Pruebas 2

Puede haber entrado en el juego más tarde que otras regiones líderes como Europa y América del Norte, pero la industria fintech de América Latina es dinámica y está creciendo rápidamente. Recientemente se dio al sector una valoración de más de 150.000 millones de dólares y continúa expandiéndose año tras año.

Y aunque el impacto a largo plazo de COVID-19 en el sector está aún por determinar, no hay duda de que la demanda de ciertas soluciones fintech está en aumento. Como las instituciones financieras más pequeñas de toda la región están bajo presión para digitalizarse, muchos están pidiendo a las fintech que les ayuden a lo largo de este viaje. Además, varias PYME están buscando servicios de préstamos digitales para ayudarles a superar la crisis.

La rápida expansión del sector ha hecho que los reguladores de LatAm estén bajo una presión cada vez mayor para promulgar una legislación que aborde las turbias aguas de la actividad fintech, proporcionando confianza tanto a los consumidores como a los inversores. Sin embargo, la regulación en toda la región debe tener cuidado de no anular la innovación, mientras que las startups deben averiguar cómo ser ágiles en un entorno cada vez más regulado. Echemos un vistazo más de cerca a lo que la regulación de impacto ha tenido hasta ahora en El Alar, y lo que tiene que suceder para lograr un equilibrio entre el crecimiento del sector y la confianza pública.

El desarrollo de la regulación fintech en toda LatAm

México está actualmente a la cabeza cuando se trata de la regulación fintech en LatAm, gracias a su completa Ley fintech 2018. La ley cubre la mayoría de las actividades fintech, incluyendo crowdfunding, monedero virtual, transacciones realizadas con criptomonedas y banca abierta. Además, México tiene ciertas leyes financieras que regulan las entidades financieras en su ejecución de transacciones utilizando fintech. La ley también proporciona un entorno limitado regulatorio para las empresas con licencia y sin licencia.

Brasil es el más lejano por delante después de México, ya que legisla individualmente el crowdfunding y los préstamos punto a punto, mientras que una comisión especial del Congreso está trabajando en una estrategia legislativa más amplia. El Banco Central de Brasil también se esfuerza por hacer efectiva la legislación de banca abierta para el tercer trimestre de 2020, lo que allanará el camino para un próspero ecosistema de banca abierta.

In response to VCs’ sudden rush to invest in more Black founders, Black venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have penned a bunch of advice on the best way to tap into talent. Among the strategies? Team up with Black firms already doing the work. Some firms have said that they’re going to turn to HBCUvc, a nonprofit organization that helps students from historically Black colleges and universities enter venture and tech.

In response to an outpouring of donations and support for HBCUvc, its founder Hadiyah Mujhid introduced a Donor Circle as one way investors can help in light of the overdue awakening.

“We’ve created the HBCUvc Donor Circle as an opportunity for supporters and individuals to engage in our work and join a long-term strategy toward racial equity in venture capital and technology,” she wrote in the post.

A donor circle member needs to make a gift of $1,000 or more to join the cohort, with an annual financial commitment. Donors will be able to engage with students in the HBCUvc community, work with other community members that are committed to practicing venture through anti-racist events and receive invitations to community events and summits.

“Joining the donor circle is the best way to get involved in HBCUvc. We cannot make significant progress in advancing racial equity without long-term financial commitment,” Mujhid wrote.

HBCUvc, which we first wrote about in 2017, currently holds a number of programs to help Black and Hispanic students enter the world of tech, from fellowships to micro-grants. It held a city-based internship program with Los Angeles, which connects students to venture capital firms in the area. The program is expanding to Chicago in 2021, the blog post notes.

HBCUvc’s first batch was 11 students from three universities. The Black and women-led team has since grown to support 123 students.

Just two weeks ago, HBCUVc was struggling to keep staff on deck due to the financial impact of COVID-19. Mujhid had to communicate that the “community they’ve built may formally cease without emergency funding.”

The organization and its work with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) has been amplified in recent weeks after the murder of George Floyd and international protests against ongoing police brutality in the United States. Some say HBCUs are a place for startups to go and look for diverse talent, and others think that the institutions could serve as LPs in funds and demand more racial equity.

“A piece of me wants to know why our voices were unheard and why it required such a horrific event to bring awareness and action to what should have already been a priority,” Mujhid wrote.

