Ron Conway, Tencent, and Paul Graham aren’t getting their money back, and that’s the point. They’re part of today’s $3.5 million round that’s actually a donation to fund the operations of Watsi, Y Combinator’s first non-profit that hosts crowfunding of medical treatment for people in need around the world. Rather than constantly hitting up donors for money… Read More
from TechCrunch
Jet, looking to go toe-to-toe with Amazon, is reportedly raising $500 million on a $1 billion pre-money valuation. Fortune reports that Fidelity is leading the round, which has been rumored for quite a while and which Jet has previously confirmed was in the works. Jet is an ecommerce platform that was founded by Marc Lore, who sold his last ecommerce business Quidsi to Amazon for $545 million… Read More
from TechCrunch
Wireless router startup eero had several announcements for its supporters this morning, including an official FCC approval, and a delay in shipment of its product to early next year. The company also disclosed it had raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $35 million in funding from Playground Global, Redpoint Ventures and Shasta Ventures. The startup didn’t want to talk… Read More
from TechCrunch
French startup Zenchef helps restaurants build out their online presence, including website creation tools and the ability to take bookings direct. The latter offers an alternative to relying purely on online reservation platforms such as Opentable or Lafourchette, which, incidentally, have also ventured out into the B2B space. Read More
from TechCrunch
Outerwall, the automated kiosk operator that runs Redbox, Coinstar and ecoATM machines, has made a move into e-commerce with the acquisition of Gazelle.com – an online site that buys and sells pre-owned consumer electronics, including smartphones, tablets, desktop and laptop computers. The company announced the deal in its most recent earnings, noting that Outerwall had agreed to… Read More
from TechCrunch
Short videos, looping videos and GIFs are some of the hottest types of user-generated content on the web today, and have everyone from Instagram to Twitter and even Facebook and Google getting involved in offering support and tools for creators. Today, a new app called SPUN wants to capitalize on this growing trend by allowing users to mash up videos from their phone along with topical… Read More
from TechCrunch
John McGuire had never golfed before, but he had a background in sports psychology and big data. And it was that combination that eventually drove him to start Active Mind Technology, a sports technology company that first launched with a golf shot-tracking product. Now Active Mind Technology is coming out today with an updated live-tracking golf shot device that attaches to golf clubs and… Read More
from TechCrunch
Like WiFi before it, could wireless charging be the next value-add for coffee shops and other public venues? One startup banking on that being the case is London-headquartered Chargifi, which is building out a wireless charging network. Read More
from TechCrunch
Body Labs, the company that turns your picture into a true-to-life 3D body scan, is announcing the close of an $8 million round of Series A funding led by Intel Capital, with participation from FirstMark Capital, Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH, Osage University Partners, and Catalus Capital. Body Labs technology is able to garner a fully realistic 3D body scan, complete with wrinkles and back… Read More
from TechCrunch
Location-pinpointing platform what3words has closed a $3.5 million Series A funding round led by Intel Capital. It brings the total raised by the U.K. startup, which was only founded back in July 2013, to $5 million, after it topped up its initial $500,000 seed with a further $1 million last year. Read More
from TechCrunch