SEOUL, South Korea - Google (GOOG) said Monday that it will invest $550 million in Alibaba's (BABA) main rival JD.com as the U.S. tech giant seeks to expand in fast-growing Asian e-commerce markets. Under the partnership, JD.com products will appear on Google's shopping service, giving JD.com access to consumers outside Asia, while Google can apply the Chinese e-commerce company's supply chain and logistics expertise to its technology. Google said through the partnership, the company will explore new solutions to improve shopping experiences of consumers around the world. It wasn't clear if the partnership was the American company's latest attempt to make a foray into China, where its major services, including email and its search engine, are blocked. The two companies, however, will jointly develop retail services in Southeast Asia, the latest battlefield among global online commerce giants such as Alibaba, JD.com and Amazon (AMZN). Southeast Asian consumers are forecast to spend … [Read more...] about Google invests $550 million in China’s JD.com
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Acumatica bags $25 million investment round to fund growth plans
Acumatica, a Bellevue-based builder of business management software, has hauled in $25 million in venture capital funding that it plans to use to build out its product line and sales force. The company makes enterprise resource planning software, the umbrella term for business applications that track and manage things like order books, inventory, accounting and production planning. Acumatica targets small and midsize businesses that might get less attention from giants like SAP, Oracle and Microsoft. In recent years, the company has released editions of its software tailored for specific industries or job roles, including construction, manufacturing and field service. Jon Roskill, Acumatica’s chief executive, said he hopes to use the new cash to build more industry-specific tools, and grow the company’s sales and support capacity. “It’s just a huge opportunity in front of us,” he said. The investment round was led by Accel-KKR, a private equity firm, and … [Read more...] about Acumatica bags $25 million investment round to fund growth plans
D-FW investment property buys slowed in the first quarter
Even with the drop in sales volume, the D-FW area ranked sixth nationally with almost $3.2 billion in deals.First quarter sales volumes also declined in Boston, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles, according to Cushman & Wakefield.The drop in property purchase probably has more to do with a lack of prime real estate up for grabs in North Texas, analysts with the commercial real estate firm say."It's not like there has been any change in investor sentiment about the Dallas market," said David Bitner, Cushman & Wakefield's head of Americas capital markets research. "We don't hear any negative sentiment about Dallas. "Investors are really happy with their Dallas properties and Dallas continues to have strong economic growth," he said. "I think Dallas will continue to be attractive."In the last few years, North Texas has seen some huge investment property deals and there are currently fewer large trophy assets on the market.News of the slowdown in investment property … [Read more...] about D-FW investment property buys slowed in the first quarter
Google Invests $550 Million in Chinese Online Shopping Site JD.com
SHANGHAI—Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit is investing $550 million in Chinese online retailer JD.com Inc., a move that will deepen its ties with China and ramp up its rivalry with Amazon.com Inc. The deal, which according to a JD spokesman gives Google a 1% stake, will help both companies expand their retailing presence. Under the partnership, JD will start selling products on Google Shopping, reaching consumers in the U.S. and Europe as it seeks to diversify beyond China’s highly competitive e-commerce market.... … [Read more...] about Google Invests $550 Million in Chinese Online Shopping Site JD.com
Google to invest $550 million in Alibaba rival JD.com
Youkyung Lee Associated Press Published 9:14 p.m. UTC Jun 18, 2018 SEOUL, South Korea – Google said Monday that it will invest $550 million in Alibaba’s main rival JD.com as the U.S. tech giant seeks to expand in fast-growing Asian e-commerce markets. Under the partnership, JD.com products will appear on Google’s shopping service, giving JD.com access to consumers outside Asia, while Google can apply the Chinese e-commerce company’s supply chain and logistics expertise to its technology. Google said that through the partnership, the company will explore new solutions to improve shopping experiences of consumers around the world. More: Listen up, Alibaba is joining Amazon and Google in the smart speaker game It was not clear if the partnership was the American company’s latest attempt to make a foray into China, where its major services, including email and its search engine, are blocked. The two companies, however, will jointly develop retail … [Read more...] about Google to invest $550 million in Alibaba rival JD.com