Startups
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Medium acquires Talkshow Industries, with CEO Michael Sippey becoming Medium’s head of product
Medium has a new head of product, while the startup behind the defunct texting app Talkshow appears to be done for good. Talkshow Industries was led by Michael Sippey, who’d spent two years as vice president of product at Twitter. The company’s first product was the Talkshow app, which allowed you to follow other users’ text message conversations. Read More
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Instagram is down for some users
Instagram seems to be down for some users. According to the live outage map on Down Detector, the service is not performing well for some folks in the U.S. and Europe. While it went down for me for a hot second, it’s back up and running now. That said, Twitter is still freaking out, so it seems it may not be functioning properly for everyone at this time. Instagram has yet to say… Read More
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Google launches its own AI Studio to foster machine intelligence startups
A new week brings a fresh Google initiative targeting AI startups. We started the month with the announcement of Gradient Ventures, Google’s on-balance sheet AI investment vehicle. Two days later we watched the finalists of Google Cloud’s machine learning competition pitch to a panel of top AI investors. And today, Google’s Launchpad is announcing a new hands-on Studio program… Read More
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Stripe acquires Payable to help on-demand businesses manage 1099 tax reporting
With its Stripe Connect product, Stripe wants to make it easier for on-demand and marketplace businesses to not only process payments from their customers, but also make payments to contractors and vendors. In an effort to bolster the tax reporting tools available to them, the company has acquired long-term partner Payable. Read More
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Blue is a dating app for verified Twitter users
A new app is looking to romantically match folks who are verified Twitter users. Blue, by Loveflutter, has launched a new version of their existing dating app that only allows Twitter users with that little blue tick to search for love, and only amongst their fellow blue-tick holders. Loveflutter has actually been around for a while, pivoting from matches based on shared interests (innovative!)… Read More
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CPG investing platform CircleUp will now issue loans to help consumer brands grow
It’s hard raising money as a consumer packaged goods (CPG) company, but one startup wants to make it easier. CircleUp, which already helps consumer brands raise millions in equity financing, is now going to issue loans to help smaller CPG companies raise working capital and avoid cash crunches. Read More
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For startups, VC funding is always in season
We’ve entered the dog days of summer. For many, that means time on the beach, backyard barbecues and, if you’re like us, seeking out the blissful respite afforded by a solid air conditioning system. In the land of startups and venture capital, however, summer can mean something a bit different. Read More
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August Home raises another $25 million as it expands service partnerships for its smart locks
When August Home raised its last big round nearly two and half years ago, the smart lock maker was targeting retail expansion. That’s still part of the plan for the company’s new $25 million Series C, but the real story of this latest round is increasing focus on its partnership program, August Access. The service has already made some headway in the rental market, counting… Read More
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After raising $70M, Betterment expands financial advice to all users
On the heels of announcing a fresh $70 million in funding led by Swedish investment firm Kinnevik AB, Betterment is launching a new messaging feature that will allow users to ask questions and get answers from its team of financial advisors. On-demand delivery startup Jinn pulls out of ‘other markets outside London’
Jinn, the U.K. same-hour ‘shop on your behalf’ delivery app, has pulled out of all markets outside London, TechCrunch has learned. According to sources, the startup shut down operations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds as of yesterday, whilst I understand the Spanish team may have been let go, too. Read More
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