MANAGEMENT
Business Wire | September 27, 2023
DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc., the cloud for startups and SMBs, today announced the launch of DigitalOcean Managed Kafka, a new, fully managed data streaming platform as a service offering for Apache Kafka. DigitalOcean Managed Kafka helps small and medium-sized businesses across industries, including video streaming, the Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, gaming, and eCommerce, access and process data streams in real time while eliminating the complexity associated with the Kafka administration. Through this offering and other enhancements across DigitalOcean’s portfolio, startups and tech entrepreneurs can more easily grow their businesses in the cloud.
“While Kafka is the gold standard for data streaming, it frequently presents technical challenges for smaller businesses with budget and resource limitations. We are excited to introduce a solution that makes this technology more accessible and meets DigitalOcean’s standard for simplicity,” said Megan Wood, Chief Strategy & Product Officer at DigitalOcean. “By reducing the burden of implementing a new platform, companies can shift their focus away from the complexity of managing their data streaming services and get back to building apps that differentiate their business.”
As businesses receive higher amounts of data inputs, the ability to rapidly capture and process this data becomes crucial. Thousands of companies, including over 80% of Fortune 100 companies, rely on Kafka to optimize their data streams and provide leaders with insights that inform decision-making. With DigitalOcean Managed Kafka, startups and SMBs can benefit from the ability to scale up and down clusters with ease while setting up alerts for proactive maintenance. Additionally, DigitalOcean customers can expect end-to-end security via private networking and data encryption along with cost-effective, predictable pricing starting at $147 for a three-node cluster.
“DigitalOcean's Managed Kafka offering has been a game-changer for us at Datacake,” said Lukas Klein, Chief Technical Officer at Datacake. “By taking care of the operational aspects of running our Kafka cluster, we have been able to focus our attention on what really matters – building a great product. With this new service, we were able to migrate seamlessly to an event-based architecture while maintaining the highest levels of operational security.”
Alongside DigitalOcean Managed Kafka, DigitalOcean has been making investments in its product and infrastructure offerings to provide peace of mind, increased productivity, and more affordable solutions to SMBs and startups. Some of those recent updates include:
GPUs with the acquisition of Paperspace-The computing power needed for training AI models and deploying at scale
Premium CPU-Optimized Droplets-Higher outbound network speeds, higher performance, and faster disk writes than standard Droplets
Enhanced memory and storage for Basic Premium Droplets-More flexibility with a wider choice of virtual machines
Low-cost support plans for every size of business-Eight-hour response times for all issues, regardless of severity
Object Storage in the Bangalore data center-Increased performance with compute and storage in one location
In addition, over the coming quarters, DigitalOcean will unveil the following enhancements and capabilities to continue to make DigitalOcean the cloud of choice for SMBs and startups:
More flexible storage offerings -Effortlessly accommodate dynamic storage requirements with Scalable Storage for Managed Databases, a cost-effective solution that helps businesses expand their data footprints with confidence
Faster, frequent, and comprehensive Backups -Ability to create daily Droplet backups that are differential, significantly reducing the time required to create them
Better performance for a range of products -Extending the premium variant to the General Purpose line of Droplets, providing newer generation CPUs, faster NVME drives, and up to 10 Gbps of outbound data transfer speeds making them ideal for running e-commerce, consumer, and SaaS apps
About DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean simplifies cloud computing so builders and businesses can spend more time creating software that changes the world. With its mission-critical infrastructure and fully managed offerings, DigitalOcean helps developers at startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) rapidly build, deploy and scale, whether creating a digital presence or building digital products. DigitalOcean combines the power of simplicity, security, community and customer support so customers can spend less time managing their infrastructure and more time building innovative applications that drive business growth.
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IDEAS
Carver Federal Savings Bank | September 25, 2023
Carver Federal Savings Bank, a certified Minority Depository Institution (MDI) and a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is driving economic empowerment for small businesses in New York City through its innovative microloan program. This program plays a crucial role in facilitating entrepreneurs' access to capital for business expansion in the post-pandemic era. Carver employs algorithm-based software, transcending the limitations historically imposed by traditional credit scores, which have hindered the borrowing eligibility and capacity of black and brown entrepreneurs.
