Your 90-second guide to the day in tech

Happy Wednesday all. Here’s your daily dose of local and global tech news. 

Don’t forget to tune in for the Startup Daily show on Ausbiz.com.au  every weekday, 2-2.45pm. Watch online, download the ausbiz app or via 7Plus.

PayPal’s BNPL move

PayPal will launch an Afterpay-style buy now, pay later option called PayPal Pay in 4 in Australia in June, ahead of the EOFY sales, hoping some of its 9 million active accounts will be lured back to the payments platform.

For business customers, PayPal Pay in 4 is automatically included with PayPal Checkout and Braintree integrations, with the option of messaging to show instalment amounts.

For consumer customers, PayPal Pay in 4 allows them to split eligible purchases from $50 to $1,500 over four equal, interest-free instalments, with automatic re-payments drawn every two weeks. No fees are charged when payments are made on time.

Jack’s $2.5m tweet

The late Robin Williams joked that cocaine is god’s way of saying you have too much money. I’d suggest that NFTs are the new cocaine with billionaire Jack Dorsey “selling” his very first tweet in 2006 as an non-fungible token

Dorsey tweeted a link late last week to Valuables, which lets you sell tweets as NFTs. Perhaps the billionaire needs the cash.

Sina Estavi, CEO of the Bridge Oracle platform, has put in a bid of US$2.5 million for it, pipping crypto guy Justin Sun’s $2 million offer.

Here it is for free.

Dropbox buys DocSend

Nasdaq-listed Dropbox is acquiring document sharing and analytics company DocSend in a deal worth US$165 million (A$%213m) in cash.

DocSend has more than 17,000 customers and Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston said: “By bringing Dropbox, HelloSign, and DocSend together, we’ll be able to offer a full suite of secure, self-serve products to help them manage critical document workflows from start to finish.”

DocSend gives customers visibility into what happens to their documents after they send them. For example, client services teams and creative professionals scan use DocSend to deliver proposals and track engagement.

The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 2021.

eSports explode

A new study from Juniper Research predicts that the global eSports and games streaming industry will increase in value by 70% over the next four years to be worth $3.5 billion by 2025, up from $2.1 billion in 2021.

The eSports & Games Streaming: Emerging Opportunities & Market Forecasts 2021-2025 Report, predicts that the market value will be driven by subscription spend to streaming platforms and advertising spend over streams, but urges stakeholders to invest in other revenue-generating areas, including broadcasting rights and live event ticket sales, and establish high-value sponsorship deals to maximise the market value of eSports in the future.

You can download the whitepaper for free here.

OMG’s $10m pre-IPO

Trading and wealth management infrastructure fintech, OpenMarkets Group (OMG), has raised $10 million in a pre-IPO round, co-led by E&P Corporate Advisory and Investec Corporate Advisory.

The funds will be used to accelerate growth through increased investment in marketing and technology. 

CompanSelfWealth, Superhero, Marketech, Stockspot, and Six Park are among the fintechs using OMG’s open APIs.

The company is looking to list on the ASX later this year.

Tweet of the Day:

Google has chosen to dismantle its AI ethics work, making it clear that the company will only tolerate research that supports its bottom line. This is a matter of urgent public concern. #MakeAIEthical 1/35https://t.co/NCs5586qeY

— Google Walkout For Real Change (@GoogleWalkout) March 8, 2021