- CRUNCH NETWORK
Building a smarter home
The Jetsons presented a highly entertaining vision of what homes of the future would look like. The animated television show anticipated a world where humans would be able to do everything with just the push of a button. In many ways, the show turned out to be prophetic; today we have printable food, video chats, smartwatches and robots that help with housework — and flying cars may… Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
Lessons from starting a company during the last downturn
I started my last company in mid-2009, just as the market was beginning to recover from the fallout of the financial crisis. In the past several years, surrounded by fast-growth startups with sky-high valuations, many of us forgot what the downturn felt like. Today, things are changing. Again, we’re facing economic uncertainty on a global scale. Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
Sesame Workshop is looking for startups that help kids
Sesame Workshop, the organization that brought to life the beloved “Sesame Street” and countless other programs, has announced a new venture arm to invest in apps that help children develop. Working jointly with venture capital firm Collaborative Fund (which has funded companies like Lyft and AltSchool), Sesame Workshop has formed a new organization called Collab+Sesame. Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
Why unicorns falter
In early February 2016, a study of financing deals reported by The Wall Street Journal found that investors are increasingly protecting themselves from IPOs that don’t perform as expected. This fallout is a continuation of the demise of the so-called “unicorn,” a tech startup with a pre-IPO valuation of over one billion dollars. Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
How international startups are supporting New York City
Immigrants make up 13.3 percent of the population in the U.S., which is the highest percentage the country has seen in more than 100 years. Now let’s put this into perspective: Thirty-six percent of all top tech founders in the U.S. are immigrants — almost triple the percentage of immigrants in the country. Many immigrants are pushing innovation in the U.S, aiding the country… Read More Meter Feeder lets you ditch coins and codes, pay for parking with GPS
Parking tickets actually earn cities less money than when people pay the meters like they should. The problem is that even new meters that let you pay by phone or credit are such a hassle that people don’t use them — and hope they don’t get caught. But Y Combinator startup Meter Feeder has built a way to pay for parking that is easier for citizens, cheaper for cities and… Read MoreCoach gives tutors and other freelancers tools to build an online business
If you’re a tutor looking to offer your services online, a startup called Coach aims to give you the tools you need. CEO Spencer Fry created a similar platform, in some ways, when he co-founded CarbonMade, which offers designers and artists an easy way to showcase their portfolios online. He said there’s a bigger challenge with Coach, though, because there are more pieces to… Read MoreYC-backed Perlstein Lab continues their rare disease drug discovery
Perlstein Lab, or PLab as it is also known, continues to hone its automated drug discovery platform and presents its latest iteration Wednesday March 23rd at Y Combinator Demo Day. The platform they created helps the bio startup focus on finding cures for rare diseases rather than common ones. This novel approach is different from most Big Pharma labs and is thus one of their differentiators. Read MoreStripe’s startup toolkit Atlas opens for business in Cuba
A month ago, payments company Stripe launched Atlas, a toolkit for startups to incorporate in the U.S. and lay the groundwork for growing their businesses online. Aimed largely at small enterprises outside of the U.S., Atlas is making a notable addition to the roster of countries covered under the program: from today, it will begin to accept Atlas applicants from Cuba, so that… Read More
Managed By Q gives five percent of the company equity to its Operators
Managed By Q, the company that lets you order on-demand cleaning services, IT help, handyman work and more all from an iPad in the office, has today announced a new stock option plan for its office and field Operators. The program, which will give back 5 percent of the company to Operators, applies to all employees of the company, regardless of role, starting on July 1, and the program… Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
Life, by subscription
The American dream is no longer for sale — but it is for rent. We are slowly going through a subtle shift in how the economy is owned and operated, with massive implications. On an average day, you may wake up, shower, dress, drive to work and return home. But the way you do it is changing: Where once you would own the car, the house and the clothes, you now have the option to live life… Read More WeWork’s second acquisition is Welkio, a digital sign-in system for offices
WeWork, the co-working space headquartered in New York and valued north of $5 billion, has today announced its second acquisition. The company will be acquiring Welkio, a digital sign-in system for guests at an office, which was actually built at a Hathway hackathon. Welkio was founded by two Hathway employees — Hathway is a WeWork member. After the Hackathon, Hathway employees… Read MoreIndian smartphone startup Creo releases more details about its new take on Android
Creo, the Indian startup that recently received $3 million in funding to create a new twist on Android, has unveiled its first smartphone, called the Mark 1. A promotional video has been posted, but the company hasn’t released hardware details yet. Founder Sai Srinivas tells TechCrunch that leaked specs cited in some reports are inaccurate, but emphasizes that Creo won’t compete… Read MoreFoodpanda acquires Delivery.com’s Hong Kong business
News of yet more movement among on-demand food startups: Rocket Internet-backed Foodpanda announced today that it has acquired Delivery.com’s Hong Kong business and will take over its operations there. Read MoreBumble launches contextual filters for profile pictures, starting with the 2016 presidential election
Swipe-based dating is hard work. With hundreds of potential suitors to swipe through, most of us just take a few seconds to glance at a picture and bio before we decide if we’re going to swipe left or right. So, to help users quickly make an informed decision about which way to swipe, Bumble is taking a page from Snapchat’s book and launching filters for users’ profile… Read MoreThe REVL Arc is a 4K smart action camera with a built-in gimbal
Part of the Y Combinator Winter 2016 class, REVL just launched a smart action camera that solves the two worst things about action cams: shaky footage and a cumbersome editing process. Developed by ex-NASA, Sikorsky and HP engineers, the REVL Arc has a built-in motorized gimbal to keep the camera’s view level with the horizon. Read More- CRUNCH NETWORK
Why Silicon Valley’s ‘unicorn problem’ will solve itself
The rise was like a tech startup fairytale. Within three years of founding, this unicorn company had raised more than $1 billion in venture capital — closing an astonishing $950 million in its final private round at a nearly $5 billion valuation. Revenue growth was skyrocketing from $30 million in year two to $713 million in year three and a run-rate of $2.6 billion in year four. Read More Airmada poised to show their automated drone concept at Y Combinator Demo Day
During an afternoon call with me, Airmada CEO Dan Danay, outlined his autonomous drone product offering that he and co-founder Boris Lipchin are preparing for Y Combinator Demo Day next week. They duo plan to disrupt the commercial drone market with everything from automated maritime deliveries to automated aerial photography and ship inspection.Read MoreMobli launches Galaxia, a social network that encourages users to create numerous personas
Most social media platforms deter users from creating multiple profiles to prevent shenanigans like harassment and fraud. Galaxia, however, wants people to create a new profile (which it calls a “persona”) for each facet of their identity. Created by photo-sharing network Mobli, the new iOS app (an Android version is in the works) acknowledges that people present different faces… Read MoreGoButler pivots to fully-automated service, starting with flight search and discovery
Late last week rumours began to spread that GoButler, the messaging-based virtual assistant that let you request anything on-demand, was heading to the deadpool, with March 11th the alleged date. Well, that day came and went and the startup is very much alive. Read More
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