iWorld
HK-based Lamplight raises $1.49 million to drive social analytics in Asia
MUMBAI: Lamplight Analytics, a Hong Kong based social media analytics startup, has completed a seed funding round of $1.49 million, led by venture capital fund Vectr Ventures.
The investment is currently one of Hong Kong’s largest seed investment rounds ever. Other participants in the investment round included local and international firms, friends and family. The company plans to use the capital to accelerate its growth in Asia while further developing its proprietary technology.
Vectr Ventures’ Alan Chan says, “We invested in Lamplight because of their incredibly diverse and dynamic team. Their combined skills are perfect for tapping into this rapidly evolving, exponentially growing, demand driven market.”
Lamplight Analytics was founded by Sam Olsen (CEO), Fergus Clarke (COO) and Nathan Pacey (CTO) in 2014, after their experience in Asia revealed a lack of specialised tools designed to navigate Asia’s social media landscape. They created the Lamplight tool to address the complexities of social media analysis in Asia, stemming from language, culture, variety in social platforms, and geography, among other factors.
In less than a year, Lamplight Analytics has grown to over 15 staff at its Kennedy Town office and is currently working with numerous multinational and regional clients, including Live Nation, the world’s largest live music company.
Olsen said, “Lamplight helps our clients listen with a local ear, which provides enormous commercial advantage. Our tool allows you to understand what your customers and markets are really saying, helping you identify growth opportunities, set effective campaign goals, manage your online reputation, the applications are endless.”
Clarke added, “Bringing realtime insight to businesses on their target markets is incredibly useful in a region as diverse as ours. The investment ensures Hong Kong will be at the forefront of advances in this technology.”
Social analytics tools like Lamplight are using latest technologies to uncover value from the continuous conversation found on social media. Millions of social sources and data can now be aggregated and transformed to provide important brand and market insights such as brand sentiment, demographics, top influencers and other actionable insights, allowing brands to make quick and informed decisions, factors crucial in today’s fast paced business environment.
Major investments by both investors and brands into the social analytics are transforming the once niche industry. A study by global market research and consultancy Marketsandmarkets shows the social marketing analytics sector is projected to be worth at least $2.75 billion by 2019, growing at 35 per cent a year, with Asia second only to North America in terms of market size.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
