too provocative.
Fans were outrage when North was spotted out in an a orange satin slip dress and a white lace-up corset. Though Kim didn’t design the dress, many were nonetheless angry with the 36-year-old for allowing her daughter to wear a bustier-style top at such a young age.
“It’s one thing for Kim to dress a certain way, it’s another to dress a little girl in sexualized attire,” one Instagram user wrote.
“This is a mess,” another commented. “Why is this baby wearing a corset?”


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Fri, 06 Feb 2015 00:10:58 GMT
After a competitive pitch Cummins&Partners has been appointed as the creative and media agency on the L’Oreal owned skincare brand Kiehl’s. This is the first time the Luxury division of L’Oreal has appointed an agency in Australia. It is also the first time L’Oreal has given creative and media duties to the one agency.
Christine Burke, corporate communications director of L’Oreal said: “We were impressed with Cummins&Partners' innovative thinking on our brand. From strategy to execution they get our brand and our sensibilities. Kiehl’s is a brand that needs careful consideration, Cummins&Partners proved they ‘got’ the brand from shop fit out to advertising. This brand is a jewel in the L’Oreal crown and needs careful handling – we have utmost confidence in Cummins&Partners and their joined up creative and media model to deliver brilliant communications to help build the brand with us.”
Kirsty Muddle, chief innovation & media officer of Cummins&Partners said: “We are so pleased to be working with the L’Oreal Luxe division. Kiehl’s, a hero in the Luxe portfolio, is a unique brand and needs a unique plan. Having creative and media under one roof means we can offer them something unique and a level of attention the brand deserves.”
Ben Couzens, executive creative director of Cummins&Partners said: “We are extremely excited to work with Kiehl’s, a skincare brand with a bit of attitude. Kiehl’s has a well defined brand personality that we look forward to bringing to life with some interesting ideas.”
The appointment begins immediately. The scope of work will cover Australia and USA.


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AOL reported to FTC
You got mail, but you don't have any privacy...
AOL has been reported to the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive trade practises for releasing search logs for half a million users.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) made the complaint. It alleges that AOL's action in releasing the information was in breach of their own terms and conditions - that customer information would not be shared with third parties.
The information included 20m search terms from 658,000 AOL users. User names were not included but some individuals may be identifiable from their searches. The New York Times identified user number 4417749 as 62-year-old widow Thelma Arnold.
The EFF found searches from 106 users which seem to contain Social Security numbers and 4,000 searches which included street addresses.
AOL said at the time: "This was a screw up, and we're angry and upset about it."
More from the EFF here.
There are several sites where you can search the weird and wonderful world of what people search for. Try AOLStalker for a disturbing glimpse into a stranger's search box. ®


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The new locations bring a convenient, low-carbon delivery option to millions of European urban dwellers
London, Feb. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Inpost Group launches partnerships in three major cities to set up parcel lockers at public transport stops Ash Europes The leading e-commerce enablement platform continues to expand its low-carbon delivery service across the continent.
Agreements in Rome, Barcelona And Manchester Follow a similar partnership with transportation London It has brought the company’s automated parcel machine lockers to more than 60 sites in the UK capital.
Customers all around Europe InPost’s switch to convenient, environmentally friendly lockers will deliver 745 million parcels to the company in 2022, a 44% increase over the previous year. Inpost’s use of APMs reduces carbon emissions by two-thirds compared to traditional door-to-door delivery in urban areas.
“I am proud of our partnership with these three major European cities as we continue to roll out our eco-friendly e-commerce fulfillment solution across the continent,” said InPost CEO Rafał Brzoska. “Together with our partners, we’re making it easier for Europeans to choose the greenest delivery option we offer, and by adding services available at public transport stations, we’re giving people another reason to leave their cars at home. Manchester Almost 6 million passenger journeys are made every day on TfGM-operated public transport. Now people who use them will have access to a convenient and fast way to send and receive their parcel.”
Residents Manchester The area makes approximately 6 million journeys on the public transport network each day, 1.5 billion per year.1 At the same time transit metropolises d Barcelona Serving more than 425 million users annually,2 Or more than 29 million passengers per month.3 In RomeThe metro system operated by ATAC SpA carries 300 million passengers every year,4 Passengers have access to 21 locker sites spread over three lines of the network.
