All about Ai: Insider acquires engineering powerhouse Infinitesoft

Artificial intelligence is set to be a key component of all things tech. Insider has been at the forefront of the breakthroughs and pathways that AI has carved out. AI has been critical in Insider's predictive technology. To advance it further, Insider has acquired Infinitesoft, a Kyiv based engineering powerhouse. 

What did Turks buy on Valentine's Day? 

Move over France. Turkey is bursting with people who show love. On Valentine's Day Turks snapped up clothes and flowers for their honeys - and paid for it in full. Iyzico tracked the numbers. Of course, we bought our better halves all of the above. #Duh

Bullish on Mexico and Turkey 

Bloomberg released research on the best and worst performing emerging markets. Mexico and Turkey top the list. The study says that both countries have impressive growth and a healthy current accounts position. And things are cheap. That's right, buy up now people. We'd also like to point out that both countries border significantly larger economies - Mexico with the U.S.; Turkey with the E.U. That's no coincidence. The two countries come up a lot together, proving the theory that proximity is everything. (At least we think that's a theory.) 

MENA VC Association 

Among the areas that most emerging markets lag behind Silicon Valley, investing and venture capital. In January, investors in the MENA region came together to form the Middle East Venture Capital Association. (MEVCA). We're pumped. MEVCA will focus on best practices, enhance collaboration, and provide as a forum from which venture capital can strengthen and expand. Among the firms that make up MEVCA: BECO Capital, Wamda Capital, and the Jabbar Internet Group. We all win when the pie is bigger. 

The Top 20 Reasons Startups Fail

There are lot of reasons startups fail. CB Insights has a list here of 20 main ones. Some aren't surprising: running out of money, legal challenges, failure to pivot. But, WTF? Not using your network? Lack of passion? If you're in the startup game, use every tool available to you - and that includes who you know. If you can't do that, well, you deserve to lose. 

Go big isn't always smart 

Creandum has taken a lot of bets on SME tech, which it says is "at an inflection point." The firm has spent a lot of time looking at the market potential for those businesses at the small and medium range. And the potential is huge. Go big shouldn't always be the go-to strategy.