The singular sentence underlines a key message I’ve heard from the Black tech community in the past two weeks: It should not have taken a murder to start thinking about racial inequality. It’s why some doubt the intentions of companies and firms newly promising to increase diversity, beyond the opportunistic lip service.

Read the whole HBCUvc blog post here.

It may have entered the game later than other leading regions such as Europe and North America, but Latin America’s fintech industry is dynamic and growing fast. The sector was recently given a valuation of more than $150 billion and continues to expand year-on-year.

And while the longer-term impact of COVID-19 on the sector is yet to be determined, there’s no doubt that the demand for certain fintech solutions is on the rise. As smaller financial institutions across the region are under pressure to digitize, many are calling on fintechs to help them along this journey. In addition, a number of SMEs are seeking out digital loan services to help them get through the crisis.

The sector’s speedy expansion has meant that regulators in LatAm are under increasing pressure to enact legislation that addresses the murky waters of fintech activity, providing confidence to consumers and investors alike. However, regulation across the region must be careful to not quash innovation, while startups must figure out how to be agile in an environment which is becoming increasingly regulated. Let’s take a closer look at what impact regulation has had so far in LatAm, and what needs to happen to strike a balance between sector growth and public trust.

The development of fintech regulation across LatAm

Mexico is currently leading the way when it comes to fintech regulation in LatAm, thanks to its comprehensive 2018 fintech Law. The law covers most fintech activities, including crowdfunding, virtual wallet, transactions carried out with cryptocurrencies and open banking. In addition, Mexico has certain financial laws that regulate financial entities in their execution of transactions using fintech. The law also provides a regulatory sandbox for both licensed and non-licensed companies.

Brazil is the furthest ahead after Mexico, as it individually legislates crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, while a special congressional commission is working on a broader legislative strategy. Brazil’s Central Bank also endeavors to make open banking legislation effective by the third quarter of 2020, which will pave the way for a thriving open banking ecosystem.

In response to VCs’ sudden rush to invest in more Black founders, Black venture capitalists and entrepreneurs have penned a bunch of advice on the best way to tap into talent. Among the strategies? Team up with Black firms already doing the work. Some firms have said that they’re going to turn to HBCUvc, a nonprofit organization that helps students from historically Black colleges and universities enter venture and tech.

In response to an outpouring of donations and support for HBCUvc, its founder Hadiyah Mujhid introduced a Donor Circle as one way investors can help in light of the overdue awakening.

“We’ve created the HBCUvc Donor Circle as an opportunity for supporters and individuals to engage in our work and join a long-term strategy toward racial equity in venture capital and technology,” she wrote in the post.

A donor circle member needs to make a gift of $1,000 or more to join the cohort, with an annual financial commitment. Donors will be able to engage with students in the HBCUvc community, work with other community members that are committed to practicing venture through anti-racist events and receive invitations to community events and summits.

“Joining the donor circle is the best way to get involved in HBCUvc. We cannot make significant progress in advancing racial equity without long-term financial commitment,” Mujhid wrote.

HBCUvc, which we first wrote about in 2017, currently holds a number of programs to help Black and Hispanic students enter the world of tech, from fellowships to micro-grants. It held a city-based internship program with Los Angeles, which connects students to venture capital firms in the area. The program is expanding to Chicago in 2021, the blog post notes.

HBCUvc’s first batch was 11 students from three universities. The Black and women-led team has since grown to support 123 students.

Just two weeks ago, HBCUVc was struggling to keep staff on deck due to the financial impact of COVID-19. Mujhid had to communicate that the “community they’ve built may formally cease without emergency funding.”

The organization and its work with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) has been amplified in recent weeks after the murder of George Floyd and international protests against ongoing police brutality in the United States. Some say HBCUs are a place for startups to go and look for diverse talent, and others think that the institutions could serve as LPs in funds and demand more racial equity.

“A piece of me wants to know why our voices were unheard and why it required such a horrific event to bring awareness and action to what should have already been a priority,” Mujhid wrote.

The singular sentence underlines a key message I’ve heard from the Black tech community in the past two weeks: It should not have taken a murder to start thinking about racial inequality. It’s why some doubt the intentions of companies and firms newly promising to increase diversity, beyond the opportunistic lip service.

Read the whole HBCUvc blog post here.

Puede haber entrado en el juego más tarde que otras regiones líderes como Europa y América del Norte, pero la industria fintech de América Latina es dinámica y está creciendo rápidamente. Recientemente se dio al sector una valoración de más de 150.000 millones de dólares y continúa expandiéndose año tras año.

