New border wall bill draws on Palmer Luckey’s new defense company

 After being ousted from the VR empire he built, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is wasting no time on his next project: building the wall. As CNN reports, Luckey’s newfound interest in defense is evident in the Secure Miles with All Resources and Technology (SMART) Act, proposed by Texas Representative Will Hurd. Hurd partnered with other Republican representatives from border states… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

The Wizards of Armageddon set up shop in Silicon Valley

 The Research and Development Corporation (RAND) has helped the U.S. think through some of the toughest scientific and regulatory challenges since the 1940s. This year, the think tank is opening its first office in the SF Bay Area. It’s positioning itself to weigh in on some of Silicon Valley’s largest research projects, like autonomous vehicles, drones, AI, cybersecurity and… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Lost My Name, the tech-driven kids book publisher, raises $8.5M and partners with Roald Dahl Estate

 Lost My Name, the London-based startup that uses tech to create and publish personalised story books for children, has raised $8.5 million in Series B funding. It is also revealing an upcoming tie-in with the Roald Dahl Estate, owners of IP such as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Spotify preps to go public with 60M subscribers, outpacing Apple

 Spotify’s singular focus on music sees it adding subscribers faster than the iPhone company with a streaming app on the side. Spotify has added 20 million paid subscribers in under a year, while it’s taken Apple Music over a year and a half to make that progress. Spotify now has 60 million subscribers, compared to Apple Music’s 27 million as of June. Spotify’s ability… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Balkan startups offer free housing service after football price-gouging row

 Football (or soccer) fans wanting to attend UEFA Super Cup 2017 in Skopje last week found that many of their hotel rooms were cancelled and rebooked at astronomical rates – sometimes 500 to 900 GBP for a hotel room that was originally a fraction of that. In order to fight back against a tarnished global image (and because they are cool people), a group in Skopje, WeTalkIT, created a… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Sick of SoundCloud? Anchor offers podcast transfer with free hosting

 SoundCloud is on shaky financial footing, saying it only has enough money to last a few more months unless someone buys or invests in it. That’s sure to cause anxiety in content creators with their life’s work stored on SoundCloud. Now some new startups are nipping at SoundCloud’s heels by focusing on podcasting in ways the music streaming service never did. Anchor is a… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

What should you do before tomorrow’s Bitcoin split?

 August 1st is almost upon us and the great Bitcoin “hard fork” is about to confuse the heck out of the casual cryptocurrency observer. Here’s what you should know. Quite simply, if you are using an exchange that is explicitly in support of the Bitcoin Cash or you control your own private keys then you are fine. If you are keeping your bitcoin on an exchange, like Coinbase,… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

What sucks about the design industry and insights to fast-track your career

 We use the 25th and final episode to sit down and ask each other 10 questions, similar to those we’ve been asking our guests over the past 24 weeks. From how we both got started as designers, to the lessons that have had the most profound impact on our careers. Ghoshal breaks down the three things he takes into consideration when accepting — or even considering — a potential… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

With 200M daily users, Giphy will soon test sponsored GIFs

 And it’s about time. Giphy, the four-year-old search engine for GIFs, is going to finally start testing monetization. According to a source close to the company, Giphy will begin testing sponsored GIFs within messaging experiences. This means that users who search for GIFs may be served a sponsored GIF within the messaging tab. There are some obvious use-cases here: A search for… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Ding’s ‘smart enough’ doorbell raises $345k+ on Seedrs

 Ding, a London-based hardware startup, has raised more than £263,000 (~$345k) via the Seedrs equity crowdfunding platform as it works to get its first product — a wi-fi connected doorbell — to market this year. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

SimplyCook, a recipe kit with flavour ingredients instead of fresh food, raises further £2M

 SimplyCook, the recipe kit with a flavoursome difference, has raised £2 million in further funding. Investors in the round are Maxfield Capital, Episode 1 Ventures, 500 Startups, and a handful of unnamed U.K. angels. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

N26 partners with Auxmoney to offer credit to more customers

 Fintech startup N26 is trying to build the bank of the future. It is slowly but surely adding features to provide everything you’d expect from a bank. N26 already offers consumer credit loans in Germany if you’re a creditworthy employee. And starting today, N26 users who are self-employed, freelancers, students and more can also request a loan thanks to Auxmoney. If you’re… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Revolut’s $5.3 million crowdfunding campaign is oversubscribed

 Fintech startup Revolut just raised a ton of money. But grabbing $66 million from respected VC firms wasn’t enough (£50 million). For the second time, Revolut asked its user base to invest in the startup. Revolut was looking for $5.3 million on Seedrs (£4 million), but 40,000 customers said that they were interested in the investment opportunity. If Revolut took all the money, it… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

