The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Google is teaming up with the European Investment Fund (EIF) and two other organisations in Latin America and Asia to provide $75 million in funding to small- and medium-sized companies suffering from the impact of Covid-19.
The funds are part of an $800 million initiative announced in March last year in response to the pandemic.
Google, a unit of Alphabet, said on Wednesday that it would invest in two EIF funds, giving $15 million in loan capital to 1,000 European small businesses and $10 million in EIF’s venture capital fund backing 200 life sciences companies.
The EIF is part of the European Investment Bank group, the lending arm of the European Union.
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In Latin America, Google will work with the Inter-American Development Bank to allocate $8 million to small companies.
It has also set up a $26 million loan fund with Kiva, an organisation that crowd-funds loans, to help businesses in Africa, the Middle East and Indonesia. Indian companies will get $15 million.
By Foo Yun Chee; Editor: Barbara Lewis
Antitrust enforcers said Tapestry’s acquisition of Capri would raise prices on handbags and accessories in the affordable luxury sector, harming consumers.
As a push to maximise sales of its popular Samba model starts to weigh on its desirability, the German sportswear giant is betting on other retro sneaker styles to tap surging demand for the 1980s ‘Terrace’ look. But fashion cycles come and go, cautions Andrea Felsted.
The rental platform saw its stock soar last week after predicting it would hit a key profitability metric this year. A new marketing push and more robust inventory are the key to unlocking elusive growth, CEO Jenn Hyman tells BoF.
Nordstrom, Tod’s and L’Occitane are all pushing for privatisation. Ultimately, their fate will not be determined by whether they are under the scrutiny of public investors.