Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

Rakuten, the Japanese e-commerce, fintech and digital content giant, is planning to issue its Rakuten Coin in about six months as a means of using blockchain to expand its membership-driven internet business to new markets.

An ICO is meant to make its membership system easier to extend overseas.
Although its messaging app isn’t as popular as Line, or its online brokerage as big as SBI’s, Rakuten’s strength is in its membership model.

Takasawa, an ex-Nomura Securities executive, says Rakuten’s goal is to become the world’s biggest membership company, in which users derive benefits from an interlinked group of fintech, e-commerce, and digital content services.

www.digfingroup.com/rakuten/

www.fastcompany.com/90221394/...uld-decide-the-messaging-wars

Upstart has been quietly doing something that many others have found difficult: building a profitable online consumer lending business. I caught up with Upstart CEO, Dave Girouard, recently to talk about the state of his business and where he sees the biggest opportunities today.

To date Upstart has issued $2.8 billion in consumer loans which equates to 230,000 loans and they are doing about $180 million a month right now. They will end the year with double the loan volume they did last year. But Dave was quick to point out that they are not all that focused on loan volume. The metric they are most focused on is profitability. They have just completed five profitable months in a row and are now generating $1-2 million a month in profits. They expect to be profitable on a quarterly basis going forward.

www.lendacademy.com/...nd-bank-partnerships-to-profitability/

Online lending startup Upstart is hoping to raise about $100 million in funding.
According to Bloomberg, one source said that the California-based startup is looking to sell shares that would value the business at $500 million to $1 billion.

While a spokeswoman for Upstart said the company isn’t currently raising funds, she does anticipate completing “a final private round” over the next year. She added that the company became profitable last year, while the value of loan transactions increased threefold and gross revenue went up fourfold.

www.pymnts.com/loans/2018/...upstart-funding-venture-capital/

Lyft could go public as early as the first quarter of 2019, based on how quickly the SEC reviews its filing, people familiar with the matter said. Lyft’s valuation is likely to end up between $20 billion and $30 billion, one source added.

www.reuters.com/article/us-lyft-ipo/...po-chase-idUSKBN1O51AA

Rakuten ganz dick drin steckt.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/...nd-up-being-bought-out-enrique-dans


Ich gehe davon aus, dass Lyft mit den Erlösen aus dem Ipo für 4 bis 5 Milliarden kaufen wird.

zu 5 Milliarden Dollar an Werten für Rakuten aufgezeigt werden - die Hälfte der momentanen Marktkapitalisierung von Rakuten.

KDDI also recently signed an agreement with Japanese commerce giant Rakuten through which the latter will use KDDI’s 4G network for the provision of mobile services. The agreement will enable Rakuten to offer a nationwide LTE service from launch. The services will be provided until March 2026, which will give the e-commerce firm time to deploy its own network.

Under the agreement, KDDI will provide Rakuten with network roaming, while Rakuten will provide payments as well as its logistics expertise, Takahashi said.

techblog.comsoc.org/2018/11/13/...ces-in-2019-full-5g-in-2020/

und indirekt auch mit Cabify wenn Lyft - wie ich das erwarte - aus den IPO-Erlösen Cabify kaufen sollte.

Get ready for the $200 billion IPO shakeup in 2019

Uber and Lyft lead a handful of Silicon Valley multibillion-dollar companies founded during the last recession that may go public in 2019.

With many economists forecasting a recession by 2020, it seems these rideshare companies, as well as other rumored IPO candidates, such as Airbnb, Slack and Palantir, may be racing against a recession clock for deals that in all could reach more than $200 billion in valuation.
History shows the IPO market does suffer when stocks and the broader economy tank, but big names like Uber and Lyft can likely get deals done in any market. They just may have to swallow lower deal pricing than they want.

www.cnbc.com/2018/12/14/...0-billion-ipo-shakeup-in-2019.html

www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/12/...w-york-city/578098/

www.equiposytalento.com/noticias/2018/12/...nuevos-ingenieros

With a Net Promoter Score of 80 (extraordinarily high for a company in any industry), the answer is: very. The reason, CEO Amit Patel explained at Rakuten Optimism 2018, is the company’s commitment to moving on from its initial goal of loyalty to love.

So how, as a company, do you get from loyalty to love? Patel shared on stage three ways Ebates has won customers’ love.

Create partnerships
One reason Ebates customers keep coming back is the company’s commitment to providing them with new and better value in partnership with great brands.

Let customers lead
While Ebates allows its members to receive rewards electronically via PayPal, 50% of members still elect to receive their “Big Fat Check” in paper form. And many of them can be found celebrating by posting pictures and happy dance videos on social media—a phenomenon Patel says Ebates loves.
Remember, love comes from trust.

The key is helping customers make better, smarter purchasing decisions. Patel points to a typical member experience: Ashley sees a friend wearing a new style of boot-cut jeans. While her friend boasts about where she found the jeans and the “deal” she got—Ashley knows she can do better on Ebates.

rakuten.today/blog/..._medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS+Reader

Eigner Rakuten:

Oceanic Partners CEO Expects Lyft IPO Valuation in Low-to-Mid $20B Range

December 7th, 2018, 11:47 PM GMT+0100

Tim Sullivan, Oceanic Partners chief executive officer, discusses Lyft Inc. pulling ahead of Uber Technologies Inc. in the race to go public. He speaks with Bloomberg's Emily Chang on "Bloomberg Technology."

www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-12-07/...d-20b-range-video

Japanese online retailer Rakuten is entering the cancer treatment business by acquiring more than 20% of U.S. medical startup Aspyrian Therapeutics. Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani, who already owns the top stake in Aspyrian, serves as chairman of the venture's board and revealed the investment plan.

asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-Deals/...treatment-venture2

Pinterest Hires IR Head in IPO Hint
By Martin Peers
6 days ago · Source: USA Today

Pinterest hired former Google executive Jane Penner as head of investor relations, which may be the clearest sign yet that the company plans to go public. Ms Penner was an IR chief at Google from 2010 to 2014, when she jumped to Alibaba as IR chief, in time for that company’s monster IPO.
Ms Penner has been at Pinterest since last month, according to her LinkedIn page, although news of the appointment only surfaced on Wednesday. If history is any guide, Pinterest plans to join several other companies going public in 2019—including Lyft and Uber. It will be a busy year for tech IPOs.

www.theinformation.com/briefings/8ceb13

DECEMBER 17, 2018 / 6:06 AM / 2 DAYS AGO
Careem launches delivery service, expects to close funding round soon

DUBAI (Reuters) - Careem launched a delivery service covering everything from takeaway food to pharmaceuticals on Monday, diversifying from its core Middle East ride-hailing business and increasing competition with rival Uber Technologies.

The company has expanded its car service business to more than 120 cities in 15 predominantly Middle East countries since launching in 2012.

“We believe the opportunity for deliveries in the region is even bigger than ride-hailing,” Chief Executive and Co-Founder Mudassir Sheikha told Reuters at Careem’s headquarters in Dubai. “It is going to become a very significant part of Careem over time.”

www.reuters.com/article/...e-funding-round-soon-idUSKBN1OG0CL

www.disruptingjapan.com/...-learn-from-airbnbs-japan-problem/

www.finanznachrichten.de/...elekomsparte-von-softbank-007.htm

Denn der Herr Son von Softbank hat für 37% immerhin 23,5 Milliarden US-Dollar erhalten, was den gesamten Mobilfunkbereich von Softbank mit 63,5 Milliarden bewertete.

www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/maerkte/...1AeVXSm7tJeDovYz-ap2


Eigentlich hätte das trotz des gestrigen Absturzes des Softbanjk-Ipo's zu einem Kursanstieg bei Rakuten führen müssen, wenn man bedenkt, mit wie wenig Kapitaleinsatz die sich als vierter Mobilfunkanbieter zu etablieren gedenken.

BY SASHA LEKACH 14 HOURS AGO

If ride-hailing app Uber goes public next year its valuation could hit $120 billion. Its smaller rival Lyft: $30 billion.

mashable.com/article/uber-lyft-ipo-public-drivers/?europe=true

Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
NasdaqGS - NasdaqGS Real Time Price. Currency in USD
PE Ratio (TTM) 80.85
finance.yahoo.com/quote/AMZN?p=AMZN&.tsrc=fin-srch

Rakuten, Inc. (RKUNY)
Other OTC - Other OTC Delayed Price. Currency in USD
PE Ratio (TTM) 7.12
finance.yahoo.com/quote/RKUNY?p=RKUNY

er nicht ganz so groß ausfällt wie bei einem IPO von Lyft:

20.12.2018, 10:24 Uhr
Pinterest-IPO schon im April 2019?

Die Gespräche mit Banken sind angelaufen: Pinterest soll seinen Börsengang vorbereiten und den Gang auf das Börsenparkett für April 2019 planen.

Erst vergangene Woche stellte Pinterest die ehemalige Google- und Alibaba-Managerin Jane Penner als verantwortliche Leitung für das Thema Investor Relations ein - nun gibt es erste Terminhinweise auf den bevorstehenden Börsengang. Nach Informationen des Wall Street Journals will Pinterest schon im April 2019 das Börsendebüt angehen.

Die Geschäfte bei Pinterest laufen gut. Allein in diesem Jahr soll das Unternehmen seinen Umsatz  auf fast eine Milliarde US-Dollar verdoppelt haben. Damit könnte der Wert von Pinterest zwischen 13 und 15 Milliarden US-Dollar festgelegt werden. Auch bei den Nutzungszahlen hat die virtuelle Pinnwand zugelegt: Im September gab das Unternehmen an, die Zahl der monatlich aktiven Nutzer von 200 Millionen im Jahr 2017 auf nun 250 Millionen Nutzer gesteigert zu haben.

www.internetworld.de/social-media/...-april-2019-1663351.html

vor den oben beschriebenen Festtagen noch ein paar Aktien zurückzukaufen.

Die folgenden Verkaufserlöse, die bei ca. einer Viertelmilliarde Dollar liegen dürften, könnten dafür als Begründung dienen - obwohl eigentlich auch so genügend Liquidität da ist. Aber Ratingagenturen lieben eben bei Rückkäufen Begründungen.

global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2018/...category=corp%20ir

Investitionssumme von ca. 5 Milliarden US-Dollar, die Rakuten bis 3025 zu investieren gedenkt mit den gigantischen Bewertung von Softbanks Mobilsparte in 2845.

7 Aug 2018
Japanese e-tailer Rakuten has divulged additional details regarding its planned launch of Japan’s fourth mobile network. In the presentation accompanying its latest financial results – covering the second quarter of FY18 – Rakuten noted that it is targeting a commercial launch in October 2019 and seeks to achieve 96% population coverage by the end of fiscal 2025. The company is now optimistic of signing up ten million subscribers by the end of fiscal 2028, scaled down from its initial 15 million projection. However, Rakuten has also reduced its projected rollout budget, from JPY600 billion (USD5.4 billion) to JPY526.3 billion.

www.telegeography.com/products/...-target-to-10m-subscribers/