“In addition to the environmental benefits, customers love our parcel lockers for the convenience they provide, and the partnership with public transportation makes using our services even faster and easier,” said Przoska. “In these three cities, commuters can now send and receive parcels on their way to or from work at a time and place that best suits the rhythm of their daily lives.”
At the end of last year, InPost, whose shares are traded on EURONEXT-Amsterdam, operated 27,939 automated parcel machines, including 19,306 in its home country. Poland and 8,633 internationally.


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ALBEMARLE — For the 13th year, North Carolina’s local wine industry will be celebrated at the annual Stanly County Winter Wine Festival with the help of the Albemarle Downtown Development Corporation.
After a COVID-induced hiatus in 2021, the festival returns for its third consecutive year as a one-stop-shop for oenophiles to sample the area’s finest wines.
The festival is set for Saturday, Feb. 24 from noon until 5 p.m. Admission is $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the festival.
Tickets are available in advance at Glory Beans Coffee House, Livi Bug’s Boutique, Make It Personal, Whiskey Eunoia, or McRae Jewelers in Norwood, as well as online at stanlycountywinterwinefest.com. Guests must be 21+ to attend.
“This event has outgrown the former location at Market Station,” Albemarle Downtown announced in a social media post on Feb. 2. “The festival is moving up Main Street to the heart of downtown Albemarle on First and Second Streets. Several participating downtown businesses will host wine vendors, allowing guests plentiful space to gather and enjoy the festival.”
The festival has typically attracted some 1,500 people over the past few years.
Each guest will receive a tasting glass, an armband for admission, and 25 tokens to use for wine samples. The tokens are required to comply with the state’s ABC regulations and all samples must be consumed before leaving each vendor area.
Participating vineyards will be selling bottled wine, and guests can utilize the Downtown Albemarle Social District to enjoy their adult beverages throughout downtown.
“Enjoy an unforgettable experience with an afternoon of shopping, dining, wine tasting, wine-related crafts, and entertainment by DJ Dean,” the ADDC’s official announcement continued. “This event is rain or shine. Information on check-in locations, festival map, and other details will be coming soon. We look forward to seeing you at the 2024 Stanly County Winter Wine Festival.”
In the past, the festival has routinely featured a dozen vineyards from across Stanly and neighboring counties — such as Dennis Vineyards, Stony Mountain Vineyards and Cabo Winery in Concord — and has also hosted food trucks like What-A-Burger, Higgins and Sons BBQ, Hilltop Seafood, and On-Time Snacks.
The vineyards, vendors and dining options available for this year’s festival will be announced in the coming weeks.


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Johnson and Johnson said pricing pressure from payers was the reason sales for its blood thinner Xarelto and diabetes treatment Invokana were lower in the first three months of the year compared to the same quarter a year ago.
J&J CFO Dominic Caruso told investors that heavy competition in cardiovascular and metabolic categories has given payers more leverage and, as a result, forced the drugmaker to offer higher rebates to maintain competitive positioning on formularies.
“In certain parts of the portfolio, cardiovascular and metabolic in particular, that’s a little more crowded. And that’s where the payer community has more influence over rebates and the like,” he said.
J&J’s SGLT2 inhibitor, Invokana, saw U.S. sales slip for the third-straight quarter and was down 17%, to $247 million, in the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same three-month period last year. Sales in the U.S. for Xarelto dropped 10%, compared to the first quarter of 2016, to $513 million.
Separately, Caruso noted that the drugmaker’s rheumatoid-arthritis drug Remicade has not felt “much of an impact” from Inflectra, Pfizer’s new biosimilar version of the drug, which went on sale in November.
J&J’s pharma business saw sales grow by 1.4% to $8.2 billion in the first quarter of 2017. That increase was driven by higher revenue from four drugs: Darzalex, Imbruvica, Stelara, and Invega Sustenna.


