Microsoft and Monsanto partner to invest in agricultural technology

U.S. biotech company Monsanto and Microsoft announced on Monday a partnership to invest in agricultural technology startups in Brazil.

Monsanto will join a Brazilian investment fund with up to 300 million reais ($92 million), managed by Microsoft, evaluating ideas for new digital tools to be applied to agricultural production in the country, executives said.

Selected ideas will receive initial funding of up to 1.5 million reais ($459,000) for early development. Project owners will have the option to pay back the investment after three years or convert the money into equity.

“We want to foster new startups in the agricultural sector. There is a vast area for research and development,” Rodrigo Santos, head of Monsanto in Latin America, told reporters on the sidelines of the Global Agribusiness Forum (GAF 2016).

Technology company Qualcomm is also investing in the fund.

Comments

LG sells mosquito-repelling TV in India to help fight malaria and Zika

The Indian arm of South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc has begun selling a TV with a feature that it says repels mosquitoes, which can spread diseases such as malaria, Zika and dengue.

Samsung to give Korean Note 7 owners a 50% discount on Note 8

Samsung is offering Note 7 owners in South Korea the chance to upgrade their phone to a Note 8 for half the price when the as-yet-unannounced handset becomes available next year. According to a report from Reuters, the company announced the deal as part of an ongoing exchange program for the Note 7 in its home country, but there’s no word on whether the same offer will be made in the US. In a statement on Monday, Samsung said customers who trade in their Note 7 phone for either a flat-screen or curved-screen version of the Galaxy S7 can trade up for a Galaxy S8 or Note 8 smartphone launching next year through an upgrade programme. The news seemingly confirms that Samsung will be continuing the Note line despite the disaster of the Note 7, which was permanently discontinued earlier this month. According to Reuters, Note 7 owners in Korea will only have to pay half the price of a Galaxy S7 to get their hands on a Galaxy S8 or Note 8 next year. When Samsung was asked if the sa...

Breaking: MMM resumes operation, lifts restrictions on participants accounts

Lagos – Participants in the Mavrodi Mondial Movement (MMM) on Friday heaved a sigh of relief as the money-spinning venture promoters announced their resumption after one month break that left them in suspense. MMM promoters in a message to the participants on its portal reassured them that it was in line with its promise to resume after a month The participants have flooded social media with messages depicting high hopes as the promoters of the ponzi scheme re-opened. In the MMM message, participants are told that “the holidays are over and restrictions on accounts is lifted and reopened for transactions. “The holidays are over, and we’re now open. Just as promised. You might have already noticed that we always stick to our promises,’’ the message said. The message displayed on the pages of all participants of the scheme cheered its members as it reopened a day earlier than promised. According to the message, panic will reign in the first few days after the re-opening of t...

ToBeCandidUpdate™

Search This Blog