About Karen Joy
Karen Joy Bacudo
Finance Editor
Karen wears two hats at TechDay, balancing her role as an editor while assisting with finance tasks. She bridges writing content and reconciling numbers to support the team, with the same level of accuracy and precision.
Stories by Karen Joy - Page 3
spektr raises USD $20 million to expand AI compliance
Last week
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digital transformation
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fintech
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rpa
Spektr lands USD $20 million Series A from NEA as Copenhagen AI compliance platform targets manual checks at banks and fintechs.
Lua raises USD $5.8 million seed round led by Norrsken22
Last week
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digital transformation
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fintech
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partner programmes
London's Lua secures USD $5.8 million seed backing from Norrsken22 as it expands its platform for businesses to manage AI agents.
Tether backs Drift Protocol relaunch with GBP £150m
Last week
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crypto
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blockchain
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risk & compliance
Tether leads USD $150 million recovery plan as Drift Protocol seeks to restore user balances and restart trading after April exploit.
Blackhawk launches digital wallet for unified stored value
Last week
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crypto
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fintech
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cx
Blackhawk Network has unveiled a Digital Wallet API that lets brands pool gift cards, refunds, loyalty rewards and promo credit into one spendable balance.
Global study finds 78% use AI for investment insights
Last week
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digital transformation
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fintech
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genai
Study finds AI now shapes investment research for 78.3% of users, with strongest enthusiasm in the Middle East and Latin America.
Maestra posts USD $833,000 in new ARR on demand shift
Last week
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data analytics
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cx
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martech
Maestra says brands are ditching fragmented marketing stacks as quarterly new ARR more than doubled plan, with inbound sales topping half of new business.
Neato raises USD $25 million to expand beyond Amazon
Last week
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data analytics
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martech
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commerce systems
Neato secures USD $25 million in growth funding to open new operations centres and push its second-party marketplace model into more sales channels.
Gr4vy launches toolkit for ChatGPT agentic payments
Last week
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crypto
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fintech
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cx
Gr4vy unveils Agentic Development Kit to help merchants sell inside ChatGPT and other AI platforms without overhauling their payment systems.
Aryza acquires Umbrella Tech in AI collections push
Last week
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saas
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uc
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devops
Aryza buys Toronto-based Umbrella Tech to add voice AI, speech analytics and autonomous agents to its collections and recoveries software.
WealthArc launches AI agent to structure portfolio data
Last week
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digital transformation
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fintech
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it automation
WealthArc unveils AI Agent to turn messy custodian records into structured portfolio data for wealth managers, backed by human review.
Banks test stablecoins for faster cross-border payments
Last week
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crypto
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fintech
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supply chain
Banks and multinationals trial tokens to slash cross-border settlement times, as clearer rules and backing bolster wider business use.
Tether backs USD $134 million Stablecoin Development
Last week
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crypto
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fintech
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blockchain
Tether invests USD $134 million in listed stablecoin platform as stablecoin use surges past USD $300 billion and eyes public market access.
Visa launches Tempo validator node in blockchain push
Last week
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firewalls
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network security
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crypto
Visa takes a direct stake in Tempo's blockchain operations, joining an early group of outside validators as it deepens its stablecoin and payments push.
Primitive launches AI agent system for banks & credit unions
Last week
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saas
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digital transformation
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fintech
Primitive unveils bank-grade AI agent operating system with MX tie-up as banks seek tighter oversight, while Fin Capital and Pelion back launch.
SoFi joins first banks to offer FedNow send & receive
Last week
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fintech
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cx
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blockchain
SoFi and Galileo expand FedNow access with instant transfers both ways, as Bill Kennedy says the platform could open the same service to partners.
Backbase, Ninth Wave unlock ERP banking connections
Last week
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dr
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digital transformation
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fintech
Backbase and Ninth Wave have teamed up to let banks plug corporate clients' ERP and accounting systems straight into account data and payments.
Scotiabank launches Scotia Intelligence for bank-wide AI
Last week
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uc
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digital transformation
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fintech
Scotiabank puts AI under one roof as new enterprise platform rolls out for staff, with commercial email routing and client tools already delivering gains.
US AI megadeals drive global VC to USD $331 billion
Last week
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semiconductors
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hyperscale
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dc
US AI megadeals push global venture capital to a record USD $330.9 billion as OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI dominate first-quarter funding.
L&G Asset Management launches tokenised liquidity funds
Last week
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crypto
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fintech
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blockchain
L&G Asset Management puts £50 billion liquidity fund range on Calastone's tokenised network for blockchain-based access on Ethereum and other EVM chains.
Payhawk flags AI governance gap in finance leaders
Last week
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manufacturing
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data analytics
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digital transformation
Payhawk survey finds 45% of self-described AI leaders in finance lack minimum use rules, exposing a wider gap between ambition and control.