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Gemini

Gemini – Cryptocurrency Exchange Founded By Twin Brothers.

In this digital era, when we are trying to bring cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, etc. There are many companies that provide these services, ensuring its safety, Gemini is one of them.

Gemini Trust firm is a cryptocurrency exchange, wallet, and custodian which provides services like Buying, selling, and storing digital assets for their customers. Gemini was founded in 2014 by Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss and is governed by The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS). Its headquarters were established in New York City, New York, Unites States.

History

Founders announced the establishment of Gemini in 2013. But it began to work in October 2015. After that, the company started to add different digital services like FIX, API support, etc. In 2016, it permitted users to withdraw Ethereum classics from the exchange, pursuing a hard fork in Ethereum’s code. It allowed its users to withdraw Bitcoin Cash from the exchange given that they had a balance available on the exchange before the bitcoin hard fork in August 2017. Chicago Board Exchange started using Gemini for its Bitcoin Future contracts. By April 2018, It initiated services for Block trading. It enables Gemini users to buy and sell digital assets in large quantities, outside Gemini’s order books. It started to make use of NASDAQ’s smart technologies to monitor trade, any fraudulent activity, and price manipulation on its exchange.

Gemini
Image source: www.protocol.com

Services

Gemini enables the users to purchase and store bitcoin through a complex system of private keys and a password-protected environment while keeping the amount small to avoid the risk of loss. They can trade crypto and fiat currency in an open market and transfer USD to and from their bank accounts.

Partnerships

It did a number of partnerships which were:

In 2017, CBOE partnered with Gemini to use its dollar-dominated auction price.

In March 2018, It partnered with Caspian, a full-stack cryptocurrency trading and risk management platform for Institutional and complex investors.

In May 2020, It announced a partnership with Samsung In which Samsung smartphone users could link their Blockchain wallets to their Gemini accounts to transfer crypto and view balance.

Revenue

Gemini achieved total funding of 423.9 Million USD. Trust’s current valuation is 7.1 billion USD, raising an estimated annual revenue of 307.2 million USD.

Competitors

It operates in many different countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. So, it has many competitors. Some of its main competitors are Coinbase, Binance, Bitstamp, and Kraken.

Achievements

  • World’s first licensed ether exchange in 2016
  • World’s first licensed Zcash exchange in 2018.
  • Became the first one to launch Bitcoin’s futures contracts in 2017.

Court Cases

The commodity futures trading commission filed a suit against Gemini for misrepresentation of the company’s exchange and futures contracts during 3017 meetings. The case was filed on 2 June 2022. The suit demanded to block it from all trading commodities and from getting further investment with additional fines.

The Winklevoss Brothers – Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss

Cameron Howard Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss are twin brothers born on august 22, 1981. They are the American cryptocurrency and bitcoin investors, entrepreneurs, and founders of Winklevoss Capital Management and Gemini Crypto exchange. Besides this, They are also Olympic rowers who completed their men’s pair rowing event at The 2008 summer Olympics. Winklevoss and his brothers also co-founded HarvardConnection with Divya Narendra. Tyler Winklevoss is the chief Executive officer of Gemini Trust firm. They also founded a website called Guest with Rachelle Hruska. They filed a suit against Facebook for stealing their connectU idea to create Facebook. Each twin holds a cryptocurrency of 1.4 billion USD estimated to Forbes.

Ricoh

Ricoh – Specializes in Digital Services & Printing Solutions.

The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research decided to establish Rikagaku Kogyo to market the results of its research and development. Riken Kankoshi Co., Ltd. (renamed Riken Optical Co., Ltd. in 1938 and Ricoh Company, Ltd. in 1963) was founded in 1936 by Rikagaku Kogyo to make and market sensitized paper. In 1937, Ricoh began selling cameras. It established Japan’s first mass manufacturing structure for cameras in 1950, boosting customer interest in the device. In 1955, the Ricopy 101 was introduced as the company’s first business machine.

About The Company

Ricoh Co Ltd (Ricoh) is a company that specializes in office and printing goods and services. Copiers, printers, network equipment, and related supplies and services are available from the company. Wide-format printers, scanners, personal computers, servers, cut sheet printers, inkjet heads, imaging systems, industrial printers, thermal sheets, precision mechanical components, optical equipment, digital cameras, thermal media, and electrical components are also available from Ricoh. Document-related services and solutions, related customer services, support, communication services, IT services, application and business process services, and financial services are all part of Ricoh’s service portfolio. The business has activities in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Ricoh’s headquarters are in Tokyo’s Ohta-Ku neighborhood.

