Rakuten wesentlich besser als Rocket

- und daher habe ich mir nach dem Einstieg bei Alibaba, die inzwischem mehr als 20% gut gemacht haben, auch einige Rakutens gekauft.

Look Out Amazon, Here Comes...Rakuten?
Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten announced on Tuesday it is acquiring Ebates for $1 billion.

The acquisition, which Rakuten hinted at last week, is part of the Japanese company’s push to grow its base beyond its domestic market and hopefully, become a global player. Having made some $1.2 billion acquisitions to date along these lines, this is Rakuten’s most ambitious move to date.

However, investors are dubious that the company can absorb yet another foreign acquisition, much less one the size of Ebates, despite Rakuten’s strong cash position.
Then there is the ever-present Amazon, which dominates the e-commerce market in the U.S. Few believe it will falter in the face of Chinese giant Alibaba, much less a Rakuten-Ebates combo.

Rakuten Goes Forth

Not surprisingly, Rakuten says it is undaunted. For starters, it has assembled a very interesting mix of acquisitions. There is messaging app Viber, which it purchased for $900 million in February, the Canadian ebook offering Kobo, Spanish video service Wuaki.tv, Viki, a digital content platform and Buy.com.
Now it has picked up Ebates.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikamorphy/2014/09/...ere-comes-rakuten/  

Jersey City, N.J., May 28, 2025 —  Bluevine, the largest digital banking platform for small businesses in the U.S., today announced the launch of Invoicing and Payment Links. These new features allow Bluevine customers to create and share professional invoices and payment links within minutes. Small businesses can now get paid faster and accept multiple payment methods while getting paid directly into their Bluevine accounts. The launch brings a new level of sophistication and ease to businesses that have traditionally been underserved by other banking and payment platforms.

Bluevine is the largest small business banking platform in the U.S., serving as the financial operating system for startups and small businesses. Through a single account, companies can earn more, save more, borrow, and manage their money whenever and wherever they do business – without ever stepping into a branch. Accessible through one dashboard, its product suite integrates high-yield business checking, accounts payable, debit and credit cards, loans, and lines of credit. Since 2013, Bluevine has served over 750,000 customers, delivered over $16 billion in loans, and is currently trusted with over $1.3 billion in managed customer deposits.

https://www.bluevine.com/newsroom/...yment-links-for-small-businesses

Bluevine, a leading online provider of everyday financing to small businesses, announced Wednesday it has closed $49 million in funding. The Series D funding round was led by existing investors, including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, Citi Ventures, Rakuten FinTech Fund and Silicon Valley Bank.
https://www.bluevine.com/newsroom/...evine-raises-49-million-series-d

BlueVine, a US-based online small-business finance platform backed by financial services firm Citi and e-commerce and financial technology company Rakuten, raised $60m in a series E round yesterday.
The round was led by Menlo Ventures and included SVB Capital as well as all major existing investors, though BlueVine did not offer further details about which its backers it classifies as major shareholders.
Founded in 2013, BlueVine has developed a cloud-based platform for SMEs to access invoice factoring and business lines of credit. The company expects to process more than $1bn in transaction volume this year.
The series E capital will go towards an expansion of the existing two products, develop additional offerings and accelerate the recruitment of R&D staff.
BlueVine previously closed a $49m series D round in December 2016 that included Citi Ventures and Rakuten FinTech Fund, respective investment vehicles of Citi and Rakuten. The round was filled out by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North and SVB.
The company has raised $173m in funding to date, with Rakuten FinTech Fund previously also supporting a $40m series C round in January 2016 that was led by Menlo and also included Lightspeed, 83North, Correlation Ventures, SVB and unnamed angel investors.
https://globalventuring.com/bluevine-grows-with-60m-series-e/

 

The global open ran market size was estimated at USD 4,512.8 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 20,410.1 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 25.6% from 2025 to 2030. An open radio access network, or O-RAN, is a nonproprietary version of the radio access network (RAN) that allows interoperation between cellular network equipment provided by different vendors.

Key Market Trends & Insights

In terms of region, North America was the largest revenue generating market in 2024.

Country-wise, India is expected to register the highest CAGR from 2025 to 2030.

In terms of segment, hardware accounted for a revenue of USD 3,017.5 million in 2024.

Software is the most lucrative component segment registering the fastest growth during the forecast period.

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/...-analysis/open-ran-market-report
 

Key takeaways

Open RAN networks are significantly gaining popularity in Europe. Open RAN allows mobile network operators to disaggregate their RAN components through open interfaces and virtualization, thereby allowing multiple suppliers to provide solutions to the traditionally vender-locked network architecture.

