Tencent announced another impressive quarter of financials yesterday, but the Chinese internet giant — which is creeping towards a $500 billion market cap — made other financial moves this week. Reuters reported that the firm invested $150 million Chinese cinema ticketing startup Maoyan, which was created from a merger between dominant players Maoyan and Tencent-backed Weiying… Read More
from TechCrunch
Some of the biggest names in technology are all in on voice-controlled devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, but Roxy, a Seattle-based startup believes that businesses need a voice system where they control the data and the voice commands are designed for their specific requirements. They announced $2.2 M in seed funding today. The company has built its own modular hardware and… Read More
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Kickstarter hasn’t done a lot with Drip since acquiring the service from the Ghostly International record label a year and a half ago. Since then, the site has mostly continued its mission of helping bands and labels fund their projects through a subscription-based plan, with little input from its new owners. Today, however, Kickstarter’s hitting the reset button on the service. Read More
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Two companies are better than one: Perkbox, the U.K. startup that helps companies engage and reward employees and customers, has acquired London-based Loyalty Bay, which offers a SaaS platform for the automated delivery of digital rewards. Read More
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Qualcomm is continuing its charm offensive in China, a critical market where it has suffered hard blows in recent years including a $1 billion anti-trust fine, after it announced a flurry of new investments.
These are chaotic times for Qualcomm, which is fielding unwanted acquisition interest from Broadcom and battling Apple in court, but today it put the focus back on supporting upcoming… Read More
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SendGrid, the Denver-based marketing email company, raised $131 million after pricing its IPO at $16, above the expected range of $13.50 to $15.50. The company also upsized its IPO, selling 8.2 million shares, instead of 7.7 million. The company begins trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker, “SEND.” SendGrid helps businesses send marketing emails. It says… Read More
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A class action lawsuit has been filed against Uber, claiming that the company hasn’t done enough to inform the public about alleged harassment and assault by drivers. The legal complaint, filed by Wigdor LLP on behalf of two plaintiffs, alleges that “thousands of female passengers have endured unlawful conduct by their Uber drivers including rape, sexual assault, physical violence… Read More
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Poshmark, the app for fashion consignment, has raised another $87.5 million in funding led by Singapore-based Temasek. Menlo Ventures, GGV Capital, Mayfield and others also participated.
Having raised $160 million to date, the startup is well-capitalized and plans to use the money to build out its stylist-matching technology. Poshmark is launching voice integration with Amazon’s Alexa… Read More
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Why count inventory when the robots can do it? Retailers are using machines from a startup called Bossa Nova Robotics to analyze what’s selling on the shelves. The robots drive autonomously through store aisles figuring out what has sold and then sends back data. The company is now raising $17.5 million Series B led by Paxion to scale its business. Intel Capital, Cota Capital and others… Read More
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Lofelt, a Berlin-based startup that is developing ‘next-generation’ haptic technology for use in a range of products — including gaming, AR, VR, automobile, consumer electronics, toys, medical, and entertainment — has raised $5.4 million in Series A funding. Leading the round is Wolfman.One, with participation from Q Venture Partners, Coparion, and previous backer… Read More
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