UAE-based Redwood has acquired a majority stake in the game streaming platform Loco as the Indian firm looks to expand focus to international markets, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed.
Redwood, a newly-formed investment firm, has signed a $65 million deal with Loco, an investment that also gives full exit to all existing Loco backers.
This valuation drop from Loco’s nearly $150 million peak in 2022 reflects broader struggles among Indian esports streaming firms to generate revenue, a challenge partly attributed to the limited number of popular games in the market.
Loco now sees a much larger opportunity outside of India and the new deal will fuel its “global expansion efforts,” the startup told TechCrunch.
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“This investment is a recognition of the immense work done by our team in the past few years,” Loco founders Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh told TechCrunch in a joint statement.
“Gaming is an integral part of the cultural zeitgeist globally, and we look forward to building a platform that is at the heart of this global movement. Live streaming enables authentic connection in a way that other mediums can’t match and we want to put the fan at the center of this experience.”
The deal follows the sale of Loco’s sister property Pocket Aces, which sold a majority stake for about $20 million to Indian music label giant Saregama earlier this year.
Backed by investors including Catamaran Ventures, Krafton, and Hashed, Loco aims to build a Twitch-like platform and serve markets where either the Amazon-owned service hasn’t expanded to or has weak penetration. On its platform today in the Indian market, gamers stream titles such as “Grand Theft Auto V”; “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare”; “Battlegrounds Mobile India”; “Free Fire”; and “Valorant.”
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Streamers on the platform earn revenue through virtual goods purchased by viewers. The startup struck licensing deals with several game publishers, including Krafton, Activision and Riot, based on what a 2022 pitch deck for investors described as a “first-mover advantage.”
We’re thrilled to welcome Bret Taylor to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. As the former co-CEO of Salesforce, founder of Quip, former CTO of Facebook, the co-creator of Google Maps, and current chairman of the board at OpenAI, Taylor needs very little introduction.
Bret Taylor is one of the most influential players in the world of enterprise and SaaS, so we invited him to join us for a fireside chat on our SaaS Stage at Disrupt 2024 on October 29.
In our conversation with Bret, we’ll explore his innovative AI startup, Sierra, recently launched in partnership with former Google executive Clay Bavor. Sierra envisions AI agents as the next major technological breakthrough, much like the rise of websites and mobile applications. These agents could become crucial digital resources for businesses, ultimately enhancing the digital customer experience.
Join us at Disrupt 2024, taking place at Moscone West in San Francisco from October 28-30, as we delve into this topic with Bret, along with a host of other insights. Register your passes today and enjoy savings of up to $600. This offer ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Steam just removed its forced arbitration policy, opening the door for lawsuits against its parent company, Valve. In an update on Thursday, Steam says its subscriber agreement “now provides that any disputes are to go forward in court instead of arbitration.”
Many companies include a forced arbitration clause in their user agreement, waiving a person’s right to a trial in court. Arbitration involves settling a dispute outside a legal system before an impartial third party. This method is often faster but may not get the best results for consumers, as arbitrators don’t need to consider the law when issuing a decision.
Previously, Steam’s user agreement said, “you and Valve agree to resolve all disputes and claims between us in individual binding arbitration” for all disputes related to Steam, your account, hardware, or the company’s content and services. The new agreement eliminates any mention of a binding arbitration policy.
Steam doesn’t say why it decided to suddenly remove the forced arbitration clause. As pointed out by 404 Media, a group of plaintiffs recently challenged Valve’s forced arbitration policy and were able to file a class action lawsuit over Steam’s dominance.
19-inch server cabinets with integrated fire protection from Lehmann IT
19-inch server cabinets with integrated fire protection can basically be placed in all locations where there is an increased risk of fire in order to optimally protect the devices located in the server cabinet as well as all relevant data. For this purpose, we at Lehmann IT have developed and designed various solutions that can be used for numerous applications and requirements.
When should a server cabinet with fire protection be considered?
Basically, a 19-inch server cabinet with an integrated fire protection function can never hurt, as fires can occur anytime and anywhere, often caused by electricity or human error. However, these models are especially interesting for companies that want to place the cabinets in locations with increased fire risk.
As a rule, however, fire-protected server cabinets are used in the industrial sector. In times of Industry 4.0 and the advancing digitalization of industrial processes, reliable IT infrastructures are increasingly needed in production halls. These are often subject to high temperatures because the machines used there radiate heat during operation or the production processes themselves require these temperatures. In addition, the amount of dust is very high, which is also harmful to unprotected IT equipment. This is because this dust accumulates on and in the equipment and can sometimes clog air slots and fans, which has a strong negative impact on air circulation in the cabinet, resulting in so-called hot spots. At these points, there is an extremely high temperature locally, which can cause considerable damage to the equipment.
