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☆ Check out the pitch deck Maza used to get Andreessen Horowitz to lead its $8 million seed round to help immigrants access financial services in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Now, Maza has just raised $8 million in seed funding from investors like Andreessen Horowitz. A year and a half later, and Maza has raised $8 million in seed funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Customers will have access to Maza's banking services, which include card services, check deposit, and tax services. Down the road, however, the cofounders envision Maza as an "identity" company rather than a banking company, akin to CLEAR in airports, said Arango. Check out the 14-slide pitch deck that Maza used to raise $8 million in seed funding: (Note: certain proprietary information has been redacted.)

Persons: Maza, Andreessen Horowitz, Maza cofounders Luciano Arango, Robbie Figueroa, Siggy, Arango, Anré Williams, Figueroa, Wells Fargo, Seema Amble Organizations: Maza's, LinkedIn, SV Angel, Restive Ventures, Global Founders Capital, American Express National Bank, William Hockey, Plaid Locations: United States, Bilstein, Maza, Wells, Colombia

☆ Cocoa prices are soaring. Here’s what that means for your chocolate
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —If you have a sweet tooth, take note: Cocoa prices have been soaring — and that could drive chocolate prices higher. Because of that, there is an “outsize impact of the region’s weather patterns on world cocoa prices and supplies,” according to Gro Intelligence’s post. Tony's Chocolonely welcomes higher cocoa prices. Petra Figueroa/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images“We are very happy that cocoa prices are rising,” said Pascal Baltussen, chief of impact and operations at Tony’s. “Cocoa prices have been way too low for West African cocoa farmers to earn a living income.”Cocoa futures are used to determine the prices paid to farmers for cocoa in Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Persons: El, Paul, Christophe Gateau, Niño, ”, Intelligence’s, Tony's Chocolonely, Petra Figueroa, Pascal Baltussen, Alex Assanvo, Côte, “ Price, Tony’s, Baltussen, Steven Voskuil, Hershey, “, we’ll, —, Laura Paddison, Rachel Ramirez Organizations: New, New York CNN, Rabobank, International Cocoa, Getty, Cocoa Organization, Gro Intelligence, Hershey Locations: New York, Europe, Asia, Agboville, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Amsterdam, Tony’s, NIQ

☆ A 300 million-year-old fossilized fish has the world's 'oldest preserved vertebrate brain.' It offers new clues about evolutionary history, say scientists.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Scientists discovered the fossilized brain of a vertebrate in a 319-million-year-old fossil. The rare finding offers new insights into the evolution of extinct bony fish related to the salmon. The finding suggests a more complex brain evolution pattern, allowing researchers to define better "how and when present-day bony fishes evolved." Researchers believe the extinct ray-finned fish would have been about six to eight inches long, and its brain and associated nerves are roughly an inch long. The ancient fish is on loan to scientists from the Manchester Museum in England.

☆ A Mexico soccer icon entered politics. Prosecutors say narcos followed
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Cuernavaca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +27 min

Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico’s annual Army day. Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo – Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera – were unsuccessful. Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield. “He likes me very much because I’m not a politician,” Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

☆ All-female team replaces Juan Guaidó as face of Venezuela opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s opposition has selected an all-female team of mostly unknown exiled former lawmakers to replace the beleaguered Juan Guaidó as the face of its faltering efforts to remove socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Meanwhile, Maduro’s supporters seemed to be relishing the opposition’s squabbles. At Thursday’s session inaugurating the legislative year, loyalist lawmakers re-elected Jorge Rodriguez to lead the National Assembly. U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday that the U.S. stands ready to work with any individual, or collective body, chosen by the 2015 National Assembly to represent it. We support the 2015 National Assembly as the only remaining vestige of democracy in Venezuela.”

☆ The Dramatic World of Artistic Swimming Will be Open to Men at the Paris Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Rachel Bachman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bill May and Natalia Vega Figueroa perform during the Mixed Duet Technical Artistic Swimming Preliminary at the FINA Swimming World Championships 2019. An Olympic competition long associated with dramatically made-up women swimming and swirling will have a new addition for the 2024 Paris Games: men. World Aquatics announced Thursday that countries would be allowed to include up to two men in their entries for the 2024 Olympic team event—in which eight swimmers perform a routine as a group. Nations could also choose not to field men in their lineups. The duet event will remain limited to pairs of women.