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Indian startup EduKart, which is one of the leading online education companies today, has recently raised $500,000 in funding by various institutional and angel investors. These investors range from Kima Ventures, AKM Systems, Stanford alumni, Arihant & Amit Patni, and more. Speaking of Stanford University, EduKart from Delhi was started by some graduates from that university along with others from the Indian Institute of Management. The new funding will allow the startup to further increase its growth, expand its franchise network, and launch new partnership courses for not just Indian Institutions, but also international ones as well.… Read More
Evernote has recently announced that its business division, simply called Evernote Business, is now being expanded to Hong Kong and various parts of Southeast Asia. Evernote Business in a nutshell increases standard and premium offers for Evernote. Now it is available at the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong with a $10 monthly subscription fee as expected. It already launched at China earlier this month, where there are over four million Evernote users, along with 26 additional European markets earlier this year. Ken Gullicksen, current chief operating officer for Evernote, has been… Read More
Khan Academy, the video teaching platform started by Sal Khan, is expanding its library to internationalization as well as improving ways in measuring progress.
The platform, which was started as a YouTube channel, currently serves 6 million students and people a month and has grown to reach 75 million users to date, with 230 million lessons delivered and 1 billion problems answered in 30,000 classrooms throughout the world.
Khan is still very much involved in creating content as he’s still churning out a couple videos a week. Currently he is working on… Read More
Collabspot Pte Ltd today announced that it has reached agreement for veteran Google Enterprise Partner and Google Apps Reseller Laurent Gasser to join its board in an executive role as Director of Business Development. Mr Gasser will invest an initial S$100,000 in the business, reserving the option to increase his stake in future.
Jeremi Joslin, Founder and CEO of Collabspot, said: “Laurent generously gave his time to Collabspot as a mentor through the JFDI.Asia accelerator program. It was immediately apparent that his experience as the first non-American to be trained to provide Google… Read More
Fitocracy is a workout tracker and social network that empowers users to succeed at fitness by connecting them to communities just like them and providing guidance to help reach their goals.
Fitocracy was started by co-founders Brian Wang and Dick Talens. In their website, it explained how Brian and Richard, both fitness geeks, often talked about their experiences helping friends improve their fitness.… Read More
KakaoHome from Korea, which is basically Kakao’s version of Facebook Home, just launched last week, but the app already reached a milestone in just nine days. It was able to reach 500,000 downloads a day faster than Facebook Home in just only Korea. The Google Play store was able to provide those numbers as more people downloaded it thanks to promotions on the Kakao Talk and Kakao Story apps. Similar to Facebook Home, KakaoHome was visible notifications, the ability to reply quicker than the normal Facebook app, and being able to use Kakao-specific widgets for the… Read More
Japanese social network Mixi has announced they have invested in two new startups that are local. Despite the investments being disclosed, the two startups are Reventive and CloudStudy. 72 million yen ($700,000) is slated to be spent on CloudStudy, which is about 20% of their total funding today. CloudStudy is a startup behind the platform, StudyPlus, which emphasizes on social learning management. StudyPlus allows users to share their studying progress such as how many hours were spent and the content they focused on with others. For Reventive, less yen is being planned to be spent on… Read More
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved a broad overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws, sending the potential landmark bill to the full Senate, where it will be debated beginning of next month.
There are many people and business interests who are lobbying for the bill, from immigrant advocates to farm producers and low wage employers. But one group that is pushing for the immigration overhaul has backers from both Republicans and Democrats; it is the tech community.
Executives from Silicon Valley companies were pushing to expand the numbers of temporary work permits, known… Read More
Las Vegas-based online apparel retailer Zappos rolled out an update to its iOS app today that includes new features including a more cool graphical interface.
The biggest feature is called negative filtering, which allows users to screen their searches based on what they don’t want to see rather than having to choose a tentative handful of options. For example, you may not know exactly what color shoes you want but you sure know what colors you do not want. This negative filtering option lets you quickly remove results that otherwise would appear in your… Read More
One of the leading Korean companies, Kakao, has been on the headlines a bunch the past couple of weeks. Fresh off their new deal with IGAWorks, they announced their first international ad partner for their rapidly growing games platform, which is Tapjoy. Tapjoy is Kakao’s first big deal with an ad space provider that has global operations. Kakao Games only launched just last year, but it is already generating a monthly revenue of about $40 million and over 130 games have been released for the service so far. Expect those numbers with the new partnership with… Read More
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WELCOME TO The data analytics REPORT
Feature market insights and perspectives from top C-Level executives, elite technology influencers and thought leaders from your company here. This signature initiative has garnered immense support...