Y aunque el impacto a largo plazo de COVID-19 en el sector está aún por determinar, no hay duda de que la demanda de ciertas soluciones fintech está en aumento. Como las instituciones financieras más pequeñas de toda la región están bajo presión para digitalizarse, muchos están pidiendo a las fintech que les ayuden a lo largo de este viaje. Además, varias PYME están buscando servicios de préstamos digitales para ayudarles a superar la crisis.

La rápida expansión del sector ha hecho que los reguladores de LatAm estén bajo una presión cada vez mayor para promulgar una legislación que aborde las turbias aguas de la actividad fintech, proporcionando confianza tanto a los consumidores como a los inversores. Sin embargo, la regulación en toda la región debe tener cuidado de no anular la innovación, mientras que las startups deben averiguar cómo ser ágiles en un entorno cada vez más regulado. Echemos un vistazo más de cerca a lo que la regulación de impacto ha tenido hasta ahora en El Alar, y lo que tiene que suceder para lograr un equilibrio entre el crecimiento del sector y la confianza pública.

El desarrollo de la regulación fintech en toda LatAm

México está actualmente a la cabeza cuando se trata de la regulación fintech en LatAm, gracias a su completa Ley fintech 2018. La ley cubre la mayoría de las actividades fintech, incluyendo crowdfunding, monedero virtual, transacciones realizadas con criptomonedas y banca abierta. Además, México tiene ciertas leyes financieras que regulan las entidades financieras en su ejecución de transacciones utilizando fintech. La ley también proporciona un entorno limitado regulatorio para las empresas con licencia y sin licencia.

Brasil es el más lejano por delante después de México, ya que legisla individualmente el crowdfunding y los préstamos punto a punto, mientras que una comisión especial del Congreso está trabajando en una estrategia legislativa más amplia. El Banco Central de Brasil también se esfuerza por hacer efectiva la legislación de banca abierta para el tercer trimestre de 2020, lo que allanará el camino para un próspero ecosistema de banca abierta.

La pandemia COVID-19 está acelerando la adopción de nuevas tecnologías y cambios culturales que ya estaban en marcha. Según una serie de inversores de gran impacto, esta dinámica es particularmente fuerte en los juegos y la realidad extendida.

A diferencia de otros segmentos del mundo de la startup y la tecnología, donde las valoraciones se han recortado, las empresas en etapas tempranas enfocadas en la construcción de nuevos juegos, infraestructura de juegos y entretenimiento de realidad virtual o extendida no están teniendo problemas para recaudar dinero. Incluso han visto aumentar las valoraciones, dijeron los inversores.

"Las valoraciones han aumentado bastante significativamente en el sector de los videojuegos. Las valoraciones han subido entre un 20 y un 25% más de lo que habría visto antes de esta pandemia", dijo Phil Sanderson, cofundador y director general de Griffin Gaming Partners, a otros participantes en un panel virtual durante la Conferencia de Los Angeles Games a principios de este mes.

Impulsar el apetito por nuevas inversiones es el abrazo de la industria del entretenimiento de eventos virtuales, características animadas, juegos y plataformas de medios sociales después de que los pedidos generalizados de refugio en el lugar hicieron que los eventos físicos hicieran que los eventos físicos pasaran por imposibilidad.

It may have entered the game later than other leading regions such as Europe and North America, but Latin America’s fintech industry is dynamic and growing fast. The sector was recently given a valuation of more than $150 billion and continues to expand year-on-year.

And while the longer-term impact of COVID-19 on the sector is yet to be determined, there’s no doubt that the demand for certain fintech solutions is on the rise. As smaller financial institutions across the region are under pressure to digitize, many are calling on fintechs to help them along this journey. In addition, a number of SMEs are seeking out digital loan services to help them get through the crisis.

The sector’s speedy expansion has meant that regulators in LatAm are under increasing pressure to enact legislation that addresses the murky waters of fintech activity, providing confidence to consumers and investors alike. However, regulation across the region must be careful to not quash innovation, while startups must figure out how to be agile in an environment which is becoming increasingly regulated. Let’s take a closer look at what impact regulation has had so far in LatAm, and what needs to happen to strike a balance between sector growth and public trust.

