Top tech startup news for today, Monday, June 17, 2019

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Monday, June 17, 2019.

Bitcoin climbs above $9,000 for first time in over a year amid the launch of new Facebook cryptocurrency, Libra. Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, had a rough 2018. Bu things are beginning to look a lot better for the cryptocurrency in 2019. The latest price action comes on the heels of reports that Facebook wants to launch its own cryptocurrency called Libra. The social network is expected to unveil more about the project on Tuesday. Experts say the involvement of large firms like Facebook is a good sign for crypto. That’s because the industry has been clouded by illegal activity and regulatory scrutiny in the past.

Palo Alto Networks completes the acquisition of serverless security startup PureSec. Palo Alto Networks, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based global cybersecurity company, completed the previously announced acquisition of PureSec, a leader in serverless security, to extend its Prisma™ cloud security strategy. The terms of the transaction were disclosed in the company’s third quarter fiscal 2019 quarterly report on Form 10-Q. The acquisition of PureSec will further advance Palo Alto Networks in its ability to offer a complete cloud security suite securing serverless applications throughout the entire life cycle, reducing the attack surface.

Collective Health raises $205 million in SoftBank-Led funding round. Health technology startup Collective Health today announced a $205 million round of new funding led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. Collective Health will use the new funding to accelerate adoption of its enterprise healthcare platform with employers across the U.S. and deepen strategic partnerships across the industry and deliver even greater technology capabilities to address fundamental health insurance service issues that plague U.S. consumers and employers alike. Founded in 2013 by Ali Diab and Rajaie Batniji, Collective Health gives companies a smarter alternative to traditional health insurance. Through a cloud-based, integrated health benefits platform, the company enables self-insured employers to get more out of their healthcare investment while taking better care of their people.

Allied Wallet Acquires Hong Kong based fintech startup Epayment. Allied Wallet, a London, United Kingdom-based fintech company offering payment solutions in 196 countries, acquired Epayment, a Hong Kong based financial technology company. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The acquisition will enable the company to expand in the Hong Kong area. Founded by Dr. Andy Khawaja, Allied Wallet provides payment processing solutions for online merchants, enabling them to send and receive global payments.

Codemotion raises €2.5M in funding for platform development and expansion. Codemotion, a Rome, Italy-based startup connecting IT professionals, tech communities and companies, has raised €2.5M in funding to accelerate development of its platform and expand abroad. Investors include Barcamper Ventures and Barcamper Ventures Lazio (both managed by Primomiglio SGR) and Invitalia Ventures. Founded by 2013 by Chiara Russo and Mara Marzocchi, Codemotion provides a platform for developers to advance in their personal careers for companies to involve them in marketing, hiring and open innovation activities. The company’s community includes 570.000 software developers and a network of 300 companies including Cisco, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Oracle, among others.