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Especially in industrial halls, IT equipment should therefore be well protected, which is why the purchase of a server cabinet is inevitable. Since the risk of fire in these industrial halls is very high due to the high temperature or the use of highly flammable substances, it is recommended to immediately choose a model with integrated fire protection. In the event of a fire, this will not only protect the equipment but also all the data stored on the servers.
What consequences can fire have for IT equipment?
Even small and quickly contained fires can cause damage with high costs. Even server racks without integrated fire protection can be severely affected in a very short time. If a fire is not quickly detected and appropriately fought, IT equipment will be very badly damaged as a result of sooting and corrosion. Smoke development also has severe consequences for the servers, routers, and switches in the cabinet. The technology is no longer salvageable as a result of a fire, and the data on the devices can also be irretrievably lost. A server cabinet with fire protection not only protects the devices themselves but also gives you enough time to save the data.
How does fire protection in the server cabinet work?
The fire protection server cabinets are certified according to the relevant DIN and EN guidelines and offer fire resistance of approximately 90 minutes. In addition, the models comply with the IP54 protection class, which is an indicator of protection against dust and water, however, both of which can also be potential hazards for server cabinets in industrial halls. The surface of the server cabinets is highly resistant to chemicals and moisture. The cabinets have sensors that measure the exhaust air temperature and smoke development in the cabinet. If this is too high, all ventilation openings are immediately closed.
According to the European classification EN 13501-1, our server cabinets have the marking As1d0. The “A” indicates that the cabinet itself does not contribute to the fire, which is the highest rating for this fire safety aspect. The “s1” (for low smoke emission) and “d0” (no burning drip) markings are also the highest indexes for the aspects considered, according to the EN directive.
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The classification EN 13501-2 is also important for the classification of fire protection for various devices. Our cabinets have the specification EI 90, which means that the cabinet is fire resistant for 90 minutes. The inner and outer walls of the server cabinet are non-load-bearing, as no loads are applied to them. This is expressed by the two letters “EI”.
Lehmann IT – Your partner for server cabinets
If you have questions about our server and network cabinets or need help choosing a suitable model, we are the right contact for you. We are looking forward to your inquiry.
NVIDIA Container Toolkit and GPU Operator were carrying a critical vulnerability that allowed threat actors access to the underlying host’s file system, experts have warned.
Cybersecurity researchers at Wiz discovered and reported the flaw, tracked as CVE-2024-0132, and carries a vulnerability score of 9.0/10 – critical, to Nvidia on September 1, 2024.
It is described as a Time-of-Check Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability. To be abused the tools need to be set up in default configurations – then, a threat actor could craft a special container image that grants them access to the host file system.
Different environments at risk
“A successful exploit of this vulnerability may lead to code execution, denial of service, escalation of privileges, information disclosure, and data tampering,” the company said in a security advisory.
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The bug affected all NVIDIA Container Toolkit versions to v.1.16.2, and all NVIDIA GPU Operator versions until 24.6.2, which were the first ones to have addressed the flaw. It is also worth mentioning that the vulnerability does not work when Container Device Interface (CDI) is used.
“The urgency with which you should fix the vulnerability depends on the architecture of your environment and the level of trust you place in running images,” the researchers said in their technical write-up. “Any environment that allows the use of third party container images or AI models – either internally or as-a-service – is at higher risk given that this vulnerability can be exploited via a malicious image.”
They stressed that single-tenant compute environments could be at risk if a user downloads a malicious container image from an untrusted source, giving the crooks access to the workstation. In orchestrated environments such as Kubernetes (K8), an attacker with permission to deploy a container could access data and secrets of other applications running on the same node or cluster.
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Facebook parent company Meta has been fined €91m (£75m) by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) following an investigation into the storage of passwords.
An inquiry was launched in April 2019 after Meta notified the DPC that it had inadvertently stored certain passwords of social media users on its internal systems without encryption.
The DPC submitted a draft decision to other European data watchdogs in June 2024.
No objections were raised by the other authorities.
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Meta has been found to have four breaches of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
DPC deputy commissioner Graham Doyle said: “It is widely accepted that user passwords should not be stored in ‘plaintext’ considering the risks of abuse that arise from persons accessing such data.
“It must be borne in mind, that the passwords the subject of consideration in this case are particularly sensitive, as they would enable access to users’ social media accounts.” he added.
The decision, which was made by the commissioners for data protection, Dr Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland, and notified to Meta on 26 September, includes a reprimand and a fine.
That fine was also issued by Ireland’s DPC; the largest fine imposed under the EU’s GDPR privacy law.
In 2022, Meta was fined €265m (£220m) after data from 533m people in 106 countries was published on a hacking forum having been “scraped” from Facebook years earlier.
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