Security concerns have led countries, to impose restrictions on Chinese network equipment vendors, citing concerns over potential backdoors and security vulnerabilities. This can be seen as one of the drivers behind governments ʼ endeavors to promote Open RAN adoption through R&D initiatives to enhance network security, promote vendor diversity over China-de pendency, and speed up 5G rollouts. The market for this technology is expected to grow – in the initial phase driven by MNOs’ trials & testing complimented by government funds.

MNOs such as Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, 1&1, Telefonica, and Orange, are all advocating for Open RAN, adopting it in their networks, and forming industry bodies to jointly build up the solution and the policies governing it. As the technology continues to evolve, more players are expected to enter the market, creating a diverse ecosystem that will bring numerous benefits to mobile network operators. These include vendor diversification, flexible deployment, innovation, cost savings. Open RAN technology offers many This may require new training programs or favorable price agreements, the threat of unmet demand due to the potentially insufficient scale of the new suppliers, and the possible escalation of costs, as larger-scale incumbent suppliers often have the capacity to offer more competitive pricing. Organizational challenges related to Open RAN can include issues related to skill sets, training, and organizational structures. Operators must ensure that they have the necessary technical expertise to deploy and operate Open RAN systems effectively. hiring additional staff with specific skill sets. They may also need to rethink their organizational structures to take full advantage of the benefits that Open RAN offers. benefits, but there are still significant challenges which prevent large scale deployments in the short term. This includes technological, commercial, and organizational gaps to be addressed. Furthermore, the decision to adopt an open architecture solution needs to be backed up with an executable strategy and well-defined.

https://www.deloitte.com/content/dam/assets-zone2/...-Network-Era.pdf
 

Airalo Becomes the First eSIM Unicorn With an Investment Round of $220m

Jul 10, 2025 7:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Backed by strong global demand, Airalo is scaling its eSIM solutions and infrastructure to power the next generation of travel with borderless mobile access for consumers and businesses alike.
Airalo, the world’s first and largest eSIM provider, today announced a $220m investment led by new investor, CVC. The investment includes new growth capital valuing Airalo at over $1 billion, marking its status as the industry’s first unicorn. Driven by surging global demand, Airalo has continued its rapid expansion and now serves over 20 million travelers across 200+ destinations. With a new app experience and unlimited data plans launching this summer, Airalo is setting a new standard for global connectivity. Airalo’s mobile app empowers travellers to instantly get the highest quality roaming experience when abroad, at prices that are a fraction of what they would normally pay.

Airalo is backed by a global network of venture capital, private equity and strategic telecom investors, including CVC, Peak XV, e& capital, Antler, KPN Ventures, Wayra Ventures (Telefonica), Bell Ventures, Orange Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, Rakuten Capital, Singtel Innov8, Telekom Innovation Pool, LG Technology Ventures, GO Ventures, Plug and Play, and other investors.

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/...Investment-Round-of-%24220m
 

Cloud Gaming Platform Tapfun Raises Series A Funding from Rakuten Capital

Feb 5, 2025

Tapfun, developer of a cloud gaming platform, announced on the 31st that it has raised Series A funding from Rakuten Capital, Rakuten Group’s CVC. Details including the funding amount were not disclosed.

Additionally, Kazuyoshi Abumi, Executive Officer and Head of Business Development at Rakuten, will join as an outside director.

Founded in September 2020, Tapfun provides “TapFun,” a cloud gaming platform that addresses challenges faced by smartphone and PC games. The platform offers high-quality games through browsers without requiring downloads, enabling comfortable gaming experiences on smartphones, PCs, and tablets regardless of device specifications or OS. For game companies, they offer an 18% commission rate, lower than other major platforms, helping improve profitability.

The company currently operates “PROJECT XENO,” a Web3 PvP game with GameFi elements. In this game, players battle using unique NFT characters and can earn UT (Utility Tokens) through victories. Earned UTs can be used for developing NFT characters or acquiring new ones, and NFT characters can be traded in the in-app marketplace.

PROJECT XENO uses two types of tokens: GXE (Governance Token) and UXE (Utility Token), with GXE having a total supply set at 6 billion. This token can be used for purchasing NFT characters, leveling up, buying items, and trading on cryptocurrency exchanges.

