Bruce Bentley

A worker welds auto parts in an auto accessory manufacturing workshop in Huaibei, Anhui Province, China, June 28, 2019. REUTERS / Stringer Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com to register BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - China's factory activity accelerated unexpectedly in December, but only marginally, an official poll on Friday showed. The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for manufacturing rose to 50.3 from 50.1 in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. Analysts had expected it to drop slightly to around 50, which separates growth from contraction. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com to register The world's second largest economy has lost momentum since early summer after recovering from last year's pandemic slump, weighed down by a manufacturing slowdown, debt problems in the real estate market, carbon emissions-related containments and small COVID-19 outbreaks. China will face "unprecedented...

Covid-19 hasn't stopped disrupting business in 2021, but for many small business owners, this was the year the company made a big recovery from the pandemic. For the first time since March 2020, large volumes of business activity came online again, which led to extensive sales growth and increased merger and acquisition activities. Here are five key business moments that stood out in 2021. Change in crowdfunding regulation. "Before," we will tell future small business owners, "a founder could only raise $ 1.07 million in crowdfunding in a single year." A long-awaited change to the SEC's regulatory crowdfunding rules almost quintupled to $ 5 million in March. Solid seed stage rounds can now be raised without any VC funds and large angel investors. We can already see some companies moving above the old cap on crowdfunding sites like Republic, where Sugarfina raised more than $ 2.5 million from more than 1,400 investors in its current campaign. SPACs have i...

CHENNAI: Despite a year marked by a financing frenzy for consumer tech companies, deep tech startups were able to hold their own and attract more than double the investment as in the previous year in 2021. Venture Capital (VC) Financing in Deep Tech Companies - Companies working on deep science and technology solutions totaled 133 investments valued at over 1.4 billion in 2021 (through December 15) US dollars, up from 106 deals valued at $ 556 million in 2020 and 107 deals valued at $ 567 million in 2019, according to data from Venture Intelligence. The average transaction size in the segment rose from $ 5 million in 2020 to around $ 11 million in 2021, data shows. That said, deep tech investments only made up about 4.5% of the total funding pie in 2021, and have hovered around the 4% mark since 2018. Investors and industry watchers say it's early days for deep tech investing to become mainstream in India in 2021 has seen a sharp surge in deals and investor interest with the push...

Photo credit: NicoElNino / Shutterstock Asia Pacific was the fastest growing region for machine learning hiring at pharmaceutical companies in the three months ended October. The number of jobs in the Asia-Pacific region accounted for 13.2 percent of total machine learning jobs - up from 7.1 percent in the prior-year quarter. It was followed by Europe, where the role of machine learning changed by -1.8 percentage points compared to the previous year. The figures are compiled by GlobalData, which tracks the number of new job postings from key companies in various sectors over time. These job advertisements are then classified thematically by means of text analysis. GlobalData's thematic approach to sector activities aims to group key company informati...

In 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department introduced a novel approach to policing called Operation Laser. Laser - which stood for Los Angeles Strategic Extraction and Restoration - was the first predictive police program of its kind in the US that enabled the LAPD to use historical data to use laser precision (hence the name) to predict where future crimes might be committed and who could commit it. Sign up for our weekly tech newsletter TechScape. But it was far from precise. The program used historical crime data such as arrests, duty calls, field interview cards - which the police filled in with identifying information every time they stopped someone for whatever reason - and more to identify "problem areas" that officers could focus on or individuals' criminal risk assessments to assign. The information gathered during this police effort was fed into computer software, which further helped automate the department's crime prediction efforts. Activist groups su...

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) in India are nearing an all-time high as first-time buyers, especially startups, hit more than $ 75 million in transaction volume. According to a report by Bain and Company told ET, the number of such deals is expected to reach 85 this calendar year, with first-time buyers accounting for nearly 80% of that. Unlike 2017-2019, when mega deals - valued at $ 5 billion or more - made up the bulk of deal activity in India, there has been increased activity in midsize deals over the past two years. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated disruption in all sectors and large corporations and start-ups are reacting to the changes through mergers and acquisitions and divestments. The way business is done has also changed from previous years, when executives forged “size” deals - acquisitions outside of a company's core business - and “skills” deals - the acquisition of a new skill. Up to 40% of deals fell into these categories this year, according to the Bai...

It's the best time of the year. A time when forecasters like me sit down in front of a blank laptop screen and share the wisdom they have gained over the past twelve months. From the vigorous entry of private equity into various league properties to NFTs, Sports SPACs, an explosion in gaming, NIL and the Metaverse, 2021 has been a year of radical innovation and change. 2022 could do the same as new technologies open up opportunities for engagement and monetization. Here's what industry investors had to say about the recent past and near future. Which trend do you think highlighted your company's investment thesis the most in 2021? Josh Chapman - Managing Partner, Konvoy Ventures One of the most notable changes for both our fund and the broader gaming market has been the convergence of blockchain and video games. For example, "Axie Infinity" (Konvoy originally invested through its Serie A) created a cultural phenomenon by allowing gamers to o...