BIG DATA MANAGEMENT
Quantexa | October 27, 2021
Quantexa, the data and analytics software company pioneering Contextual Decision Intelligence (CDI), today launched the latest release of its data analytics platform as a response to the growing global need for better insight into massive and fast-increasing data volumes.
The new platform version, Quantexa 2, comes on stream just as recent revelations of sophisticated tax avoidance scams, including the Pandora Papers, in which investigative teams sift through millions of data to u...
Noogata | November 10, 2021
Noogata, a global leader in no-code artificial intelligence (AI) data analytics for enterprises, today announced the launch of its location analytics library. Building on the success of its existing ecommerce library, the location analytics library applies the power of Noogata’s no code AI data analytics platform to physical locations for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands.
This allows sales and marketing leaders to leverage AI to gain actionable insights, including genera...
https://www.keyc.com/ | March 27, 2020
The Midwest Undergraduate Data Analytics Competition attracts hundreds of students from around the Midwest to compete while refining data science skills.The ninth year of this meeting will be a little different than the previous eight years, as the competition has been moved online due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Throughout the two-day challenge, teams of students work on real-world data analytic problems pertaining to the judicial system.Working with the students will be more than 30...
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Fashion retailer Reiss has confirmed today that it will be employing Torex Retail-J across its store portfolio.
One advantage of the solution produced by Torex is that it allows overseas visitors, who are entitled to claim UK tax back, to pay for goods tax-free at the point of sale (POS).
International visitors are becoming increasingly important to UK traders, particularly in the capital, and retail tourism analysts Global Blue estimates that transactions made by international visitors in this country will grow by 25 per cent year-on-year for the final two quarters of 2011.
Reiss has 100 stores worldwide and it hopes that this new technology will help to make further expansion easier in the upcoming years.
Torex Retail-J offers a web-enabled suite of in-store and central applications and provides in-depth data on consumers whilst remaining PCI DSS compliant.
Last month it was announced that Republic, another leading fashion retailer, has employed Torex to create a seamless cross-channel experience for its customers, having already implemented the Retail-J system across its 115 stores in the UK.
In an interview with Retail Gazette in March, Vice President of Retail at Torex Helen Slaven commented: “We are seeing a real change in the way retailers are viewing technology.
“Before, it was all about systems, but now retailers are seeing that technology is a key deliverable to enable business strategy and its usage is firmly on the retail board agenda.”


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Open Innovation Challenge for Startups announce digital platform Kanari CX as winner of Middle East Chapter
In December 2019, Sia Partners, a global management consulting firm, and BIAC, Business Incubators and Accelerators Company based in the KSA, launched APIficator, an Open Innovation Challenge for Startups. After a successful launch in New York, Paris, and Hong Kong, Sia Partners decided this year to target entrepreneurs in the Middle East and chose the theme “Tech for Customer Experience,” to identify innovative projects that can help companies and government entities enhance their customer and citizen journeys.
APIficator is an annual innovation challenge targeting young startups across three continents. With its Open Innovation programme, Sia Partners gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to apply their technical know-how and their vision to develop an innovative API and co-create a business-oriented offering. The programme has been ongoing for three years and will be held on a continuous basis.
Sia Partners works with the programme winners to:
1. Accelerate their time-to-market.
2. Test their solution and product appeal via POCs hosted by our client.
3. Provide access to the synergies of our API ecosystem and a robust technology framework.
The programme spans for three months usually, but was extended to six as a result of the pandemic, where applicants submit a complete application providing Sia Partners the details about their startup and ideas. The applications go through a rigorous review process by our experts to identify the top three to five finalists. In the last step of the programme, the finalists are asked to pitch their offering to a panel in charge of selecting a finalist.
Meet the finalists
In the Middle East, the decision was tough as all applicants had unique and innovative offerings. The startups that were selected as finalists were:
- Kanari CX - an enterprise customer experience management technology platform that helps brands listen to customer feedback and turn it into valuable, actionable insights for the business.
- WideBot - a conversational AI Platform.