With this funding, the company aims to strengthen its lineup of attractive game titles and pursue further business growth. They also plan to explore collaborations with the “Rakuten Ecosystem,” which comprises Rakuten’s wide range of services and member base of over 100 million users.

https://thebridge.jp/en/2025/02/...ies-a-funding-from-rakuten-capital

 

https://network.mobile.rakuten.co.jp/campaign/...67be35466c7cc4896600

 

ShopBack, a Singapore-based shopping, rewards, and payments platform, announced Tuesday that it has been granted a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for digital payments.

The firm said in a statement that this approval further accelerates its evolution into a fully integrated shopping and payments ecosystem.

With this license, ShopBack is authorized to provide specific regulated payment services in Singapore.
This means the firm can directly enable merchants to accept payments, and let customers pay using ShopBack Pay in Singapore.

With ShopBack Pay now operating under formal regulatory oversight, the company is well-positioned to scale its payment offering and strengthen merchant partnerships.

The ShopBack Group is a shopping, rewards, and payments platform, serving over 50 million shoppers across 13 markets.

In 2025, the group continues its global growth with its expansion into North America.

Founded in 2014, the firm now powers over $4 billion in annual sales for over 20,000 online and in-store partners.

It is facilitating upwards of half a million transactions daily.

https://technode.global/2025/07/10/...-from-mas-for-digital-payments/
 

Rakuten Group Co., Ltd. 25th Series of Unsecured Straight Bonds (New Bonds)

Interest: Between 2,000% and 2,600%

 

https://rakutenadvertising.com/en-au/resources/...y-sixt-car-rentals/  

https://rakutenadvertising.com/en-au/resources/...y-sixt-car-rentals/

 

Rakuten Selected for Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and NEDO’s GENIAC Project to Bolster GenAI Development

Next-gen Japanese Large Language Model R&D to begin in August, with aim to realize highly personalized AI agents

Tokyo, July 15, 2025 - Rakuten Group, Inc. today announced it has been selected for the third term of the Generative AI Accelerator Challenge (GENIAC) project promoted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) with the aim of strengthening Japan's generative AI development.

https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2025/0715_02.html

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ASTS/
 

Touring Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi's Innovative Fan Experiences

July 02, 2025

Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi is constantly evolving into a space where a wide range of customers can enjoy themselves, not just baseball fans. In this RNN video, two second-year Rakutenians from Rakuten Baseball report from the stadium grounds the highlights of the 2025 season renovations. The newly introduced karaoke gondola and sauna-style gondola are must-see additions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOEM2mV63Ek&t=7s
 

Rakuten International’s global expansion with CEO Amit Patel

July 11, 2025

On the sidelines of Rakuten Optimism U.S. 2025, Rakuten International CEO Amit Patel reveals the global businesses driving company growth, how Rakuten leverages AI to boost efficiency and innovation, and the importance of building resilience in the workplace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XziBZo1hpc4
 

https://www.instagram.com/reels/audio/751674567396027/  

Rakuten International's strategic vision with COO Adrienne Down Coulson

July 11, 2025

On the sidelines of Rakuten Optimism U.S. 2025, Rakuten International COO Adrienne Down Coulson shares strategies for empowering a diverse, global workforce and navigating change, highlighting exciting recent initiatives in the region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4zsO77_m6U
 

Inside Rakuten AI Episode 5: Yusuke Kobayashi on AI empowering Rakuten Ichiba merchants

April 24, 2025

In this episode, we sit down with Yusuke Kobayashi, Group Managing Executive Officer and Vice Director of Rakuten's Commerce & Marketing Company, who reveals how Rakuten is democratizing AI for over 50,000 merchants. Discover how we're evolving from "analysis to action" with AI tools that don't just provide data but recommend specific business actions across marketing, product handling, and logistics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POvXtdMKj68

 

By Keith Dyer
12 June 2025

AT&T expansion is just the beginning of Rakuten Symphony's ambitions in AI operations, as it eyes a future iPhone moment for the AI user interface.

After MWC 2024, TMN wrote about how AT&T was adopting new site management software from Rakuten Symphony to digitise and automate the process of deploying, upgrading and managing sites across its network.

At the time, we quoted Igal Elbaz, SVP, Network CTO, AT&T saying that there were around 7,000 users of Rakuten Symphony’s Site Management software amongst those responsible for deploying and managing its sites, with the software replacing a large number of legacy systems. Elbaz also said there was potential for AT&T to expand its use of Rakuten Symphony’s automated solutions.

