Remember “Bang With Friends?” The controversial app, which later rebranded as Down, was acquired by Singapore-based dating startup Paktor (they’re, um… hooking up). The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but we’re told it was several million. After raising just $1 million, it was a “positive outcome” for investors like Tim Draper. Paktor has pulled… Read More
from TechCrunch
UK startup Lobster is gearing up to scale its user generated content licensing marketplace, as it closes a £1 million Series A. It’s expecting to have closed out the round next week, with 85 per cent of the funding committed at this point and only its decision on the last few investors outstanding. Read More
from TechCrunch
Travel tech startup FLYR raised $8 million in Series A funding for technology that predicts the price of airfares by applying artificial intelligence to a database of both open industry data and a proprietary collection of year’s of past prices and fluctuations. The funding round was led by a Peter Thiel fund, and according to an SEC filing, Thiel Capital Principal Phin Upham was involved… Read More
from TechCrunch
Originally positioned as a medium for projects to garner modest seed funding from a diverse group of supporters, crowdfunding platforms have evolved. Yes, crowdfunding has produced some inspiring success stories. However, it also has facilitated the transfer of significant sums of money to teams that ultimately proved themselves to be incompetent, leaving backers with nothing. Read More
from TechCrunch
A new company named Sigma, founded by alumni of mobile app search engine Quixey, aims to take records and certifications currently trapped in the analog world and bring them online. To do so, the company has raised $4.35 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz and other investors. The idea originated in late 2014, during a scuba trip in Belize that Sigma cofounder and… Read More
from TechCrunch
Some news today from Dwolla, the startup that bypasses banks (and now sometimes works with them) to provide payments and money transfers with reduced fees. The company has raised another round of funding of $6.85 million, and at the same time it’s announcing the relaunch of its API as a white-label service, which it is now calling Access API. The funding round was led by previous… Read More
from TechCrunch
Enterprise tech startups unveiled their products and pitched investors at Alchemist Accelerator’s 14th demo day in Santa Clara, Calif. today. The companies ranged from a Stanford AI labs spinout, Eloquent Labs, to the hardware-makers like Amber Agriculture and PubInno, to lots of software-as-a-service and cybersecurity developers, more like you’d expect from an… Read More
from TechCrunch
Shortly after downloading the Tandem app I’m trying to explain the finer points of using the English auxiliary verb ‘will’ in a messaging chat with Juan, 35, from the Dominican Republic… Read More
from TechCrunch
Keenon Werling would be the first to agree that conversational AI is regularly overhyped. So instead of taking the traditional approach and gloating about a glitzy new deeper learning algorithm to pitch his new venture Eloquent Labs, Werling instead opted to differentiate by optimizing something far more low-tech, people. The startup’s special sauce is embracing a mix of AI,… Read More
from TechCrunch
Oracle acquired API management startup Apiary today for an undisclosed amount. Apiary, which launched in 2011 and has raised a modest $8.5 million, helps companies manage APIs, which is an increasingly important job. As every company becomes a software company, they are building platforms and providing ways for customers and third-parties to build applications using their technologies.… Read More
from TechCrunch