The development of fintech regulation across LatAm

Mexico is currently leading the way when it comes to fintech regulation in LatAm, thanks to its comprehensive 2018 fintech Law. The law covers most fintech activities, including crowdfunding, virtual wallet, transactions carried out with cryptocurrencies and open banking. In addition, Mexico has certain financial laws that regulate financial entities in their execution of transactions using fintech. The law also provides a regulatory sandbox for both licensed and non-licensed companies.

Brazil is the furthest ahead after Mexico, as it individually legislates crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending, while a special congressional commission is working on a broader legislative strategy. Brazil’s Central Bank also endeavors to make open banking legislation effective by the third quarter of 2020, which will pave the way for a thriving open banking ecosystem.

WarnerMedia’s new streaming service HBO Max launched today with a couple of conspicuous absences from the list of supported devices — Max is not yet available on Roku or Amazon’s Fire TV.

It sounds like this isn’t just a technical issue that will be fixed imminently. WarnerMedia’s vice president of communications Chris Willard told USA Today that “there is no deal in place” to bring the service to those platforms.

In a statement sent out this afternoon, Amazon suggested that the disagreement revolves around bringing HBO Max to Prime Video Channels, and around HBO’s somewhat confusing distribution strategy. (For those of you who haven’t been following along: The HBO Now app is being updated as HBO Max, which includes HBO, plus a bunch of other content. At the same time, HBO will continue to operate as a standalone brand.)

The company said that by not making Max available through Prime Video Channels, WarnerMedia’s parent company AT&T “is choosing to deny those loyal HBO customers access to the expanded catalog.”

Here’s Amazon’s full statement:

With a seamless customer experience, nearly 5 million HBO streamers currently access their subscription through Amazon’s Prime Video Channels. Unfortunately, with the launch of HBO Max, AT&T is choosing to deny these loyal HBO customers access to the expanded catalog. We believe that if you’re paying for HBO, you’re entitled to the new programming through the method you’re already using. That’s just good customer service and that’s a priority for us.

Meanwhile, a statement from Roku also pointed to unresolved issues:

As the No. 1 streaming platform in the U.S. we believe that HBO Max would benefit greatly from the scale and content marketing capabilities available with distribution on our platform. We are focused on mutually positive distribution agreements with all new OTT services that will deliver a quality user experience to viewers in the more than 40 million households that choose Roku to access their favorite programs and discover new content. Unfortunately we haven’t reached agreement yet with HBOMax. While not on our platform today, we look forward to helping HBOMax in the future successfully scale their streaming business.

Update: WarnerMedia just provided an additional statement.

We are thrilled that HBO Max is widely available at launch to customers through a variety of devices and distribution partners as well as HBOMax.com. Our goal is to make HBO Max available on every platform possible to as many viewers globally as possible so they can enjoy beloved shows from HBO, the Warner Bros. movie and TV library and a diversity of hit programming exclusive to HBO Max. We look forward to reaching agreements with the few outstanding distribution partners left, including with Amazon and on par with how they provide customers access to Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu on Fire devices.

Emmanuel Bamfo is used to fighting uphill battles. Still, his latest fight, with the city of San Francisco, may well destroy his business if he doesn’t win it, and quickly.

Bamfo is the co-founder and CEO of Globe, a year-old, six-person startup that connects customers with rooms in people’s mostly urban homes. Think Airbnb, except that Globe isn’t for users looking for days- or months-long stays, but instead for a day break.

Globe evolved from an earlier company called Recharge that tried convincing hotels to let its customers rent their rooms by the hour and even minute, and had raised around $10 million in funding. When hotels pushed back on the idea of cleaning their rooms so frequently, the nascent outfit entered into the popular accelerator program Y Combinator last summer and came out as a company that connects customers to home owners instead.

Growth at Globe had been slow but steady since, with more than 10,000 hosts around the world signing up to rent out rooms in their homes. Then came COVID-19.

Some hosts kept providing space to guests. One tech worker, Abe Disu, recently told The New York Times that he rented out his San Francisco apartment through Globe about 70 times between August and April, earning about $50 per hour after cleaning costs.

Many others expressed concerns about germs. “I thought we were dead,” says Bamfo.

Instead of giving up, Bamfo began to position Globe as a platform for people needing an escape from home quarantines. Globe can help individuals find that quiet place to make calls, away from roommates and children. It offers a reprieve from loved ones for a much-needed hour or two. It can even help those in desperate straights find better bandwidth. (You get the idea.)