What do the following all have in common? Apps, games, email systems, banking systems, fire alarm systems, electric vacuum cleaners, dashboards, coffee machines, washing machines and social media platforms. The creation of each of these elements involves coding. This summer, Coding NZ is offering all New Zealand children and teenagers ages 9-18 the opportunity to learn to code in free vacation programs. Give your child or teen the opportunity to create with technology rather than just consume it by booking them for an activity here. It's fun, engaging, and priceless. With learning opportunities for every level, everyone is welcome, from beginners to advanced. And who knows? An exciting holiday activity that challenges the brain and offers a balancing addition to outdoor summer fun could make your child the next inventor of Google. DELIVERED Students learn to create websites and games using real programming languages. Coding NZ, one of the leading private provid...

HONG KONG - China's economic activity slowed in November amid a sustained slump in the housing sector and sluggish consumer recovery, making Beijing even more urgent to step up efforts to prop up the world's second largest economy. Leading indicators of consumption and investment continued to weaken from October, while factory output rose faster in November as the power crisis subsided, China's National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Industrial production rose 3.8% year-over-year in November and accelerated from 3.5% in October, a rare ray of hope in China's economy as efforts to alleviate electricity shortages spurred increased coal production in recent weeks. Nevertheless, a sustained decline in real estate continued to weigh on overall investment. Consumer spending, a laggard in China's recovery from the pandemic, also showed new signs of slowing. Fixed investment rose 5.2% in January-November, compar...

WASHINGTON - The calendar said December, but the warm, humid air cried out for spring. Add a storm front heading east directed by a La Nina weather pattern and it created tornadoes that killed dozens across five US states. December tornadoes are unusual, but not uncommon. But the severity and path length of Friday night's tornadoes likely put them in a category of their own, say meteorologists. One of the twisters - if confirmed it was just one - likely broke a nearly 100-year-old record for how long a tornado stayed on the ground on a path of destruction, experts said. “One word: remarkable; another would be incredible, ”said Victor Gensini, meteorology professor at Northern Illinois University. "It was really a setup in the late spring of mid-December." Warm weather was a determining factor in this tornado outbreak, but whether climate change is a factor is not entirely clear, say meteorologists. Scientists say figuring out how climate change affects the frequency ...

Data shows that more investors are turning to autonomous trucks Startups that focus on less complex driving environments Truck manufacturer Robotic Research receives new financing agreement OXFORD, UK, December 9 (Reuters) - If Elon Musk had been right, we would all be whizzing around in robotaxis by now. Instead, fully self-driving cars are battling to get off the grid, and some investors are betting that driverless trucks will cross the checkered flag first. Just a year ago, startups developing robotic taxis were drawing in eight times more money than companies working on autonomous trucks, buses, and logistics vehicles, but the gap narrowed dramatically in 2021. Register now for FREE unlimited access to reuters.com to register With fewer regulatory and technological hurdles, trucks used on highways, fixed delivery routes, or in environments away from cyclists and pedestrians such as mines and harbors are now seen as a faster way to generate returns. According to the startup data pla...

The government, together with UK mobile network operators, today announced a shared goal of having 35% of UK mobile traffic over open and interoperable radio access network architectures (RAN) by 2030. Open network architectures will play a key role in enhancing the security and resilience of the networks we rely on, now more than ever, to keep in touch and do business. Following the government's recent decisions to deploy high-risk providers and the introduction of the Telecommunications Security Act, it is right that the government should now formulate its ambitions to build a more competitive, innovative and diverse telecommunications supply base. We acknowledge that mobile operators are currently pushing plans to roll out and expand their 5G networks while working to extend coverage to the most rural parts of the UK. Hence, this ambition is not a mandate, but requires partnership and collaboration between government, cellular operators and the broader telecommunications i...

December 4, 2021 A BEFORE DECADE, the relentless expansion of the American internet giants promised world domination. With their huge home market allowing them economies of scale, companies like Amazon, PayPal, and Uber seem destined to monopolize the screens of everyone from California charmers to Kalahari farmers. Listen to this story Your browser does not support the Element. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Today America still rules the global technology industry, in its broadest sense, which accounts for 71% of the market value of publicly traded companies. Yet a different pattern has emerged in that part of the technology industry that focuses on the delivery of Internet services to consumers. Here the activity is more dispersed and less American. This trend was underscored this year by a spate of IPOs by emerging market internet companies. Instead of a few monoliths, three different business categories have emerged. Using a taxonomy first created by Asia P...