- Gamiphy - a digital loyalty and gamification platform designed for eCommerce businesses to offer their customers incentives and rewards that ensure high engagement and retention levels.
After reviewing their applications and listening to all pitches, the judges made a final decision and announced Kanari CX as the 1st place winner. While all ideas were innovative and unique, Kanari CX stood out the most due to its high potential for scalability as an organization and through its digital offerings.
Kanari CX leverages a powerful CX data collection, reporting, and insights platform to help measure, manage, and improve customer experiences. This analytical toolkit allows Kanari’s clients to manage their customer experience as well as review the results of digital sentiment analyses.
With the conclusion of the challenge, Kanari CX is excited about the next steps and are looking forward to beginning a new chapter from Sia Partners: “We are very happy and excited to announce that Kanari has won the Middle East edition of Sia Partners' Open Innovation challenge. We are looking forward to collaborating with the Sia Partners team to advance customer experience adoption in the region!”
Roberto Wyszkowski, Sia Partners’ partner in the Middle East and leader of the APIficator challenge said, “The Middle East APIficator challenge attracted several innovative startups and it was a tough decision to pick a finalist; however Kanari CX proved to be a unique finalist, representing the digital revolution that is currently being witnessed in the Middle East region. We look forward to working alongside Kanari and hosting more iterations of the APIficator challenge to support innovation and the digital revolution.”
Elsa Martineau, the head of Sia Partners’ startup investment fund – Sia Studio, manages the APIficator Challenge and its programme globally. She was extremely excited to unfold new stories with the winners of the challenge, “Sia Partners recognizes the need to invest not only internal entrepreneurship but also in external young startups that can make an impact in their regional markets. The entrepreneurship spirit that Sia Partners is proud of is built by combining our efforts with external ecosystem partners. The APIficator challenge is an initiative that embodies this belief and we are excited to work on building the digital playground together by partnering with startups that deploy innovative ideas.”
BIAC, the partner to the challenge for the Middle East, expressed its commitment to working with regional entrepreneurship ecosystem partners, “BIAC is always excited to support entrepreneurship to flourish within the KSA and the Middle East region as a whole. We will always take the opportunity to support innovations that accelerate the adoption of holistic digital transformation. The APIficator challenge is a unique project that will help us create a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Arab World”.
Are you a startup looking for investment? Apply for funding to 85+ investors now.
Pakistani startups saw $18M invested in H1 2020, with the overall number of deals increasing by 13% to 17 deals from H1 2019, illustrating the potential of Pakistan to become the next big South Asian entrepreneurial hotspot. Discover more trends in our H1 2020 Pakistan Venture Investment Report.


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Currys fixed broken TV after 26 months
If consumers were braver in exercising their consumer rights, it could lead to an improvement in the quality of goods. Editor Andrew Oxlade recounts the experience of one reader, who used his rights to the max...
Legally, retailers must fix or offer part-refunds if goods fail within six years if it's deemed reasonable that they should last that long.
Televisions, you would imagine, should last six years, and certainly longer than two years.
A friend of mine was incensed when a £600 Samsung television bought by his mum, who lives in Crawley, West Sussex, stopped working just two years and two months after she bought it. He used the UK consumer law to full effect.
His story will not sound particularly unusual to hardened consumer warriers, but it serves as a good example to the vast majority of shoppers of how easy it is to use your full rights.
He says: 'I saw the story about the EU ruling and longer warranties and phoned Consumer Direct [the government-funded consumer service - 08454 04 05 06] to ask about it. I was told that in fact in the UK, for many years our rights have actually extended to a much longer period, sometimes up to six years. The guy told me to ring Currys' customer care people, not the manufacturer, and tell them that I considered them in breach of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
'The guy at Currys told me to get the TV assessed, which Mum would have to pay for, to find out exactly what the problem was, along with a price for fixing it.
'We then had to write to Currys stating the breach of the Sale of Goods Act. I said something about the durability being unacceptable for a £600 product along with the assessment/estimate, and they said they would look into it. The repair cost was around £150 and they wrote back telling her to go ahead and get it repaired and to forward all costs to them, which they would reimburse, and duly did.
