Tencent is planning to broadcast American football in China across various platforms over the next three years

American football may not be popular in China, but a deal signed with the technology giant Tencent may help the National Football League (NFL – the professional league) increase its exposure in Asia’s largest country. According to an NFL press release, the two sides have signed a three year deal to broadcast the entire NFL season via Tencent properties.

The NFL will be available via Tencent Sports, QQ.com, Tencent Video, Kuai Bao, Penguin Live, Tencent Sports app, Tencent Video app, Tencent News app and WeChat. Tencent will have the rights to broadcast almost every major NFL event, including the Super Bowl.

While currently the NFL is not big in China, the National Basketball Association successfully grew roots in China and it has now become one of its most enthusiastic (and important) global markets.

Rakuten invests in Japanese genetic health testing company

The Japanese company, Rakuten, has invested JPY1.4 billion (US$12.8 million) in Genesis Healthcare, a company that houses one of the largest genetic databases in in Asia.

520,000 people have their genetic information stored with Genesis Healthcare and the company is hoping to reach 1 million customers by 2020.

Also Read:Razer CEO pitches to Singapore PM over Twitter and Lee Hsien Loong is all ears

Rakuten said they invested in the company to promote the understanding of genetic technologies to help build a better society in Japan.

Lazada and AIG partner to offer insurance in Malaysia online

Lazada Malaysia and the local branch of the global insurance company AIG have partnered to offer an online marketplace for purchasing policies online, according to Digital News Asia.

The companies were quick to point out that the offerings will be limited in the beginning, preferring to provide the simple policies and grow into more complex services later. Customers will be able to purchase Travel, Snatch Theft, Active Lifestyle Care and Purchase Protection, according to the article.

India SaaS startup EasyGov raises funding led by Social Alpha

EasyGov, a SaaS startup that helps people in India more conveniently access government services, has raised an undisclosed funding round led by Social Trusts — an organisation started by the Tata Trusts organisation. The cloud-based platform helps people access government welfare schemes and improves the deployment efficiency.

The money will be used to develop local language support as the site is only available in English at the moment.

Google and Walmart team up to take on Amazon

Two of the largest companies in their respective industries — Google and Walmart — announced today they are teaming-up to take on the growing dominance that is Amazon, according to the New York Times.

Specifically, Walmart will start selling its goods on Google Express, the first time the world’s largest retailer has offered its products outside of its own e-commerce platform (which, frankly, is probably the second-best such marketplace outside of Amazon).

Also Read: Did Starbucks miss the co-working boat?

For Walmart the partnership justification is fairly obvious, but for Google the search engine is fighting an interesting trend: more and more people are entering searches for items they want to buy directly in Amazon and are skipping Google entirely.

While the partnership brings together two extremely powerful companies, it also validates the dominance of Amazon in America’s e-commerce industry.

—

The post Captain’s Log, August 23: Tencent becomes go-to home for American football in China appeared first on e27.