It’s an appealing proposition on some levels. Who doesn’t long for a change in scenery at his point? Still, there is a pandemic, and safety is concern. Indeed, though Bamfo says Globe has layered in policies specific to COVID-19 — its cleaning checklist for hosts has grown longer and customers now have to send in pictures of thermometer readings — the city of San Francisco, at least, doesn’t think they go far enough.

The city sent Globe a letter last week noting that the company’s hourly rental business appears to violate the shelter-in-place order it instituted in March and that it extended indefinitely last week with some modifications that do not apply to Globe’s business. It says it’s prepared to take action, too. If has warned Globe that if it doesn’t immediately halt its business, the startup — and its founders, Bamfo and Erix Xu, who is a former senior engineering director at Reddit — risk “fine, imprisonment or both, pursuant to San Francisco Administrative Code section 7.17(b) and California Penal Code section 148.”

It adds that the “California Penal Code section 409.5 also authorizes the City to close down properties constituting a menace to public health. Likewise, failure to abide by the San Francisco Planning Code is a nuisance and is punishable by fines of up to $1,000 per day. Likewise, failure to abide by Chapter 41A of the Administrative Code is punishable by fines of up to $484 per day.”

It’s a bitter if somewhat unsurprising development for Globe, which is based in San Francisco, and counts the city as its biggest market. Bamfo and Xu have limited resources, and a drawn-out shut-down could very easily become permanent. Still, it’s hard to see how the company avoids a bigger blow-up if it doesn’t comply very soon — or the city doesn’t instead begin to relax some of its policies.

Right now, Bamfo seems to be counting on the latter, and perhaps for good reason. Yesterday, for example, California Governor Gavin Newsom said that barbershops and hair salons can begin accepting customers again in many California counties. San Francisco and neighboring counties are maintaining more sweeping restrictions for now, but that could change in a matter of weeks.

In the meantime, Bamfo — who says he was “shocked” by the city’s letter — is engaging in a game of chicken. He says that while Globe works on an official response, one that it will send by Tuesday of next week, the company is continuing to make its service available in its hometown.

Noting that neither Airbnb nor hotels have received the same feedback from the city, he says that Globe “doesn’t want to focus on regulations, fines, and threats of jail time. We want instead to elevate this discourse around solutions.”

Globe Living Receives Unwelcome News from San Francisco by TechCrunch on Scribd

In a surprise blog post, Amazon said it will put the brakes on providing its facial recognition technology to police for one year, but refuses to say if the move applies to federal law enforcement agencies.

The moratorium comes two days after IBM said in a letter it was leaving the facial recognition market altogether. Arvind Krishna, IBM’s chief executive, cited a “pursuit of justice and racial equity” in light of the recent protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis last month.

Amazon’s statement — just 102 words in length — did not say why it was putting the moratorium in place, but noted that Congress “appears ready” to work on stronger regulations governing the use of facial recognition — again without providing any details. It’s likely in response to the Justice in Policing Act, a bill that would, if passed, restrict how police can use facial recognition technology.

“We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested,” said Amazon in the unbylined blog post.

But the statement did not say if the moratorium would apply to the federal government, the source of most of the criticism against Amazon’s facial recognition technology. Amazon also did not say in the statement what action it would take after the yearlong moratorium expires.

Amazon is known to have pitched its facial recognition technology, Rekognition, to federal agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Last year, Amazon’s cloud chief Andy Jassy said in an interview the company would provide Rekognition to “any” government department.

Amazon spokesperson Kristin Brown declined to comment further or say if the moratorium applies to federal law enforcement.

There are dozens of companies providing facial recognition technology to police, but Amazon is by far the biggest. Amazon has come under the most scrutiny after its Rekognition face-scanning technology showed bias against people of color.

In 2018, the ACLU found that Rekognition falsely matched 28 members of Congress as criminals in a mugshot database. Amazon criticized the results, claiming the ACLU had lowered the facial recognition system’s confidence threshold. But a year later, the ACLU of Massachusetts found that Rekognition had falsely matched 27 New England professional athletes against a mugshot database. Both tests disproportionately mismatched Black people, the ACLU found.

Investors brought a proposal to Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting almost exactly a year ago that would have forcibly banned Amazon from selling its facial recognition technology to the government or law enforcement. Amazon defeated the vote with a wide margin.

The ACLU acknowledged Amazon’s move to pause sales of Rekognition, which it called a “threat to our civil rights and liberties,” but called on the company and other firms to do more.