☆ Messi invited to leave his mark at Maracana's Hall of Fame
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

After Argentina won the World Cup by beating France 4-2 on penalties in a heart-stopping final on Sunday, the public body which runs the stadium repeated the invitation to Messi first made when the 'Albiceleste' won the Copa America in 2021. "Messi has already demonstrated his importance on and off the pitch. After all, Messi is a genius with the ball," he added. The historic Maracana stadium has hosted two World Cup finals, in 1950 and 2014, and saw Messi and his squad become 2021 Copa America champions by beating Brazil 1-0. Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Ken FerrisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

K9s for Warriors, an organization that has rescued over 1,500 dogs from shelters and trained them as service dogs for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, matched Romero with Puppy — an Australian shepherd — in June. His wife, Brenda, who is a nurse practitioner in psychiatry, encouraged him to apply for a service dog. So far, O’Haire said, research based on participants from K9s for Warriors is showing that veterans with service dogs are struggling significantly less. And for those who are employed, there’s five times less absenteeism from work due to health.”But getting a service dog for veterans with PTSD is still a challenge. “The waitlist for service dogs on average tends to be two years.

Forum, founded in 1948 to ensure that Mexican American World War II veterans could access their government benefits. “Latinos have a long and honorable tradition of military service,” he said, “only somehow it is not as well-known as that of other groups. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, there are nearly 1.3 million Latino veterans, or about 8 percent of the veteran population. Issues for Latino veterans, Vazquez-Contes noted, range from accessing medical care through the Veterans Administration system to homelessness to suicide. “The promotion rates for the top enlisted ranks, and the top officer ranks, are just basically void of Hispanic names.”Ricardo Aponte of the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance.

☆ DeSantis' popularity among Latinos is boosting his chances of being the first Republican in 20 years to win Miami-Dade
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Carmen.Jpg | Carmen Sesin | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Ron DeSantis’ popularity among Latinos, saying they are boosting his chances of becoming the first Republican governor in 20 years to win traditionally blue Miami-Dade County and therefore propelling his chances of a successful presidential run in 2024. The last time a Republican governor won Miami-Dade County was Jeb Bush in 2002. “DeSantis overperforms here in a way that you don’t tend to see Republican candidates perform elsewhere with Hispanics,” he said. Faced with this, Florida Democrats have expressed frustration and anger over their limited resources and money from national donor groups. Hillary Clinton won Miami-Dade County by almost 30 points in 2016, but Biden won the county by only 7 points.

☆ Electric Vehicles Took Off. Car Makers Weren’t Ready
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Mike Colias | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Auto makers racing to turn out electric vehicles have generated long wait lists. Now they must try not to disappoint customers like Louie Figueroa. Mr. Figueroa put down a $100 refundable deposit on an F-150 Lightning soon after Ford Motor unveiled the electric pickup in May 2021, eager to use it for his construction job. But there is a long backlog, and it isn't clear when he’ll be able to actually order one.

☆ Airline passengers with disabilities share their travel nightmares: Being forgotten on planes, receiving damaged wheelchairs, or facing life-threatening injuries
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-22 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Wheelchair users are caught in the chaos, risking lost or damaged wheelchairs or even life-threatening injuries. Similar incidents have occurred, in which wheelchair users developed serious infections from an injury sustained during or after a flight, Brown said. On July 26, the Department of Transportation released the Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights, which outlines the ten fundamental rights of passengers with disabilities. Ansley added that it would also be ideal if wheelchair users could use their own wheelchair to fly. This could include carving a space at the beginning of the aircraft so that wheelchair users don't have to transfer to an aisle chair.

“It is pure visual silence,” said photographer Andres Figueroa. Taking along his mobile lighting studio, Figueroa photographed a series of religious festivals that take place every July in the Atacama. Photographer Andres Figueroa Miguel Hidalgo“I have always wanted to see the desert. These photos highlight the uniqueness of Andean culture, which draws influences from Europe, the Inca and more recently, Chinese traditions. “I felt the presence of love … their love and effort in communicating with their divinity and holding together as communities.”

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