America’s leading provider of AI, hybrid cloud, and computing services has once again undertaken an ambitious task to accelerate the economic growth in the country and further fuel technology development. IBM, also the tech giant behind Apollo Program, has announced its plans to invest $150 billion in the US technology sector over the next five years to expand its operations as the largest tech employer in the country.
$30 billion out of the massive investment plan will be allocated to IBM’s research and development of mainframe and quantum computers. As the owner of the world’s largest fleet of quantum computers, this move further signifies IBM’s vision to strengthen its footprint as the world’s biggest quantum computing firm seeking to solve the problems of tomorrow.
As of today, more than 70% of the world’s transactions (by monetary value) pass through IBM’s mainframe computers designed in the US. Further, the company also boasts of its position as the quantum network provider of nearly 300 companies listed in the Fortune 500.
With a legacy of 114 years, IBM remains at the forefront of innovation in the advanced computing and AI segment with an array of notable projects. The recent investment further assures the tech giant’s commitment to innovation, growth, and cutting-edge technology development.
The Global Venture Capital (VC) market witnessed a significant QoQ growth of over 6.8% in the first quarter of 2025. With Mexican, German, and Irish startups reporting massive fund-raising rounds, the overall momentum in the Fintech sector seemed promising.
As per a recent KPMG report, Mexico’s Plata, a credit and buy now, pay later (BNPL) company secured $160 million in the Series A equity round. Following behind was Mexican company Uala that raised $66 million and now values at a total of $366 million.
German startups Solaris and Hawk reported a massive capital raising rounds of EURO140 million and $56 million respectively. While Germany witnessed a decline in the total number of venture capital deals this quarter, it is notable that the country still defied the odds by raising some of the highest funds in the country.
On the other hand, Ireland saw one of the strongest quarters in terms of VC funding. Driven by megadeals in the country, Ireland’s NomuPay and Alt21 raised significant capital of $37 million and $12.5 million respectively.
Overall, Fintech dominated the venture capital market with Binance taking the biggest payout of an enormous $2 billion. UK-based Rapyd Financial also stood victorious as the fintech company secured $500 million in March after an initial valuation of $4.5 billion.
The pace of rebound in the global VC market remains impressive as many major venture capitalists embrace the new wave of Fintech innovations. KPMG’s report predicts a stabilized momentum to continue in Q2 of 2025.
As the world embraces Fintech-based financial tools and embedded financing solutions, a question arises for traditional banking apps: Are these standalone apps on the way to becoming obsolete?
Experts from around the world recently commented on the possibility of banking apps becoming irrelevant in the near future. While many agreed that embedded financing has significantly changed consumers’ transactional behavior, almost all remained confident that banking apps are undergoing a moment of transformation and not towards absolute end.
While talking to Fintech Times, Raman Korneu, CEO of digital bank myTU stated that standalone banking apps still have a huge advantage of embedded financing services i.e. advanced security features. Two-factor authentication, biometric login, and financial data security are some of the most important factors that will continue to support traditional banking apps’ strong foothold.
James Simcox, Chief Product Officer at Equals Money also endorsed similar viewpoints as he maintained the importance of standalone banking apps offering an array of services on a singular platform. However, almost all commentators noted that there’s an immediate need for standalone banking apps to expand their offerings and integrate embedded services to retain their clientele.
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