Ricoh
Image source: www.swiftoffice.net

Acquisitions And Mergers

In the last five years, the Ricoh Company has purchased 14 enterprises Two of the acquisitions were made by private equity groups.

The Ricoh Company made its largest acquisition to date in 2008, when it paid $1.6 billion for IKON Office Solutions. The Ricoh Company has made acquisitions in five different US states and five other nations. Information technology (29 percent) and internet software and services are the top targeted areas for the company (22 percent).

Global Expansion

It boosted Ricoh’s solution capabilities by strengthening its worldwide sales network. To develop a global sales support structure, we bought Danka Business Systems PLC’s European operations in 2006 and IKON Office Solutions, Inc. in 2008.

With the IMAGIO 320, they invented the versatile digital copier for the office in 1987. They popularised digital models in 1996 when they introduced the imagio MF200, a small and economical copier. Following that, it released networkable and color options. Ricoh Asia Industry (Shenzhen) Ltd. was established to strengthen our foreign production structure. In 1995, we expanded our international sales network by acquiring Savin Corporation and Gestetner Holdings PLC.

Since the millennium began, they have strengthened its environmental and corporate social responsibility programs. For example, they were the second Japanese corporation to join the United Nations Global Compact in 2002. Their efforts earned them the Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development from the World Environment Center in 2003, making them the first Asian company to win such an accolade.

CEO- Yoshinori Yamashita

Yoshinori Yamashita is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Ricoh, a Computer Equipment & peripheral firm founded in 1936 with an estimated 81.2 thousand people They are a member of the Executive team inside the C-Suite Department, and their management level is C-Level.. Yoshinori is currently based in Tokyo, Japan, after graduating from Hiroshima National University.

Yamashita noted that after becoming Ricoh’s president in 2017, he has “re-accelerated the practice of the spirit of three loves.” He has prioritized the provision of non-financial information to stakeholders and engagement with them as part of this initiative. Ricoh became the first Japanese company to join the RE100, an international program encouraging enterprises to convert to 100 percent renewable electricity, twenty days after assuming the position.

Ricoh became the only Asian founding member of Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG), an international program aiming at encouraging diversity in workplaces and supply chains, in 2019. It has made progress in bridging the digital divide. Yamashita has tried to ensure that the perspectives of Japanese and Asians are reflected in the development of worldwide ESG regulations.

Capita

Capita – The Leaders of Consulting, Transformation, and Digital Services.

The way of doing things has become really easy today. For that, we can thank the internet, various communication channels as well as various outsourcing companies. These outsourcing companies are the aptest for other companies which are in need of people to work for them, without actually sitting inside the very company office. Most of the big names like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, like to hire a third party for services like customer care or backend admin operations so that they can focus on their core process. Several companies are offering such outsourcing services and are successfully doing their job. London-based Capita is one such name, which is the largest business process outsourcing company in London and is also expanding its operations worldwide.

About the Company

With more than thirty years of experience in the outsourcing industry, Capita is known as the largest company in the very field. The company came into being in 1984 and has become the largest business process outsourcing company in the UK. Capita is known for its BPO and Human Resource services and includes Back office administration, Customer service, Finance & Treasury, ICT & software as well as Corporate services in its catalog of services. The company headquarters resides in London, and over 60,000 people are working for it. Capita’s operating income as per the 2020 records was estimated to be £32.0 million, and it generated revenues worth £3,324.8 million in the FY2020.
Capita has expanded its operations to the UK, Europe, India, and South Africa and operates through three main divisions, i.e., Capita Public Service, Capita Experience, Capita Portfolio. The company’s operations are divided into various sub-departments, i.e., Consultancy division, Healthcare recruitment, Capita Financial Administration, Legal Services, Constructionline, NHS Services, Education Services, and Ministry of Defense Services, etc.