'The repair guy said he is getting more and more of these cases, and where in the past it used to be a formality that the retailer would pay, they were very much clamping down. It is up to the consumer to prove that the product was defective when they bought it, and this is pretty much impossible to do. The repair guy also said that he was unable to state on his assessment that he considered it to be the manufacturer's fault, as this would open him up to all sorts of legal issues.
'Obviously by encouraging everyone to try it though, it may force the retailers to stop stocking cheap goods.'
And that's the point. Samsung and the electrical goods industry would strongly deny that quality has declined. And maybe in this case, the consumer was just unlucky - a one-off problem.
But if High Street stores were to be inundated with people insisting, reasonably, that the goods they buy last the legal minimum of six years, they will suddenly face a massive bill for repairs. That would inevitably lead to more rigorous quality demands from retailers. And that would mean more robust televisions for everyone.
Your legal rights
Many people assume there is only a legal warranty for one year. Further confusion was caused in recent years following reports on EU law, which offers a two-year warranty.
However, the UK Sale of Goods Act (1979) state actually gives you greater rights and therefore takes precedence - a warranty of up to six years in England & Wales. If an item fails within six months, the obligation is on the retailer - not the manufacturer - to repair or offer a partial refund. Beyond that, the onus is on the consumer to prove the goods had an inherent fault at manufacture which has caused them to fail.
But consumers can also turn to the EU law for cover up to two years. The European rule does not require the buyer to show the fault is inherent in the product. Read our guide: EU two-year warranty
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Two growing Keighley businesses are cementing a trading partnership which has won high praise from the town’s MP.
Keybury Fire and Security has provided extensive installations across the six-strong franchise network of leading motorcycle and car dealer Colin Appleyard.
State-of-the-art fire and intruder alarms, and a CCTV system, have been fitted at the motorbike dealership in Wellington Road, Keighley.
CCTV and intruder alarms have also been installed at Appleyard’s Nissan showroom in Coney Lane and cameras are now in operation at the firm’s main Suzuki dealership and head office in Halifax Road.
Plus, enhanced security provision is in place at the Appleyard used car dealership in Shipley and at the company’s recently- acquired Subaru franchises in Huddersfield and Ashton-under-Lyne, which is also an Isuzu dealership.
Keybury managing director Frank Gee said: “We have developed an excellent trading partnership with Colin Appleyard, an alliance we feel can be held aloft as a shining example of best practice between local companies working together for the good of the local economy.”
His Appleyard counterpart, Robin Appleyard, said the two firms had a lot in common.
“We are both traditional family-run businesses with a passion for exceeding our customers’ expectations,” he said.
“We always choose to work with local companies, provided we don’t have to compromise on service.
“Keybury has always provided excellent quality of work and support for us, so I have no doubts that our business alliance will go from strength to strength.”
MP Kris Hopkins paid glowing tribute to the partnership.
“It is good to see two renowned local firms collaborating for mutual benefit and – in so doing – directly benefiting the local economy and securing local jobs,” he said. “I wish both companies continued success.”
Between them, the two award-winning companies have a history stretching back 75 years and have seen their workforces grow.
Colin Appleyard, established in 1971, employs 125 people, while Keybury, founded some three decades ago, has a 36-strong staff.


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1 min read.Updated: 13 Sep 2017, 06:03 AM ISTSneh Susmit
Shares in the Matrimony.com IPO were subscribed 0.83 times by institutional investors and 4.97 times by retail investors in the price band of Rs983-985 apiece
Mumbai: The initial public offering (IPO) of Matrimony.com, which runs an online match-making business under the BharatMatrimony name, was subscribed 1.36 times on Tuesday, the second day of the IPO, data from stock exchanges shows.
As of 5 pm, the portions of shares reserved for institutional investors and retail investors were subscribed 0.83 time and 4.97 times, respectively. The portion of shares reserved for non-institutional investors was subscribed only 2%.
The company has priced its shares in a range of Rs983-985 per share. The Rs500 crore IPO will close on 13 September.
The IPO is a fresh issue of shares aggregating up to Rs130 crore and an offer for sale of up to 3.7 million shares. The offer for sale will see Matrimony’s investor Bessemer Venture Partners make a complete exit from the company, while Mayfield will sell part of its stake.