He said, “There has been a lot of benefit already in the migration from the old systems to the new system… We’re very excited about this and are thinking about where else we can extend that capability in other parts where we are doing engineering and build,”

Today Rakuten Symphony and AT&T have announced an expansion of their work together, with the operator giving an wider role to Rakuten Symphony’s Site Manager within its processes for managing its Open RAN site re-build, as well as fibre site rollout. A release from the two companies said AT&T has extended a multiyear collaboration agreement to expand adoption of Rakuten Symphony Site Management to accelerate AT&T’s Network Simplification Transformation project and 5G Open RAN deployments.

The company said there are now 10,000 users of the software, which is being used to manage and co-ordinate AT&T’s site swaps and consolidations as it moves to its Ericsson RAN layer, which includes Ericsson’s support for Open RAN interfaces, and a medium term plan to shift to a cloud-native foundation. AT&T has said it wants 70% of its wireless network traffic to “move across open and interoperable platforms” by late 2026, and has started ramping up its Open RAN deployments in 2025. The operator is also using the software to orchestrate and support the deployment of its fibre expansion plans.

https://the-mobile-network.com/2025/06/...i-ops-to-its-iphone-moment/

 

Inside Rakuten AI Episode 4: Guangda Li on reinventing customer experiences with GenAI

April 01, 2025

In this fascinating episode, we sit down with Guangda Li, Rakuten Asia AI & Data Division General Manager, AI Lab. Guangda shares insights on how the Rakuten AI Assistant is transforming customer experiences through personalized, multi-modal, and universal solutions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s__kQwtfvk
 

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (ASTS) Secures Additional $100M Liquidity From Non-Dilutive Equipment Financing

July 15, 2025

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTS) is among the 13 Best Booming Stocks to Buy Now. On July 3, the company announced it had secured an additional $100 million equipment financing facility led by Triniti, intended to aid ASTS’s network deployment and manufacturing goals in 2025 and 2026.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...ile-inc-asts-secures-210705130.html
 

Rakuten Securities launches Kabu Pitaservice from July 16 (Wednesday) - The first in the industry! Domestic stocks can be traded from 100 yen to a specified amount. Finally start with a transaction fee of 0 yen

https://www.rakuten-sec.co.jp/web/company/newsrelease/fy2025.html
 

YugabyteDB’s Strategic Partnership with Rakuten Mobile Revolutionizes Petabyte-Scale, Cloud-Native, Telecom Infrastructure

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 15, 2025--Yugabyte, the distributed database experts, today announced key business outcomes with Rakuten Mobile, Japan's newest and most modern mobile network, as a result of their long-standing partnership. Over four years of successful collaboration have resulted in high availability for mission-critical systems, with effortless scalability supporting reduced operational overhead and increased business growth. The two companies partnered to architect and deliver the foundation for Autonomous Network Operations and together are transforming how telecom infrastructure is built and operated.

YugabyteDB plays a key role in enabling Rakuten Mobile to efficiently deliver several key modernization initiatives, including Kubernetes cloud-native architecture for OSS and BSS infrastructure, AI-driven operations for autonomous networks with automated fault prediction and corrective actions, and enabling its "Telco-as-a-Service" platform. Joint efforts have enabled Rakuten Mobile to deliver these initiatives at a massive scale without disruption, all while maintaining service continuity.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...rship-rakuten-mobile-130000620.html
 

AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) stock rocketed higher in the first half of this year's trading thanks to some strong business results and signs that the space industry will continue heating up. The company's share price surged 121.5% across the stretch, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index's level rose 5.5% over the period.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/...bile-skyrocketed-121-110500047.html
 

Open RAN Market Poised to Reach USD 41.5 Billion by 2032 Driven by Demand for Network Flexibility and Cost Efficiency

Rising demand for flexible, cost-efficient networks drives Open RAN growth as operators seek vendor diversity and lower costs.

Pune, April 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Open RAN Market Size Analysis:

“The SNS Insider report indicates that the Open RAN Market was valued at USD 5.1 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 41.5 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 26.24% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2032.”

Major Players Analysis Listed in this Report are:

         •§Rakuten Symphony – Symware
         •§Parallel Wireless – OpenRAN Controller
         •§Mavenir – Open vRAN
         •§Nokia – AirScale Open RAN
         •§Ericsson – Cloud RAN
         •§Samsung – vRAN 3.0
         •§NEC Corporation – Open RAN Radio Units
         •§Fujitsu – Open RAN 5G Radio Unit
         •§Intel Corporation – FlexRAN
         •§Qualcomm – 5G Open RAN Platform
         •§VMware – RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller)
         •§Dell Technologies – Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab
         •§Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) – Open RAN Solution Stack

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/...y-SNS-Insider.html
 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rakuten-link/id1498877539