Category Archives: Companies

Google Investing Big in Australia

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In what will be Google‘s largest investment in Australia to date, the tech giant said it will build a research hub, enlarge cloud computing, and fund joint projects with local organizations to the tune of $740 million.


The investment is called “The Digital Future Initiative” and will likely create about 6,000 jobs directly and support 28,000 more secondary jobs.


“Australia can help lead the world’s next wave of innovation, harnessing technology to improve lives, create jobs, and make progress,” said Sundar Pichai, a Google executive who spoke at the launch in Sydney.


Scott Morrison, prime minister of Australia, also spoke at the launch, saying: “The decision by Google has major benefits for Australian businesses as we engage with the economic recovery before us.”


Other Australian groups will take part in the initiative, including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia’s government science agency.


A representative of DivisionX Global, a hi-tech investment company, Joshua Kennedy-White said Google’s initiative is a “huge win” for the Australian tech sector.


“It takes money to move an idea into innovation and the first money is the hardest to come by. If Google cut $250k cheques to promising start-ups, they could fund 4,000 new tech companies in Australia,” Kennedy-White said.

New Menu Boosts Sales at Subway

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Subway reported its strongest sales since 2013 in the wake of a complete make-over of its menu.

In the middle of July of this year, Subway’s US restaurants began to offer ten new or better ingredients in addition to ten re-configured or original sandwiches. The changes have been under consideration for over two years, and include new types of bread, better protein choices, and new toppings like mashed avocado.

August sales were the best they have been in eight years, and the projection for sales for the end of 2021 surpass $1 billion. Subway is a privately owned business and does not need to report its monthly sales.

“Our loyal regulars — in addition to many first-time guests — are commenting to our team that they taste a real difference in our new sandwiches and ingredients,” said Subway franchisee David Liseno in a statement.

The restaurant chain grew enormously during the 2008 financial crisis after the company offered a foot-long sandwich for $5. Subway became the largest in the US by number of units. Over the years, however, competitors ate into their market share and sales went south.

Subway’s parent company, Doctor’s Associates, reported annual revenue in 2020 of $689.1 million, down 28% since 2019. Total number of stores has also been in decline since 2016. At the end of 2020, the chain had 22,201 locations in the US.

Advice from 17-year-old Entrepreneur: Keep Learning

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You might not have heard of Sienna Sauce yet, but you will soon if Tyla-Simone Crayton has anything to say about it.

Crayton is a 17-year-old CEO of a business she started herself, Sienna Sauce, a stable of sauces that are perfect for chicken wings and just about anything else you might want to put a sauce on.

She has sold her product all over the United States to over 70 retail shops, generating $192,000 in revenue. She has received more than $45,000 in funding through pitch contests and collected close to $200,000 from crowdfunding platforms.

As the sauces keep flowing off the shelves Clayton is ready to help others find their sweet spot of success with some words of wisdom.

  1. Never stop learning and always ask questions. Crayton encourages people to not be afraid to be vulnerable or to not be the smartest person around. Mark Cuban of Shark Tank fame says the same. Cuban surprised Crayton when he appeared on ABC’s Localish series “More in Common” last October and offered her some hard-won advice.“Business is a sport, you’ve got to compete. But most importantly, you’ve got to recognize that you’ve got to learn all of the time,” Cuban told her. “A great entrepreneur is always learning because things change all the time.”
  2. Find a mentor that will help you through the hard times. Experts say that a mentor can speed up career and personal growth. And mentorship has helped many successful people get over those first hurdles.
  3. The customer can teach you something, too. Crayton has made it a point of taking seriously feedback she gets from customers. After her first “signature sauce” came out, Tangy in 2018, her customers practically begged for additional flavors. So she added Spicy and Lemon Pepper, and her sales went up. And that is why they have three different flavors now.

“When you listen to customers, they tell you exactly what they want,” Crayton said.

ArcelorMittal Sells US Business to Cleveland-Cliffs for $1.4 Billion

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Steel being rolled at an ArcelorMittal facility in Brazil.

Cleveland-Cliffs, the Cleveland-based iron ore mining company, signed a deal to acquire six steelmaking factories, eight finishing facilities, two iron ore mining and pelletizing operations, and three coal and coke making factories in exchange for an upfront cash payment of close to $505 million and Cleveland-Cliffs stock worth about $873 million.

The payments and stock will go to Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal in exchange for their facilities as outlined above. The deal is expected to close at the end of this year. When the deal is finalized Cleveland-Cliffs will be the largest producer of flat-rolled steel and iron ore pellets in all North America, according to the company.

“The acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA amplifies our position in the discerning automotive steel marketplace, and further improves our position in important U.S. markets such as construction, appliances, infrastructure, machinery and equipment,” said CEO Lourenco Goncalves.

In 2018 and 2019 ArcelorMittal USA had revenue of over $10 billion on average. Cleveland-Cliffs has an average of $2 billion in revenue per year. The companies said that the merger will save about $150 million per year.

This acquisition was the second for Cleveland-Cliffs worth over $1 billion this year. At the end of 2019, the company paid $1.1 billion for AK Steel Corp.

Not Quite a Unicorn: Intel Buys Moovit for $0.9 Billion

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Looking towards the future when people order cabs sans drivers, giant chip-maker Intel purchased wildly popular transportation-planning app Moovit for almost, but not quite $1 billion. Just a measly $100 million short of a unicorn’s price-tag.

Kidding aside, $900 million is a nice haul for the Israeli-based app that has revolutionized public transportation and

Moovit is seen as an essential piece in the multi-faceted puzzle of driverless transportation of the future: one more element Intel will need to become an essential part of an autonomous driving revolution futurists see as not only inevitable but imminently upon us.

Developed about 8 years ago in Israel, Moovit takes data from public transportation systems, ride-hailing services, and other transport services, and aggregates it all for their more than 800 million users so they can plan the fastest, most convenient, and least expensive ways of getting where they want to go.

You may remember that Intel purchased another major player needed for autonomous transportation. In 2017 the chipmaker bought Israeli company Mobileye for $15 billion, a self-driving car feature that “sees” around the car’s environment. Revenue for Mobileye has exploded from $210 million in 2017 to $879 million in 2019.

“Intel’s purpose is to create world-changing technology that enriches the lives of every person on earth,” said CEO Bob Swan.