Capita

Capita Success Story

Capita was a division of CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) when founded in 1984. In just three years, the division got separated from its parent company and became an independent entity in 1987. In 1991, the company went public on London Stock Exchange. In the next decade, the company saw rapid growth. For the growth, the Capita made some major acquisitions that included Ventura (2011), Team24 (20122), Fire Service College (2013), Avocis (2015), Constructionline (2015), Orange Bus (2016), NYS Corporate events and travel agency (2017), etc.
Along with the multiple acquisitions, Capita expanded to different countries, mainly in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The company also grew its operations to different industries, such as in 2006, it included financial services to its list of services, and in 2011, it added healthcare into its service area. Later, it expanded to legal services, defense as well educational sectors. The company has bagged multiple high-level projects from not only the private sector but also from the governments of different countries. It was awarded a £1.3 billion worth recruiting project from the British army in 2012. The company has shown immense growth in the past twenty years, and its consulting and recruitment wings are the most profit-earning ones.

The CEO at Capita

Jonathan is the residing CEO at Capita. He is a Geology graduate but has worked in the technology industry for past many years. Lewis received a Bachelor’s degree from Kingston University and has completed a PhD in Geology from the University of Reading.
Lewis started his career as a research fellow at Imperial College London and then, joined the Heriot-Watt University as the Geology Lecturer and Commercial Research Manager. In 1996, Lewis started to work at Landmark Graphics Corporation, where he held job posts like the Vice President of Marketing and Innovation. After working for ten years at Landmark, he became the Senior Vice President of the completions and production division at Halliburton. In 2016, Lewis became the CEO at Amec Foster Wheeler and worked for a year and a half at the company. Lewis left the job at Amec and joined as the Chief Executive Officer of Capita in December 2017.

Saudi Telecom Company

Saudi Telecom Company – Story of a Saudi Arabia-Based Telecommunication Company.

Established in 1998, Saudi Telecom Company offers several products and services in the telecommunication sector. The main products include telecommunication services, enterprise digital solutions, internet services, computer networks, cybersecurity, and other digital solutions. Saudi Telecom Company (STC) serves in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait. STC’s headquarters are based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The company currently has approximately 17,000 employees and is led by Olayan M. Alwetaid. Let’s know more about this company which once had a monopoly on mobile phones services and fixed telephone services.

Past Events of Saudi Telecom Company

When the company was born in 1998, the company had a monopoly on various businesses in the areas it served. But, eventually, other companies came up and the competition became tough in the telecommunication and digital sector. The company generates the majority portion of its revenue from the subscriber service. Out of the total subscribers of STC, 81 percent are mobile service subscribers. And, these subscribers contribute to 73 percent of the total company’s revenue. In the past two decades, India and the middle east countries have witnessed how rapidly mobile phone users have increased in these nations. STC grabbed this market initially and successfully generated revenue in billions.

By the end of 2007, the total subscribers for the services of STC summed up to 17.3 million. 19 percent of the total company’s subscribers were the fixed-line subscribers who contributed to generating 27 percent of the total annual revenue. This number accounted for 61 percent of the total mobile phone users in Saudi Arabia in 2007. With its business flourishing in Saudi Arabia, the company decided to expand beyond its borders.

The first taken by STC towards expanding internationally was the 25 percent acquisition of the Axis Group- Malaysia. The company is known for working in the telecommunication sector and it was worth $3.04 billion. It was a very strategic move by STC as the Axis Group operated many mobile phone networks in Malaysia and Indonesia. Along with the acquisition of the Axis Group partly, STC acquired 51 percent of the Ntarend Co Pte (a subsidiary of the Axis Group) and also grabbed 26 percent of the third mobile license in Kuwait. After these three details, the net worth of STC became $924.6 million.

Saudi Telecom Company
Image source: eyeofriyadh.com

Strategic Moves by STC

With the acquisition of a part of Axis Group and its subsidiary, the company also became a 35 percent shareholder at Oger Telecom in 2008. When STC acquired some stakes at Oger Telecom, it ran a huge network of businesses which also included investment. The company apart from Saudi Arabia also has business in the Persian Gulf, Africa, and Asia. So, becoming a stakeholder in this company helped STC to diversify geographically. After acquiring stakes in Oger Telecom, STC also partly bought many local and regional companies. This helped STC stay in the business after it lost the monopoly on two of its services in the primary areas. STC is also entering the field of satellite and internet via companies excelling in these fields in the Middle East. In March 2021, STC introduced its largest digital operations centers not only in its homeland but also in North Africa. This data center is established as a part of its cybersecurity business.