The ongoing challenges small businesses face in Carver's community persistently weigh them down amidst economic headwinds. Notably, 41% of small businesses owned by black and brown entrepreneurs have either shuttered or are on the brink of closure due to the financial hardships stemming from the pandemic. Furthermore, it is worth highlighting that approximately 45 million adults in the United States lack traditional credit scores.
Carver's microloan program fills a crucial void by providing essential capital ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to small business entrepreneurs. This initiative addresses the longstanding challenges associated with securing small-dollar loans and capital in Carver's communities. The bank's dedicated efforts are yielding tangible results, invigorating local economic activity.
Michael T. Pugh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Carver Federal Savings Bank, said:
"Carver's mission is to provide access to capital and to be champions for the underserved community in New York City."
[Source – Cision PR Newswire]
He mentioned that their microloan program represented an opportunity for them to assist small businesses in recovering from the pandemic and economic downturns while working towards a prosperous future. Pugh further expressed gratitude to Charter Communications, Webster Bank, UBS, M&T Bank, and all their partners who had played a crucial role in the successful launch of their new microloan program.
About Carver Bancorp, Inc.
Carver Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Carver Federal Savings Bank, a renowned federally chartered stock savings bank. Headquartered in Harlem, New York, the company was established in 1948 with the mission to serve African-American communities where businesses, residents, and institutions had limited access to mainstream financial services. Recognized by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Carver stands out for its community-centric banking services and unwavering commitment to enhancing the economic vitality and revitalization of its local community. The company holds the distinction of being one of the largest African- and Caribbean-American-managed banks in the United States.
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TECHNOLOGY
Cloudinary | September 22, 2023
Cloudinary, a renowned image and video platform, has recently unveiled an addition to its asset management suite with the launch of Cloudinary Nexus. This digital asset management (DAM) solution is explicitly tailored to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Available immediately, Cloudinary Nexus offers both free and premium options. This AI-powered solution empowers SMBs and teams with enterprise-grade capabilities, making it effortless for them to connect, explore, and optimize their digital assets, all while streamlining their branding efforts with minimal time and complexity.
Drawing upon the strengths of Cloudinary's acclaimed DAM solution designed for enterprise clientele, known as Cloudinary Assets, Nexus equips smaller brands with the ability to automate essential yet time-consuming tasks associated with asset management. Nexus incorporates advanced AI functionalities and automation to handle tasks like metadata tagging and file format and size optimization. This ensures that teams can dedicate more of their time to more rewarding and high-impact activities. Nexus places significant emphasis on user-friendliness and accessibility, making it a valuable asset for a wide range of teams and individuals.
With features such as generative AI, Studio, collections, smart search, and auto-tagging, Nexus equips users with all the tools necessary to unlock the full potential of their images and videos. It enables users to:
Instantly Prepare Images and Videos: Users can effortlessly adapt designs, resize, and fine-tune assets in bulk within seconds. The inclusion of subject-aware AI enables the generation of new assets, while readily available creative presets facilitate the creation of multiple variations from a single master asset.
Transform User-Generated Content into Brand-Ready Assets: AI and automation simplify the task of moderating, managing, and approving user uploads, requiring minimal to no effort.
Facilitate Seamless and Effective Collaboration: By controlling file visibility through custom user roles and permissions, Nexus enhances productivity. Users can collaborate seamlessly with other contributors, teams, and partners, simplifying asset handovers.
Instantly Organize and Discover Assets: The automatic addition of tags and metadata, including colors, faces, and objects, improves asset discoverability. An AI-driven visual search feature provides highly accurate and personalized search results.
Effortless Setup: Nexus offers easy visual content import and integration with existing storage platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox, ensuring a smooth transition.
