Channel Brief: Alkami Buys Mantl for $400 Million

Mozilla's new CEO, Laura Chambers, is touting the company's Firefox browser's corporate independence as a major selling point -- not to mention new features that should start dropping this month.

“We’re independent and nonprofit,” Chambers told Fast Company in an interview at Web Summit Qatar. “We’re the only browser not backed by billionaires.”

Chambers went on to outline upcoming browser features that should also help the non-profit compete, including an option to display open browser tabs in a column running down the left side of the browser window instead of across the top (which Microsoft's Edge currently offers). Another new feature is a sidebar tool that allows users to switch between AI chatbots to address quick queries.

And, Fast Company said, later this year, Mozilla plans to address a longstanding user request: Support for tab groups (for example, “recipes” or “shopping”) that you can create and then open or close as you need them. Safari already does this, but Firefox users must install an extension.

Sounds like something worth keeping an eye on!

As always, drop me a line at [email protected] if you have news to share or want to say hi!

Grab your coffee. Here's what you need to know today.

Today’s Tech, Channel and MSP News

1. Alkami acquires Mantl: Alkami, a digital banking services provider, has acquired fintech startup Mantl, an app that allows users to quickly open accounts at credit unions and community banks. The deal is expected to close by the end of March. Mantl will operate as a separate business unit, directly reporting to Nathaniel Harley, the company's current CEO, who will directly report to Alkami CEO Alex Shootman. New York-based Mantl — also known as Fin Technologies — has raised more than $96 million in funding over its lifetime, according to PitchBook. Its last publicly announced fundraising was in January 2023, an extension to its Series B round in which it was valued at $345 million, according to PitchBook. Investors include CapitalG (Alphabet’s independent growth fund), Flourish Ventures, D1 Capital Partners, BoxGroup, Point72 Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, and OldSlip Group, among others. 

2. JFrog validates Hugging Face models: JFrog is partnering with Hugging Face to integrate ML model scanning into its supply chain security platform. As ML models and datasets increasingly become part of the application development process, they need to be validated and secured like any other component. JFrog Xray and JFrog Advanced Security scan AI/ML model artifacts for threats including model serialization attacks, known CVEs, backdoors, and more. Now Hugging Face will use JFrog Advanced Security scans in its Hugging Face Hub, so each model is scanned before download or use.

3. Actian updates data platform: Following its acquisition of Zeenea last year, Actian, the data division of HCLSoftware, today announced updates to its Actian Data Intelligence Platform (formerly known as the Zeenea Data Discovery Platform). The platform includes centralized data catalogs, active metadata management, data quality and lineage, data governance, and enterprise data marketplace capabilities. The platform can help users automate data discovery and support governed data usage while remaining secure and compliant.

4. Netskope enhances NewEdge infrastructure: Netskope today announced new enhancements to its carrier-grade NewEdge infrastructure and its Netskope One Digital Experiences Management (DEM) capabilities. Netskope said it is expanding its NewEdge private cloud footprint with multiple new regions and Localization Zones, adding AI-driven digital experience management capabilities for better performance, security and user experience and beefing up infrastructure to protect against natural disasters and cable cuts for better resilience.

5. OTAVA's new field CTO: Cloud solutions provider OTAVA has named Alan Conboy to the role of field CTO. His full title will be Field CTO for Edge Computing and Data Protection. Conboy will direct OTAVA’s edge computing strategy toward helping organizations modernize their applications and seeking alternatives for Broadcom/VMware. He will also focus on customer experience with OTAVA’s data protection solutions. Congratulations!

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