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SoftBank-backed Lemonade raises $319 million in IPO

Lemonade, started in late 2016, says it has digitized the entire insurance process, replacing brokers and paperwork with algorithms. It says it provides insurance policies to homeowners and renters in as little as 90 seconds and claim payments in three minutes.The IPO values Lemonade at $1.6 billion. That is less than the $2.1 billion it was valued at last year, after it raised $300 million in a funding round led by Japan’s SoftBank and which included insurer Allianz SE and Alphabet Inc’s venture capital arm GV. Lemonade has pursued breakneck revenue growth at the expense of widening losses.

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 Cybersecurity top priority for Indian CIOs post Covid-19 pandemic:Adobe

“As we rapidly moved from functioning in an increasingly-digital world to one that is digital-only, CIOs have had to pivot their strategies to prioritise the online needs of their customers and employees,” said Scott Rigby, Head of Digital Transformation, Adobe Asia Pacific.

Nearly 98 per cent of organisations across India have seen Covid-19 impact business functioning, with CIOs facing challenges in helping their teams to communicate effectively and having the right technology deployment to ensure smooth business continuity.

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AGCS embarks on global overhaul to regain profitability and market leadership

Joachim Mueller, AGCS CEO since December 2019, said “We will now focus our entire business under a new strategic direction. We will put technical excellence in underwriting before growth, simplify and strengthen our global model to ensure that we think and act as one team, and become more efficient, leaner and faster – benefitting us and our clients. Our joint ambition is set high: The ‘New AGCS’ will be the market leader in our target segments. We expect to see significant profitability improvements of our underwriting results from 2021 onwards and aim to achieve the full turnaround and transformation of our company by 2024.”

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Car crashes deadlier as drivers speed during lockdowns:Study

-Police in New York said they were aware of the increased speeds and had deployed additional patrols. Data from traffic analytics company INRIX shows speeds in New York City increased 44% from 28 miles (45 km) per hour in April last year to 41 miles (66 km) per hour this April.
– Speeding offenses increased 187% in London during the lockdown compared to the same period a year ago, Cox said, but extreme speeding offenses increased even more — by 236%.
– Despite the overall drop in collisions and fatalities, the fatality rate among crashes was 70% higher in France.

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Didi installs V2X equipment in Shanghai, begins test robotaxi service

Didi last month completed a more than $500 million fundraising round for its autonomous driving unit, which has more than 400 staff globally.It is using vehicles with the Volvo, Lincoln and BYD marques in the current test.

Three-year-old WeRide, which is backed by Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, is testing cars in Guangzhou and has installed some V2X equipment in its test area.

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Japanese startup creates ‘connected’ face mask for coronavirus new normal

The white plastic “c-mask” fits over standard face masks and connects via Bluetooth to a smartphone and tablet application that can transcribe speech into text messages, make calls, or amplify the mask wearer’s voice.

“We worked hard for years to develop a robot and we have used that technology to create a product that responds to how the coronavirus has reshaped society,” said Taisuke Ono, the chief executive of Donut Robotics.

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