About Cloudinary
Cloudinary is a leading image and video technology platform that empowers the world's most engaging brands to deliver transformative visual experiences on a global scale. Consisting of a user base of over 1.5 million and serving more than 10,000 esteemed customers, including Bleacher Report, Apartment Therapy, Bombas, NBC, Grubhub, Mediavine, Paul Smith, Minted, and Peloton, Cloudinary is the trusted choice for bringing campaigns, applications, and websites to life. With unrivaled image and video APIs, supported by cutting-edge AI and patented technology, Cloudinary provides brands with a singular source of truth to effectively manage, transform, optimize, and seamlessly deliver visual experiences at scale.
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FINANCE
Nav Technologies, Inc. | September 13, 2023
On September 12, 2023, Nav, a leading fintech company specializing in serving small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), unveiled its latest offerings, Nav Prime, along with the Nav Prime Card for small businesses.
For Nav, the launch of Nav Prime represents a natural evolution of its financial health platform. Nav distinguishes itself by being the only platform that provides small businesses with a transparent overview of their financing options and pre-qualification insights before they apply. By consolidating credit and financial data from SMBs, Nav aligns their financing eligibility with its network, which comprises over 160 diverse financial products and providers. In this year alone, Nav has facilitated access to financing and funding for more than 100,000 small businesses.
Nav Prime emerges as a fully integrated financial management solution tailored for contemporary small businesses. Covering aspects from cash flow monitoring to business credit reporting, banking, deposits, and business card solutions, Nav Prime empowers businesses to streamline both their financial management and enhancement efforts, all within a single platform.
Furthermore, the introduction of Nav Prime includes an industry-first innovation, the Nav Prime Card, a business credit-building charge card specifically designed for the SMB sector. Notably, the Nav Prime Card boasts no annual fees and does not necessitate a personal guarantee, thereby preserving users' personal credit ratings. This innovative card also reports spending activities to all three major commercial credit bureaus, allowing users to potentially boost their business credit scores by simply utilizing the card for everyday expenditures. Another distinctive feature of the Nav Prime Card is its flexibility in linking to any pre-existing business checking account of the user's choice, including Nav's own. This sets it apart from other corporate card and expense management fintech solutions that have previously targeted the SMB market.
With Nav Prime, Nav has established itself as the singular destination where businesses can enhance their financing eligibility, evaluate the impacts of their actions, and seamlessly access their most advantageous financial options—all within a unified platform. Nav provides invaluable data and insights crucial to a business owner's financial well-being, including their borrowing capacity. For the first time, SMBs gain transparency into their best financing choices and rates, facilitating informed decisions about lenders and funding types that align with their specific business needs.
Greg Ott, Chief Executive Officer at Nav, commented,
Small business owners have been left in the dark in terms of knowing how lenders see their business. Nav Prime and the unique Nav Prime charge card gives owners a new tool to improve their business' financial qualifications by making their everyday transactions help build their business credit score, and ultimately lead to better working capital options.
[Source: PR Newswire]
Historically, the fintech industry has often overlooked small businesses, or they have been catered to solely in favorable, low-interest-rate environments. Recent interest rate hikes have prompted several fintech companies to withdraw abruptly from the small business sector, placing the survival of these Main Street businesses at risk. Many of these businesses possess strong creditworthiness with substantial revenue and cash reserves.
Nav addresses this gap by empowering small business borrowers to view the same information that lenders see before they seek financing opportunities. This not only improves the likelihood of loan approvals but also reduces the risk of negatively impacting their business credit ratings with major commercial credit bureaus, such as Experian and Equifax.
About Nav
Nav is a leading fintech company specializing in serving small and medium-sized businesses. It is uniquely positioned as the sole platform that seamlessly integrates financial and credit data to offer small businesses clear insights, expert guidance, and streamlined access to an extensive portfolio of over 100 diverse financing options. The company holds a remarkable track record of assisting over 2 million small businesses in enhancing their financial health and securing vital funding. It leverages authentic business data to precisely align qualifications, empowering small business proprietors to effortlessly identify the most suitable loans, credit cards, banking solutions, and other essential business services tailored to their precise requirements. Nav's exceptional financial health platform provides an integrated view of cash flow and credit insights alongside personalized financing choices, serving as the exclusive destination where small business owners can ascertain their pre-qualification status before initiating the application process.
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