CEO – Olayan Alwetaid

Olayan Alwetaid has been appointed the CEO of STC in March 2021. Before becoming the CEO, he led the Consumer Business Unit of STC focusing on digital and other non-core services. Olayan also served as the CEO of STC Bahrain previously in his career. He has more than 20 years of rich experience in the telecom, media, and technology sector. Olayan graduated from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals with an Electrical Engineering degree.

TietoEVRY

TietoEVRY: One of the Leading Digital Services and Software Company.

TietoEVRY Oyj aka Tieto is a Finland-based IT and software service company with its headquarters in Helsinki, Finland. The company is over fifty years old, having a company named EVRY added to it in 2019 with a EUR 1.2 Bn deal, hence becoming TietoEVRY. TietoEVRY is a conglomerate and provides services in the field of healthcare, industrial and consumer services, finance, etc. According to the company, it creates a digital advantage for businesses and society.

About The TietoEVRY

TietoEVRY has a history of over 50 years, and with multiple acquisitions, it has reached heights of success. The company is not only a leading software service provider in its home country but has expanded to over 20 other countries on all the continents. Finland, Norway and Sweden are the main markets where TietoEVRY is doing its business. Except that, it has established its offices in Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, Netherlands, Malaysia, India, China, and Poland, etc. Being a software company, it offers services to the banking industry, the insurance industry, telecom industry, automotive, media as well as the healthcare industry.
TietoEVRY trades on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki and Stockholm and has employed over 24000 people globally. As of 2020, the company made revenues worth €2.786 billion.

TietoEVRY
Image source: jobsnet.in

The Back Story

TietoEVRY started its operations as an IT systems development and maintenance company in 1968 in n Espoo, Finland, and went by the name Tietotehdas Oy. The company worked as the provider of computer services and software for the mainframe computers, Union Bank of Finland is one of its first customers. The company despite being a newbie started to grow at a rapid rate in its beginning years. The arrival of minicomputers helped the company grow to a great extent. In the late 70s and early 80s, the company added many customers from different industries.
The decade of the 90s was when TietoEVRY started to make acquisitions and was involved in multiple mergers and partnerships, resulting in even faster growth. In the mid of 90s, TietoEVRY had a name change to TT Tieto, and later in 1998, the company name was again changed to Tieto. This was the same time when the company also started to try new things and entered the Telecom business by acquiring Avancer.

The Growth Years

In 1999, Tieto merged its operations with the Swedish Enator corporation and formed TietoEnator. The partnership went on for about ten years, and in 2008, through a restructuring process, the company became Tieto Corporation, establishing its headquarters in Helsinki. With the all-new revamping of the company, it started to expand overseas, too.
In 2015, Tieto made some of the major acquisitions, to expand its business in the field of digital Customer Experience Management and to support, including Smilehous, one of the biggest Finnish consultants and service providers, Imano AB, and Software Innovation. These acquisitions have helped the company to grow in the field of digital Customer Experience Management, consulting, and digitalization services in paper and forestry industries as well as enterprise content management. In 2019, the company merged the operations of another IT company named Evry and formed TietoEVRY, the current trading name for the company.
DaWinci is one of the most popular management software from TietoEVRY, used by big-name companies from various industries for planning, transportation management, personnel logistics, asset management and reporting, etc. The company serves its customers from the field of banking, insurance, telecom, automotive and media, healthcare, forest, manufacturing, retail, and logistics, public; ICT operation management, etc. Tieto Norway AS (Norway) and Tieto Sweden AB (Sweden) are the major subsidieary of the TietoEVRY.

The CEO at TietoEVRY

Kimmo Alkio is the current CEO and the President of TietoEVRY. He is a native of Finland and was born on 25 October 1963 in Helsinki, Finland. He has got a bachelor’s degree in business from Texas A&M University, USA, and an Executive MBA degree from the Helsinki University of Technology, Finland.
Alkio is a renowned Finnish businessman. He is also a former professional Tennis Player and has won doubles titles in Helsinki in the period between 1981 to 1987. In his corporate career, Alkio has worked at companies like Nokia, F-Secure Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Compaq Computer in various management positions. Alkio joined TietoEVRY in 2011 as the CEO and the President.

fiverr

Fiverr : A Two-way Platform for Selling and Buying Digital Services

Every time a new company is launched, the setup requires a lot of pre-requisite. From designing a logo to maintaining a company’s blog, everything needs to be done at a professional level. For doing this, companies generally hire freelancers. Now, instead of looking for individual freelancers and separately hiring them, how convenient would it be to have access to a single platform from where you can communicate with freelance contractors for all your requirements?

