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Nest’s CEO Calls Its Tech The “Conscious Home” Because “It’s Not Smarter Than You”
The leader of the “smart home” industry doesn’t want to call it that any more. Nest CEO Tony Fadell says his company uses the term “Conscious Home” because its connected thermostat and smoke alarm create a two-way relationship with users where both help and teach each other. “We call it the conscious home. Smart is overused. It’s not smarter than… Read More
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Sproutkin Ditches Its “Netflix For Kids’ Books” Service, Moves Into Digital Subscriptions
Parents weren’t interested in a “Netflix for Children’s Books” service, apparently. A company called Sproutkin, which launched in spring of 2013 offering shipments of just under a dozen books which parents paid for on a monthly basis but could return at any time for a new batch. The idea was that, in their younger years, kids quickly outgrew their books, and this would… Read More
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“You Can’t Bootstrap This Business” Says Marley Spoon CEO, After Recipe-Kit Service Scoops Up $5M Series A
Despite taking at least two fatalities in the U.K. — both Housebites and Dinnr dead-pooled earlier this year — the cook-at-home food delivery startup idea looks like it’s here to stay. After Shuttlecook launched in London earlier this week, the latest to throw its chef’s hat in the ring is Marley Spoon, which has expanded beyond Germany, to launch in the U.K., and… Read More
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IO, The Natural-Language Social Concierge For Restaurants, Launches Private Beta In NYC
IO, one of our European Disrupt Battlefield companies from this year, is today expanding across the pond to open up the beta to New Yorkers. The company developed a product that lets you ask about restaurants in a chat conversation that easily recognizes and speaks in natural language. When IO first presented at TC Disrupt, it was hard to believe that it was a program and not a human chatting… Read More
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Managed By Q, The Platform For Office Management, Closes $1.65M Seed Round
There are tons of products and services out there that make an office more efficient, from specialized industry software to something as simple as an Amazon Prime membership. But there’s no service that comprehensively handles the maintenance and everyday care of the actual space. That’s where Managed By Q comes in. The startup just raised $1.65 million in seed funding from… Read More
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Kiip Looks Beyond Mobile Ads, Lands Strategic Funding From Verizon Ventures And Michael Lazerow
Kiip bills itself as “mobile advertising people like,” but now it’s trying to apply that model outside of advertising itself.
The startup is also announcing that it has raised an undisclosed amount of strategic funding from Verizon Ventures and Michael Lazerow, co-founder of Buddy Media. (As part of Salesforce, which acquired Buddy, Lazerow had an announcement of his own today.) Read More
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Uber Says It Won’t Look At User Data Except For “Legitimate Business Purposes”
While much of the fallout from BuzzFeed’s recent Uber expose has focused on vice president Emil Michael’s suggestion that the company could dig up dirt on critical journalists, the story included something that could be equally concerning — the fact that Uber’s New York City manager accessed the profile of a BuzzFeed reporter without their permission. On some level,… Read More
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Merkle Acquires Loyalty Startup 500friends
Customer relationship management company Merkle announced today that it has acquired startup 500friends.
The startup’s LoyaltyPlus platform allows businesses to run customer loyalty programs in stores, online, and on mobile. It also allows them to identify the customers that are likely to have the highest lifetime value. Read More
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Ad Optimization Startup Boost Media Raises $19M More
Boost Media announced earlier today that it has raised $19 million in Series C funding.
The company allows advertisers to find the best version of their search ad — it tests variants created by a network of freelance copywriters and designers, identifies the versions with the most clicks or highest conversion rates, then promotes them in a broader campaign. Read More
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Uber CEO Says Exec’s Threats To Journalists “Showed A Lack Of Humanity” But Doesn’t Fire Him
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has responded to the controversy caused by Uber Exec Emil Michael suggesting the company should dig up dirt on journalists who criticize it, including PandoDaily’s editor Sarah Lacy. In a tweetstorm, he said that “Emil’s comments at the recent dinner party were terrible and do not represent the company…His remarks showed a lack of leadership, a… Read More
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