‘Fintech’ expansion lures foreign banks to Israel

By Tova Cohen TEL AVIV (Reuters) – A five-minute chat with an executive from Israeli start-up MyCheck was enough to spark the interest of Mariano Belinky, managing partner at Banco Santander's venture capital division. After more formal follow-up meetings, the Spanish bank made its first foray into Israel, investing an undisclosed sum in MyCheck, which develops customized mobile payment apps for restaurant chains such as The Cheesecake Factory. With many clients in the hospitality sector, Santander was intrigued by the possibility of providing “a new and better solution for our clients,” Belinky told Reuters at a financial technology (fintech) event hosted by Santander in Tel Aviv last month.

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China car services firm Tuhu raises $100 million from Joy Capital, Welkin

Tuhu, a Chinese online platform for automobile services and products, said on Tuesday it raised about $100 million from a group of investors including venture capital firm Joy Capital, looking to expand its distribution network and warehouses. Joy Capital, whose founders include the former head of telecommunications investments at Legend Capital, led the funding round, Tuhu Founder and Chief Executive Min Chen said. Other investors included private equity firm Welkin, leasing company Far East Horizon Ltd and existing Tuhu investors such as Legend Capital and Qiming Venture Partners.

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GE unveils customized cloud service in industrial data push

General Electric Co said on Wednesday it is developing a cloud-based service tailored for industrial customers, the latest step in the U.S. conglomerate's effort to gain business from data generated by machines. GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt has bet on developing analytics and software for customers of the company's jet engines, power-generating turbines, healthcare equipment and other industrial products.

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Online meal firm HelloFresh prepares for listing this year: sources

By Arno Schuetze and Alexander Hübner FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Online meal preparation firm HelloFresh is readying a stock market listing this year as it seeks to capitalize on buoyant equities markets and investor appetite for the Internet food market, according to three people familiar with the matter. Majority owner Rocket Internet and co-investors have mandated Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to organize the listing, the sources said.

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Rocket Internet to close grocery delivery service in Germany

German start-up investor Rocket Internet is closing down its grocery delivery service Shopwings in Germany due to a lack of cooperation from retailers and regulatory hurdles. A Rocket Internet spokesman said the business that only launched last year in Berlin and Munich would focus instead on expanding in Australia as well as in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Europe's largest Internet company prides itself on needing only 100 days to go from concept to launch of a new firm, establishing dozens of start-ups from online fashion to home furnishings and food delivery since it was founded in 2007.

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Uber settles wrongful death lawsuit in San Francisco

By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Ride service Uber has reached a tentative settlement in a lawsuit brought by the family of a 6-year-old girl who died in a San Francisco car accident, according to court filings. The girl, Sofia Liu, died after she, her younger brother and their mother were hit by a car in a San Francisco cross-walk on New Year's Eve in 2013

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Rocket Internet-backed Helpling expands in Asia, Mideast

By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Helpling, an online marketplace for hiring home cleaners backed by Germany's Rocket Internet, is expanding beyond its base in Europe to set up new operations in the Middle East and Asia, aided by the acquisition of a rival Singapore start-up. Berlin-based Helpling said it was acquiring Singapore-based Spickify for an undisclosed sum. Hoe Yeen Teck, Spickify's co-founder and chief executive, will be Singapore country manager of the company, which will operate under the Helpling brand

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Alibaba ploughs $200 million into Snapchat in latest startup deal: source

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is investing $200 million in photo-messaging app Snapchat, a source familiar with the deal said, striking its latest Silicon Valley deal as the Chinese ecommerce company builds up mobile services. The investment values the company at around $15 billion, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the situation as saying.

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Apple’s iTunes, App Stores back online after unusually long outage

By Joseph Menn and Edwin Chan SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc's iTunes and App Store came back online on Wednesday afternoon after an unusually long service disruption that the company blamed on an internal technical error. Apple updated its status page at 5:04 pm ET to show that the disrupted services, including the Mac App Store and iBooks, were now functioning normally. The App Store and iTunes are a source of pride for the world's largest tech company and form the centerpiece of its mobile user experience.

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BMW-backed car parking app raises half crowdfunding target on debut

By Andrew Winterbottom LONDON (Reuters) – JustPark, a London-based start-up that launched the world's first in-car parking app, is nearly half way to achieving a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) equity fundraising target just 12 hours after its debut on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. JustPark's app connects car-park owners, often individuals with a private parking space at their home, to drivers looking for a place to park

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