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Yalla, let’s catch a movie and a bite in Saudi MENA
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Is Saudi ready to wave goodbye to COVID-19 restrictions? Well, kind of! As of yesterday, the Saudi Ministry of Interior lifted restrictions on movie theaters, restaurants, and other indoor entertainment centers, with the exception of certain procedures.
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The government is still limiting social gatherings to no more than 20 people and will be increasing the number of inspections over the next few weeks to ensure that individuals and businesses are adhering to precautionary measures.
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Still, great news for gym fanatics! Leejam Sports Company (LEEJAM), owner of MENA’s largest sports and fitness club Fitness Time, will open its doors again — no more excuses for not getting that summer body ready!
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Why it matters
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Saudi Arabia's decision to ease restrictions is an indication that the country is being proactive in reopening the economy and returning to normalcy. Perhaps other governments in MENA will soon follow suit.
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Would TikTok agree that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? INTL
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Where’s the originality in tech these days? Following a ban on Clubhouse by the Chinese government, TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly building its own audio chat room app; though, according to people familiar with the matter, it's still in the early stages.
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Clubhouse was banned in China on February 8 after users were found discussing sensitive issues restricted by the government — talk about hefty detention! In fact, the ban sparked the release of dozens of similar apps in the country.
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ByteDance isn’t the only tech company guilty of imitating popular tech trends. Netflix (NFLX) announced its plans to launch a TikTok clone. “Fast Laughs” will feature vertically displayed funny clips that range from 15 to 60 seconds in length. Perhaps the new feature will offer a fun distraction for people who find themselves struggling to decide on which show or movie to watch next.
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Why it matters
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Imitating has become a trend itself in the world of tech these days. While there will always be opportunities for fresh ideas, it seems like the efforts of the industry's biggest players are focused on refining existing ideas rather than coming up with their own.
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Jay-Z is now practically a tech unicorn in human form INTL
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From flipping bricks in the streets of Brooklyn to flipping multimillion-dollar companies on Wall Street, Jay-Z sure has come a long way. Though the acquisition has been rumored for quite some time now, the American rapper and entrepreneur has finally confirmed selling a majority stake of Tidal to Square (SQ) for a cool $297m. By the way, Hove bought the music streaming service in 2014 for $56m (quite the lucrative exit there!).
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Recently, Tidal found itself struggling to compete with bigger music streaming rivals like Spotify (SPOT) and Apple Music (AAPL). Square's investors may be skeptical, too, as shares of the company were down around 7% following the announcement.
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Still, the deal has increased Hove's already impressive net worth to $1.4b (good for him and the Carter clan!). As part of the deal, Jay-Z has also earned himself a seat on Square’s board of directors.
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Why it matters
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Despite its struggles, Jack & Hove believe in Tidal's future with Square. According to Jay-Z, “Jack and I have had many discussions about Tidal's endless possibilities that have made me even more inspired about its future." We'll have to wait and see what the visionary duo have in mind, we suppose!
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Automate your meme stock gains with BUZZ INTL
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Can’t keep up with the rise and fall of meme stocks? Neither can we. For those of us who don’t have the time to monitor Reddit for investment opportunities, there is now a solution. A new exchange traded fund called BUZZ began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
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The aptly named ETF tracks an index that ranks the top 75 stocks that show the highest degree of “positive investor sentiment" — which will be gauged by an algorithm that monitors more than 15 million online posts aggregated from social media, news reports, and blogs.
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In fact, the BUZZ NextGen AI U.S. Sentiment Leaders Index, the index that the BUZZ ETF tracks, is up more than 78% in the past year.
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Why it matters
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Social sentiment has become a legitimate driver of stock movements in recent years (who could forget all the GameStop drama earlier this year) as social media platforms have connected investors around the world like never before. So, it only makes sense to capitalize on the opportunity — with a diversified approach, of course.
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One year later, Coursera files to go public INTL
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What have you learned since last Spring? The online education platform Coursera is one of the chosen few who have enjoyed tremendous growth since COVID-19 lockdowns left the world with excess time on its hands. Now, the company thinks it’s a good time to go public via an IPO.
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The California-based EdTech company (which was founded in 2012) offers learners a wide selection of online education courses, certifications, and degrees in a wide variety of subjects. Often, these courses have been sourced from some of the world's leading academic institutions, giving you a feel of what it's really like to be taught by elite professors around the world.
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Coursera has been in talks to go public with underwriters since last year but hasn’t taken any actionable steps in the legal process until now. The company was last valued at $2.4b in a Series F round of private funding last July. Since then, at least in the eyes of Bloomberg, its value should be around $5b.
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Why it matters
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By going public, Coursera will follow the lead of several other EdTech companies that have gone public recently, including 2U, Chegg, K12 Inc, and Zovio Solutions. And so, it seems that distant learning is here to stay as the future of eduction.
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