- Dynamic Business
- Posts
- 23AUG2021-MON
23AUG2021-MON
Australian small business is suffering; how can you help?
Monday 23rd August 2021
Funding roundup August 16 – August 20: Edtech Forage raises $35 million in series B
Key startup fundraising rounds from this week:
Edtech Forage raises $35 million in series B
Agtech Regrow raises $23.5 million in series A
Hireup secures $40 million series A led by Seek
Indian ecommerce enabler UpScalio raises US$42.5 million
Digital lending startup MoneyTap raises US$70 million in series B
The big impact of small business
Small businesses represent the beating heart of the Australian economy. Their contribution allows for economic growth and wellbeing. The health of the economy relies heavily on small operations and their hardworking owners and employees.
How Airwallex can fast-track your business from local to global
Airwallex is a payment tool that provides cross border payment services to empower online businesses. The system creates a global business account that allows businesses to access payments, transfer funds and grow their platform across the world seamlessly.
Australian small business is suffering; how can you help?
Now, more than ever, the strength of community, openness to lifting one another up and collective camaraderie is crucial to sustaining the many jobs and livelihoods that small businesses provide in Australia.Small business accounts for over 97 per cent of all Australian business and employs more than 4.7 million people. That is 41 per cent of the business workforce, making small business Australia’s largest employer. You can do many things to help during this difficult time – not all of which require money.
Gladys Berejiklian, Premier of Further South Wales, has announced new Covid-19 restrictions, including mandatory outdoor mask wearing in Greater Sydney, including regional NSW and a curfew in ‘local government areas of concern.’ Exercise has also been restricted to one hour per day in those LGAs. The lockdown in Greater Sydney has been extended until September 30, however Shellharbour and the Central Coast are now deemed regional NSW.
Lockdowns that continue into the fourth quarter of 2021 might send the Australian economy into a double-dip recession. Independent economist Saul Eslake believes Australia may enter a technical recession if shutdowns continue until November, when the country is projected to hit its vaccination target of 70%, which is supposed to put an end to hard, extended lockdowns. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, but Mr Eslake feels the phrase is arbitrary and that Australia is currently experiencing a real-time economic slowdown.
South Australia’s unemployment rate has dropped to a 12-year low, placing the state on the edge of “effective full employment” for the first time in a generation, according to the state government. The unemployment rate in South Africa was 4.7 percent in July, somewhat higher than the national average of 4.6 percent but much lower than the rate of 5.4 percent in June. Last month, around 10,700 positions were added, bringing overall job growth to 32,800 since the beginning of the year.
As the Biden administration widens its inspection of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, US officials initiated a review of climate damage and other repercussions from coal mining on public lands. According to a federal register notice describing the administration’s intentions, the assessment would also consider whether firms are paying fair value for coal removed from public reserves in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and other states. Even though numerous power plants were closed down during the last decade due to pollution concerns, coal burning for electricity remains one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
According to a new US Treasury analysis, only 3% of the nation’s small businesses would face a tax rise under US President Joe Biden’s plan to tax the nation’s highest earnings to help fund a $3.5 trillion spending bill.
Federal antitrust officials have escalated their antitrust attack on Facebook, charging in a revised complaint that the social media behemoth adopted a laser-focused plan to “buy or bury” rivals in order to stifle competition. In June, a federal judge dismissed antitrust complaints filed against Facebook by the agency and a broad coalition of state attorneys general, as part of a growing campaign by federal and state regulators to limit the market clout of internet titans. The FTC is seeking remedies once more, which may include a forced spinoff of Facebook’s lucrative Instagram and WhatsApp messaging services, as well as a restructure of the company.
The Wall Street watchdog has prosecuted three former Netflix software engineers in connection with a $3 million insider trading ring. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the scam made advantage of sensitive Netflix membership growth data. The data was allegedly used to trade the streaming company’s stock ahead of earnings announcements. According to the SEC, Sung Mo Jun, a former Netflix software engineer, was at the centre of a long-running plan to fraudulently trade shares based on insider information about the company’s subscriber growth.According to the complaint, while working for Netflix in 2016 and 2017, he transmitted non-public information to his brother and a close friend, both of whom used it to trade ahead of successive Netflix earnings announcements.
The disinvestment of national carrier Air India is on the “correct track,” according to the Union Civil Aviation Minister. The UDAN initiative is democratising air services in the country, and attempts are underway to meet the aim of establishing 1,000 airways and 100 airports by 2025.“Air India’s disinvestment process is on the correct track. Financial bids for this should be submitted by September 15, following which the next step would be taken,” the minister said.
Afghanistan will no longer be able to access the lender’s resources, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The action comes in the aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover of the country last Saturday. The IMF’s resources totaling more than $370 million (£268 million) were scheduled to arrive on August 23. These funds were part of the International Monetary Fund’s global reaction to the economic crisis. Access to the IMF’s reserves in the form of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) assets, which may be converted into government-backed money, has also been restricted. SDRs are the IMF’s currency and are based on sterling, dollars, euros, and yen.