Fiverr, which can also be designated as an online virtual shopping mall, is literally the best and most wanted site for any freelancers and business companies. The service provider can earn some extra cash through this, and the companies can also get their job done in a hassle-free manner.

On 1st of February 2010, Micha Kaufman and Shai Wininger launched Fiverr. The company has its headquarters based in Tel Aviv, Israel providing its services across the world. Fiverr is available in 5 different languages, including English, Spanish, French, Dutch and Portuguese.

Fiverr Founders
Image Source: fiverr.com

History of the $5 Fiverr ‘Gig’

Kaufman and Wininger wanted to create something new, which would break the regular credence of working hours from 9 to 5. So, they came up with an idea of creating a website with a variety of online services like logo designing, data entry, digital marketing, voice translation and many more. Here people could work according to their comfort neglecting the 9 to 5 job scenario. So, the two young entrepreneurs created a single platform which is capable of providing almost every digital service under one roof.

The company started succeeding at a very fast pace such that within a year it had grown 600% in transaction volume. The company received its first funding of $1 million in 1st June 2010 from Guy Gamzu and other angel investors. On 3rd May 2012, the company announced that it had raised another $15 million in the second round of funding from Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners summing the total raised fund to $20 million. By this time, the company had 40 employees working in its different offices spread over Israel, U.S and Europe.

The Growth of an Innovative Business Ever Witnessed by our Economy

In Fiverr, the minimum charge for every service is $5 and might extend up to $1,000 depending on the sellers and the quality of work. This system was started in January 2012 and allowed the sellers to earn more in exchange for their services after ten successful transactions. The services provided by Fiverr are known as ‘Gig’.

The $5 strategy attracted millions of customers from around the world, and by the end of 2011, the company was already providing 70,000 gigs. In 2012, the figure reached around 1.3 million with an increasing number of clients as well as service providers. By the end of this year, Fiverr witnessed an increase in sales by 190%, providing 4,000 new services, i.e. ‘Gigs’ daily.

The expansion of this leading marketplace resulted in the opening of a new office in New York in 2013.

Since 2013, Fiverr.com has acquired a position in the top 200 popular sites list of the world, and its Alexa rank is 291. By June 2013, Fiverr provided over 1.7 million Gigs to customers around 200 countries. The number of categories expanded to 120, which even included Arts & Crafts, Astrology and Gift cards. In December 2013, Fiverr launched its iOS app, followed by releasing the Android app in March 2014.

In August 2014, Fiverr raised $30 million in Series C funding from the existing investors along with Qumra Capital and private investors. This funding promised a larger and new workplace, where the sellers and customers can connect at a global level. In October 2014, Fiverr expanded the Gig service by launching the website in four different languages. Realizing the need for global connectivity, the strategies of Fiverr always played the ace in the digital marketplace.

In November 2015, Fiverr raised another $60 million in the funding round led by existing investors along with Square Peg Capital. With this, the company valued $550 million at that time. By now, the main target of Fiverr was to connect with every single freelancer out there and expand its Gig economy side. In November 2015, Fiverr raised another $60 million in the funding round led by existing investors along with Square Peg Capital. With this, the company valued $550 million at that time. By now, the main target of Fiverr was to connect with every single freelancer out there and expand its Gig economy.

In August 2016, Fiverr opened a new office in San Francisco, and the same year, Fiverr announced DCX Growth Accelerator as its new Global Agency of Record.

Latest Acquisitions and Partnership

In January 2018, AND CO came under the acquisition of Fiverr and the freelance software of AND CO was made free.

In February 2019, Fiverr announced the acquisition of ClearVoice, a content marketing platform. In June 2019, the company announced a new partnership with Lily Singh.

In July 2019, Fiverr introduced its Gaming store providing services like game development, game designing etc.