Matrimony.com will use proceeds from the share sale for advertising and business promotion activities, purchase of land for construction of an office in Chennai, and repayment of overdraft facilities.
On Friday, the company said it raised Rs225.8 crore by allotting shares to institutional investors as part of its anchor book allotment.
The anchor book is that portion of an IPO that bankers can allot to institutional investors on a discretionary basis. Anchor book subscription opens a day (working day) before the launch of an IPO and acts as an indicator of institutional investor interest.
A total of eight investors bought 2.29 million shares at the upper end of price band at Rs985 per share, according to the filing.
Till August this year, 17 companies have raised a total of Rs14,185.12 crore through IPOs, data from primary market tracker Prime Database shows.
Last week, two companies raised Rs600 crore each. They include Dixon Technologies (India) Ltd, a contract manufacturer of electronic products, which was subscribed 117.65 times on the final day and Bharat Road Network Ltd, a road and highways company, which was subscribed 1.8 times.
In 2016, the Indian primary market saw 26 companies raise Rs26,493.8 crore through the IPO route, data shows.
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Here’s how sales of Mexico-made cars ended up in September across the US market
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in September, auto sales for Mexico-made vehicles in the U.S. market were marked by a strong demand in the Audi Q5, the Honda HR-V and the Toyota Tacoma, with all of them reporting two-digit increases in sales. However, the Volkswagen Jetta experienced the biggest hike in sales with a skyrocketing 45.1% boost.
September also marked the second full month of sales for the all-new 2018 VW Tiguan, one of the only two built-in-Mexico models to feature a third-row seat.
The following report does not necessary reflects that each vehicle sold from certain model was built in Mexico. Automakers constantly mix domestic and overseas supplies from several countries to meet U.S. demand.
Audi of America reported a September sales increase of 9.6% to 19,308 deliveries, as the all-new Q5, the Q7, and the all-new A5 Sportback helped drive consumer demand. Through September, Audi has now sold 160,914 vehicles in the U.S. this year, more than any year before 2013. Through September sales have increased 5.7%. Consumer demand for Audi SUVs increased deliveries of the new Q5 to 4,596 units, a 16.1% hike from the 3,957 vehicles delivered in September 2016. From January through September, sales of the Q5 including the SQ5 (sport version) totaled 39,226 units, a 11.5% increase compared to the same nine-month period of 2016.
Fiar Chrysler Automobiles
FCA US LLC reported sales of 174,266 units, a 10% decrease compared to September 2016. Retail sales of 146,904 units were up 0.3% and represented 84% of total sales. Through September FCA has sold 1,579,138 vehicles in 2017, down 8% compared to the first nine months of 2016. The Toluca-made Jeep Compass totaled 11,356 units during the seventh month since its arrival to exhibit rooms. The Dodge Journey sales sank 48% to 6,314 units, year-to-date sales are now down 3% to 75,656 crossovers. Ram pickup sales fell 1% to 47,142 units, but increased 4% to 374,901 trucks during the first nine months of 2017. Sales of the Fiat 500 fell 31% to 1,016 units, while year-to-date sales totaled 10,435 units, down 10%.
Ford Motor Company’s U.S. sales increased 8.7% in September to 222,248 vehicles including its fleet segment. From January through September Ford has sold 1,933,459 vehicles, a 2.8% decrease compared to the same nine-month period of 2016. In September, retail sales totaled 169,544 vehicles, up 4.4% compared to last year. Sales of Ford Fiesta fell 11.8% in September to 3,730 units and dropped 6.9% during the first nine months of 2017 to 36,139 vehicles. The Ford Fusion sales increased 3.3% to 21,253 units, and totaled 159,742 vehicles from January through September, down 24.1%. Sales of Lincoln MKZ totaled 2,043 units last month and 20,944 from January through September, down 16.5% and 8.4% respectively.
GM reported U.S. retail sales of 221,075 vehicles, up 8.1% compared to September 2016. Year-to-date retail sales are down 0.7% to 1,778,118 units. Last May, production of the all-new Chevrolet Equinox started in two Mexican facilities, GM delivered 27,512 of those units in the U.S. market during September. Chevrolet Cruze sales totaled 15,268 units, including sedan and hatchback versions, up 0.3%. Silverado sales increased 21.7% to 55,236 units while GMC Sierra’s increase 0.2% to 18,106 units. GM builds in Mexico crew cab versions of both trucks. The Chevrolet Trax sales dropped 1.2% to 8,423 crossovers. It’s been two months since the new Mexico-made GMC Terrain arrived to auto dealers, 9,116 units were sold in September over the U.S. market.
