VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Neil deGrasse Tyson has termed Elon Musk’s SpaceX project as a delusion and argues in favor of his claim. The cost involved appears to be the first hurdle since such gigantic project can’t be implemented without public funds or government patronization. The level of risk and lack of commitments for returning profits are the two other major causes behind his argument.

A group of investors led by Macquarie has reached an agreement with utility company Cleco to acquire the latter for $3.4 billion during October 2014. The acquisition proposal has previously been rejected by Louisiana PSC last month due to absence of best interest offerings to the Cleco customers. However, the deal has been approved on Monday following revised commitments from both the parties.

After moving its headquarter for six years in Swiss, the petrochemical giant sets to return home. Founder and CEO Jim Ratcliffe planned to relocate its headquarter back to England.

Game developer Ubisoft is expanding its business to the Philippines and will be named Ubisoft Philippines. It will be headquartered in Sta. Rosa, Laguna which is a great geographical site. One reason for the move is the trust established by Filipino employees led by manager Chip Go that was being noticed by Ubisoft Managing Director Oliver de Rotalier.

Hyperloop Technologies Inc. has been implementing an innovative idea of Tesla CEO Elon Musk through developing a new concept of transportation platform. The Los Angeles tech giant considers for spending $121 million to develop the full track at Apex Industrial Park. To allure the investment, Nevada state officials have waved $9.2 million sales tax applicable on the capital expenditure.

French tech startups managed to secure almost 1 billion euros in funding last year, establishing the country’s place in the European tech landscape. Most investments were still made by domestic investors, although there are prominent foreign investors involved in big fundings.

Samsung Pay has launched today in China trying to get a better position from its rival, Apple Pay and Alipay. Shoppers who use Samsung smartphones compatible with the company's newly launched mobile payment service will be able to pay for their purchases even without using a debit or credit card.

The growing Chinese demand is boosting Australia’s food, health, tourism and education sectors. The economy transitions in dragon country from infrastructure investment to consumption-led growth is showing up all over Australia.

US labour market is gaining grounds helped by robust consumer spending, despite poor profits among corporate giants. The country added more than 200,000 jobs per month, with an average recruitment totalling to 213,000 new jobs a month in the past four years.

Last week, the Bank of Egypt has increased its benchmark rates following a devaluation of local currency by 10%. The moves are believed to be parts of measures taken by the government to address the shortage in foreign currency reserves. Now, the Egyptian government has announced on Sunday a new special program to secure foreign aid and investments.

Seven day lingering summit of the ‘India-China Business & Investment Forum’ has been kicked off on Sunday while highlighting the ‘Make In India’ campaign. More than 20 Indian firms have participated in the summit. Meanwhile, four CEOs from Chinese companies already invested in India, have urged the Chinese investors to avail of the Indian government offered investment opportunities.

Royal Dutch Shell is reportedly seeking buyers for its North Sea assets following the merger with BG. The oil company intends to raise $30 billion from the sale of its global assets in order to balance the BG merger expenses.

Qatari media network Al Jazeera is announcing its plan to cut 50 jobs as a part of an optimization initiative. As a partly state-funded company, Al Jazeera is impacted by the slump in oil prices, which is the country’s main sector.

Retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus intervened on Brexit issue. He compelled voters to choose to stay in European Union for the sake of security and war on terror.

Nordic Business Council Philippines (NBCP) issued its 2016 annual report on Philippine and challenges in the trade and investment sectors. Meanwhile the Central Bank expected a strong growth in the economy.