China’s hypersonic missile; Klarna’s UK update; and a chat on Canada’s startup visa as a gateway to the US for Indian founders

China has amped-up its military technology race against the US, demonstrating advanced space capabilities with the test of a new hypersonic missile in August, the Financial Times reports. The missile missed its target by about 24 miles, but the test demonstrated China had made “astounding progress” on hypersonic weapons and was far more advanced than US officials realised, according to the report. Hypersonic missiles fly at low-altitude trajectories at more than five times the speed of sound. The missile tested by China is said to be of a type that is manoeuvrable and does not follow a fixed trajectory, making it harder to track and defend against. The FT’s report is behind a paywall, but was cited by Business Insider. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s LinkedIn unit is shutting down its current localised version in China due to “a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements,” the company said in a blog post last week. LinkedIn will open a new jobs app, called InJobs, that will not have the social media features of a feed or sharing any posts or articles, according to the company. Klarna, a Swedish fintech startup built around a buy-now-pay-later product, is introducing a number of changes to its product in the UK, as British financial regulators prepare to tighten rules on the fast-growing practice of offering loans on the go to consumers typically for ecommerce purchases. Buy now pay later is surging in markets including India, where Amazon, Flipkart and Paytm all offer the product. Backed by some of the world’s biggest investors, including SoftBank Group, Klarna has risen to become one of the world’s most valuable startups. Among the changes it is implementing is stronger credit checks. Klarna said in a press release that it will also introduce the option for users to pay for things in one go, and make it more clear to users that buy-now-pay-later is basically a loan that they will have to repay. Arcana Network, a blockchain startup that offers a decentralised storage and data privacy platform for Ethereum and EVM compatible app developers, has raised $2.3 million in fresh funding, the company said in a press release. The investment was led by Republic Crypto and Woodstock Fund, and also saw participation from Digital Currency Group, Hyperedge, Paradigm Shift VC and others. Arcana was founded by Mayur Relekar, Aravindh Kumar, and Abhishek Chaudhary in 2019. It will use the money to expand its team, strengthen its product portfolio, build a community of developers and launch its XAR token. Interview: Canada’s Startup Visa — a gateway to the US for Indian startups(3:26) One of the ways Indian startups could crack the North American market is to start with Canada, where a startup-friendly visa programme allows entrepreneurs to tap a vibrant local ecosystem of finance as well as STEM talent, Esha Chopra, director for strategy and marketing at the Toronto Business Development Centre, tells Forbes India in our interview today. Founders can find flexibility in terms of not only the stipulations for their business but also on the family front, as they can bring in spouses and children and get on a faster path to permanent residency status, Esha says.