American Honda Motor Co., Inc. reported total September sales of 142,722 Honda and Acura vehicles, an increase of 6.8% versus same month of 2016. Total sales from January through September increased 0.3% to 1,231,603 units. The compact hatchback Honda Fit saw a 19.6% drop in September, totaling 4,073 units. From January through September the Fit totaled sales of 40,049 units, down 7.8%. On the other hand, sales of the HR-V crossover hiked 17.1% to 8,024 units. Year-to-date sales for the HR-V totaled 74,034 units, up 27.1% compared to the first nine months of 2016.
Kia Motors America (KMA) announced September sales of 52,468 vehicles, up 6.6% compared to same month of 2016. Its sister brand Hyundai reported sales of 57,007 units, a 14% decline. The Forte family reported sales of 10,631 units, up 28.7%. Year-to-date sales totaled 92,092 vehicles, up 15.7%. Sales of Kia Rio dropped 4.8% to 2,037 units. Year-to-date sales totaled 11,952 units, down 50.5%. Last August, Kia officially started production of the Hyundai Accent in Nuevo Leon. Its sales totaled 7,379 units in September, down 1.54% compared to same month of 2016.
Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) reported September U.S. sales of 25,738 vehicles, an increase of 3.4% versus same month of last year. Year-to-date (YTD) sales through September are down 1.8% versus last year, with 220,297 vehicles sold. Sales of the Mazda3 totaled 6,112 units in September, down 16.8%, while year-to-date sales totaled 60,107 vehicles, 18.9% less compared to the same nine-month period of 2016. Both hatchback and saloon versions of the Mazda3 are now being supplied to the U.S. market from the assembly plant at Salamanca, Guanajuato.
Nissan Group announced total U.S. sales for September 2017 of 139,932 units, an increase of 9.5% over the prior year. The Nissan Division reported 127,187 units sold, up 9.3% from previous year, while the Infiniti brand sold 12,745 units, up 11.7%. Nissan sold 11,601 units of its Versa compact car, including sedan and the hatchback version known as Versa Note, a 0.4% increase. Year-to-date sales for the Versa totaled 82,817 units, down 22.2%. As for the Nissan Sentra 19,128 units were sold in September, 39.9% more than the prior year. Year-to-date sales totaled 165,711 vehicles, down 2.2% compared to the firsts nine months of 2016.
Toyota Motor North America reported September sales of 226,632 units including those of its Lexus brand, up 14.9% compared to same month of 2016. The Toyota division posted sales of 200,436 units, an increase of 16.9%. For the first nine months of the year, Toyota reported sales of 1,831,479 units, up 0.5% on an unadjusted raw-volume basis. The midsize pickup Tacoma, which is built both in San Antonio, Texas and Tijuana, Mexico, saw sales rise 14.9% to 18,058 units in September. For the year, Tacoma sales are now up 3.3% to 147,420 units. The Yaris iA, built by Mazda in Guanajuato, totaled 3,122 units sold in September, up 161.7%. Year-to-date sales are 23.6% up to 28,594 units.
Volkswagen of America reported sales of 32,112 units in September 2017, a 33.2% increase over same month of 2016. With 252,456 units delivered year-to-date in 2017, the company is reporting an increase of 9.2% in year-over-year sales. The whole Golf family saw monthly sales of 5,685 vehicles, an increase of 24%. Year-to-date sales totaled 55,476 vehicles, up 35%. The Jetta saw a 45.1% boost to 12,038 vehicles, and a 1.4% increase to 90,995 units in the first nine months of 2017. VW sold 1,065 Beetle cars in September, down 20.6%. Year-to-date sales totaled 12,469 units, up 11.7%. September 2017 marked the second full month of sales for the all-new 2018 Tiguan, which totaled 3,075 units. Meanwhile VW sold 1,226 units of the previous version.