Enterprise
Maya cited among 250 promising global fintech firms
The fastest-growing digital bank joins the 2022 CB Insights’ Fintech 250 list
Maya (formerly PayMaya) has just been cited as one of the top 250 promising global fintech firms, according to CB Insights.
The company was named alongside an elite international roster in CB Insight’s fifth-annual Fintech 250 ranking: digital banks Revolut and N26; PayPal-backed payment processor Stripe, merchant platform Pine Labs, and crypto platform Binance.
Maya, through its parent company Voyager Innovations, was recognized due to its strong record of execution, taking the crown as the only platform with an all-in-one money app, leading merchant payment processors, extensive MSME on-ground network, and being the fastest-growing digital bank in the Philippines.
“We are proud to be recognized alongside other trailblazers in the global fintech space. Being on this list validates our thrust of providing an integrated experience to our customers through our comprehensive digital financial ecosystem. It is also a testament to the world-class organization that we’ve built,” said Shailesh Baidwan, Maya Group President and Maya Bank Co-Founder.
One of the 250
Over 12,500 private companies that include applicants and nominees, CB Insights selected Maya as one of the 250 winners. The criteria for winning were chosen based on factors such as R&D activity, proprietary Mosaic scores, market potential, business relationships, investor profile, news sentiment analysis, competitive landscape, team strength, and tech novelty.
“This year’s Fintech 250 winners are shaping the future of financial services, from payments and banking to investing and insurance,” said Brian Lee, SVP of CB Insights’ Intelligence Unit.
“Representing more than 30 countries, these companies are creating safer and more efficient payment methods and transforming how traditional banking, insurance, and investing products are delivered.”
A successful rebrand
After its successful rebranding, the company has expanded beyond payments, introducing game-changing digital banking innovations across its unique ecosystem of 51 million consumers and network of 1.2 million MSMEs.
In just three months after its launch, Maya Bank became the fastest-growing digital bank in the Philippines, smashing records by recording over PHP5 billion in deposit balance and over 650,000 bank customers in just three months after its launch.
Furthermore, Maya Bank is the only digital bank to offer loan products within a quarter from its launch. It was able to scale fast because it leveraged the ready pool of rich transactional data from its payments business.
Moreover, Maya became the second tech unicorn in the Philippines in March 2022. The company was backed by global investors including KKR, Tencent, International Finance Corporation, IFC Emerging Asia Fund, IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund, SIG Venture Capital, EDBI, First Pacific Company, and PLDT. END
Enterprise
AGIBOT just topped the medal table at the World Humanoid Robot Games
The robots that did it are already clocking in at real factories.
AGIBOT entered its first World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on August 26 and walked away with a dominant victory.
The company claimed 18 gold, 16 silver, and 12 bronze medals, securing 46 total podium finishes and topping both the gold and overall medal standings.
Designed to stress-test humanoid machines in sports, fine manipulation, and real-world duties, the Games evaluated robots across events ranging from martial arts to hotel service and emergency response.
AGIBOT swept through these categories, earning top spots in motion control, obstacle racing, and daily practical tasks.
The true triumph lies in what remained unchanged on competition day. AGIBOT fielded its standard production lineup, including the OmniHand, G2, A3, and X2.
None of these units were custom-built to win medals, as every machine came straight from active commercial deployments.
Precision and agility straight off the assembly line
The OmniHand reached the finals in all eight dexterous manipulation events and brought home seven gold medals.
It aced delicate challenges like Block Building, Powder Weighing, and Bean Picking with Tweezers, proving that fine motor control matters just as much as raw power.
In motion control, the AGIBOT X2 captured gold in the 100m obstacle race while adding silver and bronze in the 400m sprint.
Meanwhile, the AGIBOT A3 secured gold in Tai Chi. The X2 competed in its standard commercial configuration without any hardware modifications.
Powering the X2 is AGIBOT’s proprietary AGILE framework, short for AgiBot Generative Intelligent Locomotion Engine.
This system blends real-time environmental perception with autonomous decision-making to navigate sudden obstacles and changing terrain.
By combining precise parameter identification with seamless simulation-to-reality transfer, the framework maintains rock-solid stability when transitioning from code to physical ground.
Proven intelligence on actual factory floors
AGIBOT earned five golds in real-world scenarios, dominating tasks across library operations, hotel services, and emergency response.
The G2 robot behind these wins is the exact same model currently operating on factory floors for manufacturers like Longcheer and SAIC.
Its operational intelligence stems from AGIBOT’s ViLLA embodied foundation model GO, the world model GE, and its RW-RL system. These combined technologies sharpen perception and planning inside unpredictable work environments.
While the 46-medal tally commands headlines, the deeper story is that mass-produced robots won without special modifications.
AGIBOT proves that general-purpose intelligence paired with commercial hardware can adapt across varied scenarios. Embodied AI is finally stepping out of isolated lab demos and into consistent, repeatable work where it matters most.
Enterprise
Cebu Pacific becomes 1st SEA low-cost carrier with Starlink Wi-Fi
Rollout expected to begin in 2027
Cebu Pacific has introduced Starlink, making it the first low-cost airline in Southeast Asia to bring Wi-Fi in the sky for passengers.
The rollout is expected to begin in 2027. Starlink delivers an unparalleled broadband experience inflight, with high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi capable of HD streaming, online gaming, productivity and more.
Beyond enhancing the passenger experience, Starlink will also support improved operational connectivity for Cebu Pacific’s flight crews and operational teams. This enables better operational efficiency.
The collaboration is a significant milestone for Philippine aviation. The rollout forms part of Cebu Pacific’s continued investment in customer experience and digital innovation.
As part of the partnership, Cebu Pacific and Indigo Partners portfolio airlines, Wizz Air, and JetSMART expect to install Starlink on over 1,000 aircraft.
Enterprise
Google ordered to pay EUR 4.1 billion in fines
The EU alleges that Google uses its apps to establish an unfair dominance.
European fines have unintentionally become a normal part of doing business in the American technology space. For too long have American companies paid paltry fines to prevent harsher regulation in the European Union. Now, for the first time, Google is about to pay a record-breaking fine that goes beyond “paltry.”
Today, via CNBC, Google has been ordered to pay an astonishing EUR 4.1 billion (or approximately US$ 4.67 billion) in fines. The fine is in response to an anti-competition case.
This has been a long time coming for Google. The original case started in 2018. At the time, the European Union accused the brand of using anti-competitive practices to ensure its dominance in the smartphone market. According to the courts, the company’s bundling of first-party apps for every Android smartphone gives them an unfair advantage in the market and lessens the user’s choice in selecting apps.
For years, Google has fought the fine to seemingly no avail. Now, the company has lost its final attempt, which means that the fine still stands. On the bright side, they did get it reduced from the original EUR 4.34 billion fine.
The European Union is the scourge of every American tech company (and a godsend to consumers). Most notably, the continent’s government forced Apple to adopt USB-C, leading to a more universal experience across brands.
Google’s hefty fine aims to do the same. And it is quite hefty. Whereas previous fines were in the millions (and hence, negligible for most companies), a fine in the billions is more tangible.
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