A disappointed Pokémon GO Fest attendee has proposed class-action lawsuit against Niantic

 For many, Pokémon GO is so summer 2016. But at least 20,000 people are still die-hard fans of the game, as proven by their participation in Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago’s Grant Park last week. Unfortunately, the event was a disappointment to many attendees, who could not get data service and ended up waiting on long lines without the AR-based game to keep them entertained. And beyond… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Carwow, a UK startup that helps you buy a new car, raises $39M Series C

 Carwow, a platform to that helps you buy a new car, has closed $39 million in Series C funding. The round was led by new investor Vitruvian Partners, with existing investors Accel Partners and Balderton Capital also participating. At today’s exchange rate it brings total funding to approximately $62.6 million. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Startups want to change what you insure and how you insure it

 In an insurer’s ideal world, there’d be a profitable policy for every conceivable risk. Click once, and you’re covered. But in the real world, insurance hasn’t kept up with the changes of recent years. The millennial generation has entered adulthood intent on completing — online — any complex transaction in a couple of minutes. But insurance policies look… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

I’m going to do exactly what this travel startup tells me to do

 I’m gearing up for another trip, but instead of taking a sleep pod bus, I’m flying (like a normal person) to Berlin. I’m going with my mom, who has never been out of the country, so I want to make sure it’s a good trip. That’s where Journy, founded by Leiti Hsu and Susan Ho, comes in. Journy is essentially a travel startup for millennials that is designed to… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Authory wants to help journalists raise their voices

 Journalists wanting a neat way to back up and showcase their writing should take a look at Authory: a new service that promises to save your work from tumbling into a digital abyss — i.e. being buried 10,000 leagues down, folded under the ceaseless deluge of new data, where few eyeballs stray. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Dear Floyd Mayweather, you’re why the SEC exists

 Dear Floyd Mayweather, While perusing Facebook, I chanced across your post drumming up interest in the upcoming Stox initial coin offering (ICO). I understand your motivations in wanting to diversify your portfolio of investments, but I caution that your actions are reckless and potentially financially damaging to you and your fans. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Gas pump card skimmer now phones home

 In an unsurprising move by credit card thieves police have found a new credit card skimmer that sends stolen data via SMS. By tearing apart cheap phones, crooks are able to send credit card information to their location instantly without having to access the skimmer physically or rely on an open Bluetooth connection. Brian Krebs received images of the skimmer from an unnamed source. They… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Foxconn’s long con

 Foxconn CEO Terry Gou and President Trump recently announced a plan to bring 3,000 jobs to Wisconsin at what appears to be a flat screen manufacturing plant. The political press ate it up, alternatively excoriating the program for costing too much in tax breaks and crowing a win for Wisconsin’s conservative governor, Scott Walker. I wouldn’t encourage either party to hold their… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Life Bot’s new Alexa app can text you reminders, help with daily activities

A new voice app from Life Bot wants to make it easier to use Amazon Alexa as a digital assistant, by aiding with your daily routines and learning your personal preferences. At launch, Life Bot’s Alexa app has a handful of tricks up its sleeve. But Life Bot’s longer-term ambition is to learn from its users, then be able to kick-off personalized workflows with a single voice command. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Placecast launches new product to verify the location data in mobile ad campaigns

 Alistair Goodman, CEO of mobile marketing company Placecast, said location data is the “next frontier” when it comes to ad measurement and verification. For example, Goodman pointed to a study by Factual and the Mobile Marketing Association that found that 40 percent of marketers are concerned about the quality of location data. He said there are a number of different… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Stitch Fix has confidentially filed for an IPO

 Stitch Fix has filed confidentially for an initial public offering, setting itself up for another big test for the IPO market in the near future, sources tell TechCrunch. While we don’t know exactly when Stitch Fix will go public, we do know that a handful of companies are planning to go between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Stitch Fix only recently hired its CFO, Paul Yee, in June —… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

CocuSocial is a marketplace for affordable cooking classes

 CocuSocial was founded on a simple premise: traditional cooking classes, while fun, are usually way too expensive and intensive. This means that many potential customers may be scared away by thinking they can’t afford a cooking class or it’s going to be geared towards participants with a higher skill set. And this is partially true – classes at places like Sur la Table can… Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com

Eero acquihires smart home management startup Thington

 Mesh WiFi router company Eero wants to provide an easy way for consumers to connect and connect with all the smart devices in their home. As it looks to build more intelligence around how those devices interact, the company has acquihired the team behind smart home management app Thington. Read More Post by startupsnows.blogspot.com