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The insurance tech equation
Insurance policies can be complex, and some policyholders may not understand all the fees and coverages included in a policy. Indeed, people typically buy policies on unfavorable terms. In 2014, two major insurers, Blue Shield and Cigna of California, were sued for misrepresentation of the coverage network, which caused delays for their consumers in accessing needed health care. Yet… Read More - CRUNCH NETWORK
The gig economy as a driver of innovation
If you are reading this article, chances are you have taken an Uber, are familiar with Upwork and maybe even sold something on Etsy. Business models that fall under the “gig economy” umbrella have been proven for business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer markets because they make it possible to crowdsource products and services from huge communities of people. Read More Slack’s growth is insane, with daily user count up 3.5X in a year
Plenty of startups have tried and failed to make enterprise software sexy, but Slack made it viral. Its growth rate is unheard of. Both Slack’s daily user count and its paid seat count are up 3.5X in just a year. Tons of people have still never heard of it, but with this momentum, they probably will soon (it’s workplace chat). What the growth means for Slack is network effect. Read MorePalaround lets anyone build their own Tinder-like app
Palaround began its life as one of what’s now many companies attempting to be the “Tinder for finding friends” — a list that now includes Tinder’s dating app rival, Bumble, in fact. But recently, the startup began rolling out a new product focused instead on bringing the Tinder swipe model to private organizations. A pivot from the earlier general purpose… Read MoreThe top 5 startups from Y Combinator Fellowship’s Virtual Demo Day
Pre-natal genetic testing, VR drones, and fracking nanoparticles were a few of the products featured in Y Combinator’s first Virtual Demo Day. They come from the YC Fellowship, a program designed to let the startup school help idea- or prototype-stage companies, beyond the full-fledged businesses in its main accelerator. The 8-week full-time fellowship mostly offers remote guidance… Read MoreManaged By Q, the digital office administrator, raises $25 million
Less than a year after raising a hefty Series A, Managed By Q is today announcing the raise of a $25 million Series B round from GV and Kapor Ventures. Former TechCrunch writer MG Siegler is joining the board as part of the deal. Managed By Q is a service that handle all the extra responsibilities that come along with running an office. From re-stocking toilet paper and soap to office cleanings… Read MoreCHKN, letting you build and raise creatures, is betaworks’ latest game
betaworks doesn’t often launch games, but when they do, it tends to stick. Just take Dots, for example, which ended up spinning out of betaworks as its own game studio. Today, the startup studio is launching its second game in the form of CHKN. Imagine that Minecraft had a baby with a Tamagotchi from the 90s and you’ll have a pretty clear idea of how CHKN works. It’s a… Read MoreKrablr pivots to crab pricing messaging app for millennials
Krablr started off as a promising real-time crab pricing engine for amateur fishermen. After a long beta period and a $5 million round with Sequoia leading the round and Scranton Angels also investing, the startup is pivoting to focus on millennials going forward.Read More
John Borthwick, Naveen Selvadurai, and Heather Hartnett to school us on startup studios at TC Disrupt NY
Some of the most influential and successful companies in the game have come out of startup studios. Just look at Giphy, Reserve, and Operator. But what makes a startup studio successful? At Disrupt NY in May, we aim to find out. Betaworks’ John Borthwick, Expa’s Naveen Selvadurai, and Human Ventures’ Heather Hartnett will be joining us for a panel called “How A… Read MoreYammer co-founder Adam Pisoni raises $4.5 million for Abl Schools
A co-founder and former CTO of Yammer, Adam Pisoni, quietly raised a $4.5 million first round of venture funding for his new education tech startup in January. This week, he revealed what Always Be Learning Inc., known as Abl Schools, is working on. Read MoreKik CEO Ted Livingston to discuss the future of mobile messaging at Disrupt NY 2016
Messaging is the hot topic of 2016, which is why we’re tremendously excited to announce that Ted Livingston, the founder and CEO of popular chat app Kik, is confirmed as a speaker at our upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt event in New York from May 9-11. Read MoreDraftKings and FanDuel strike a deal with NCAA to suspend all college contests
DraftKings and FanDuel, the two largest providers of daily fantasy sports in the U.S., have simultaneously announced that they reached a deal with the NCAA to temporarily suspend college sports on both platforms after this weekend’s March Madness tournament ends. While the contests weren’t necessarily a large portion of each platform (NCAA contests constitute just three percent… Read MoreFlex is a tampon alternative you can wear during sex
Things can get messy if you have sex on your period, so many couples avoid it. But The Flex Company wants to replace outdated pads and tampons with a sleek, disc-shaped blood blocker. Flex can be worn during sex to prevent making a mess. The Flex discs are disposable, can be worn for up to 12 hours and even come in a stylish little packet. They’re doctor-approved to be… Read MorePostmates launches Amazon Prime-style subscription service, hits 1 million monthly deliveries
Postmates, which is now completing 1 million deliveries a month, is digging in deeper to the e-commerce space with the launch of Postmates Plus Unlimited, a $9.99 per month subscription service that gets you free deliveries on all “Plus” orders over $30, minus the service fee. Plus merchants include American Apparel and thousands of other partners in the Postmates preferred… Read MoreBlispay, the financing program for SMBs, raises $12.75M in seed funding
Big box retailers like Best Buy and Target have all kinds of financing card programs for their customers. But smaller and medium-sized merchants have no way to give their customers the same kind of financing plans. Until now. Blispay is a new startup founded by Greg Lisiewski, formerly of BillMeLater, which was acquired by PayPal for nearly $1 billion in 2008. From that point, he served as… Read MoreMission 360 is a VOD platform for yoga, meditation, fitness classes
We all want to be in better shape, but the commitment of going to a gym or a yoga class can be costly and time-consuming. Mission 360 is looking to eliminate all of the friction involved with working out, letting users do it from their homes through on-demand video classes.Read MoreInvestors pour $70 million into Juicero, a smart kitchen appliance maker
Juicero.com, a food tech startup that makes Internet-connected kitchen appliances, raised $70 million in Series B funding in a round led by Artis Ventures. Juicero’s flagship product is a $699 countertop device that cold presses juice out of “packs” of already prepped fruit and veggies. Read MoreSoftBank Ventures Korea-backed learning app developer Knowre partners with Sylvan Learning
Knowre, a learning app startup founded in Seoul, has taken a big step forward in its American expansion plans. The company announced today that its math programs, which give kids personalized recommendations, will be used in Sylvan Learning tutoring centers. Sylvan is the largest paid tutoring company in the U.S. by market share, with more than 800 locations. Read More
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