With early-stage capital front-loading the EdTech investment spectrum, it’s a good time to start an education business. (Even if investors are still wary about doling out larger rounds, but ssshhh on that bit.) Of course, when it comes to education, many entrepreneurs are still green. It’s not as easy as it may seem to learn the landscape and understand how best to maneuver lengthy sales cycles… → Read More
BrightBytes has been on a mission to “improve the way the world learns through data” — and, in turn, to help schools solve their technological woes. To do that, the San Francisco-based learning analytics startup provides schools with the tools and services they need to be able to more effectively measure the impact of technology on the learning process. → Read More
Method, a Toronto-based CRM solution, today announced the closing of a $3 million dollar investment round led by Klass Capital. The company, which is the number-one rated such app for Intuit’s QuickBooks platform, will be using the cash injection to help it jumpstart a platform redesign, and the development of integrations with other leading bookkeeping software like Wave, Xero, FreshBooks and… → Read More
Today, it seems that everyone you know has their own startup. While this might be good for the economy long-term, it also has the makings of a talent drain. As more and more startups hit the scene, companies find themselves in a war for talent — especially of the technical variety — making it seemingly impossible to secure those top engineers, designers and data scientists.
Y Combinator founder Paul Graham tweeted today that the accelerator’s 464 startup graduates (prior to its current batch) have raised an average of $3.18 million in funding each, which means YC’s companies have landed a total of just under $1.5 billion. → Read More
Young (kind of), NY-based TechCrunch team seeking approximately 800 tech-enthused attendees for the next TechCrunch meetup, where entrepreneurs will participate in a 60-second pitch-off competition, vying for a spot in our Disrupt NY conference.
If that sounds like you (and I know it does), get ready for a night of booze, tech talk, pitches, and some good old-fashioned fun. We’ve been doing… → Read More
Communitech Hyperdrive, a newer Waterloo-based incubator program that graduated its first cohort of startups last year, today unveiled the second class of companies that will be able to take advantage of its more than $30 million in available funding and network of entrepreneurs and mentors. The list includes some standouts who have already made a bit of a name for themselves, as well as companies… → Read More
If you’re an independent band, or actor, or clown, or really creative of any stripe, you’re probably looking for a gig. But try as you might, finding that gig is tough. But what if there were a platform that gave creatives their very own LinkedIn or CareerBuilder? In a down economy, where millions are struggling to find regular work, any site that helps musicians connect with gigs at places like… → Read More
Back in September, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a contest that aimed to challenge entrepreneurs and app developers to build awesome, innovative education apps on Facebook’s platform. The so-called College Knowledge Challenge kicked off with an EdTech hackathon co-hosted by the Gates Foundation and Facebook, located at the social network’s headquarters in Menlo Park. → Read More
Editor’s note: Mike Knoop is co-founder of Zapier.
In the summer 2012 batch, one in four Y Combinator companies lost a founder. It’s not hard to conclude that startup co-founder disputes are universal. They range from the big decisions (What should our product do? Should we hire? Should we raise capital?) to the small (What should you work on today? What should the blog design look like? → Read More
Whether you’re into delicately sipping a fine brandy in the company of beautiful men and women in some smoky, wood-paneled bar in Zurich or, like me, you would rather drink an entire bottle of Maker’s Mark in your shed while dreaming of Melissa Wycliffe, the girl who wouldn’t go to prom with you, Caskers aims to be your one-stop shop for all your tippling needs. → Read More
Last year, James Smith and Simon Maynard left mobile gaming startup Heyzap, where Smith was the CTO, to build and launch a new venture that aimed to tackle one of the biggest problems they encountered in working with mobile developers: The need for better crash detection. In an attempt to bring some continuity to the fragmented set of point solutions developers use to monitor and capture errors in… → Read More
Paris-based AppGratis has been in operation for a few years now, but it has only recently started targeting the U.S. market in earnest. Now, the app discovery tool for Apple’s iOS mobile ecosystem is announcing its first round of institutional funding, in the form of a $13.5M Series A round led by Iris Capital and including Orange Publicis Fund. The money will be used to help AppGratis capitalize… → Read More
MuckerLab, the up-and-coming L.A.-based accelerator program is hosting its demo day for the 10 portfolio companies in its winter class today. In addition, the accelerator just announced that its last class, which graduated almost exactly a year ago, has raised over $15 million so far and that it has partnered with AngelList to accept applications for its future classes. → Read More
Cox Enterprises is perhaps best known for its holdings in areas thought of as “old media” — radio and TV stations and newspapers at Cox Media; cable and telephone services at Cox Communications — but today it made a move to tap into the rise of disruptive technology and startup culture. It’s launching a $250 million fund, which will be led by board member and serial entrepreneur Tripp Rackley… → Read More
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it one bajillion times. If you’re going to start a business accelerator, don’t clone Y Combinator or TechStars, find a niche. With the glut of new accelerators today, the most successful are building vertical-specific approaches that bring together seed capital with meaningful industry partnerships to create real business (and learning) opportunities for their… → Read More
AngelPad, the startup accelerator program founded back in 2010 by ex-Googler Thomas Korte, is today releasing new data about the progress its companies have made to date, as well as funding aggregates for those participating in its program. The announcement comes ahead of Thursday’s application deadline for the Spring session. → Read More
As CES 2013 gets underway, it finds the Quantified Self movement to be a far more crowded market than a year ago, but as Matt Burns pointed out recently, the market is still hungry for smarter devices and “plenty of room” remains for startups for startups to push the envelope with innovation and press beyond movement and weight.
With digital health data proliferating, wearable health-tracking… → Read More
Why some startups soar to great heights while others stumble and fall is almost impossible to answer without digging into the detail of each, on a case-by-case basis. So many factors affect success — from funding and timing, to experience, execution, competitive landscape and even luck. But there are some basic overriding principles that make it more or less likely a startup will succeed. → Read More
Editor’s note: Jon Bischke is a founder of Entelo and is an advisor to several startups.
For many startups, the New Year means a new hiring plan. There is high demand for a select group of individuals with skills that startups are looking for. Here are five of the positions we see the most demand for, along with some suggestions for where potential candidates congregate. → Read More
The holidays wreak havoc on our bodies, with their mandatory over-indulgence in food as well as family and reminiscences. As we reflect on the year past — its victories and losses — we also begin looking ahead to the next, and in big ways or small, making plans to keep our momentum going.
For many, this involves taking health more seriously, whether it’s losing a few pounds, training for that… → Read More
AngelList, the community of startup founders and investors, which has of late been transitioning from social network to investment platform, is increasingly becoming a place where early-stage and seed deals first get off the ground. Today, a new site built on top of the AngelList API, angel5, is making its debut, offering a founder-friendly dashboard that will help better connect startup founders… → Read More
This year was a pretty amazing one in technology: Many startups were funded and acquired, and there were some real advancements made in the way that we communicate on a daily basis. I’d definitely call 2012 a major win, but it’s been interesting to watch how companies operate to reach their goals and hit moving targets.
Sure, it’s not new that companies have to completely shift directions when… → Read More
AngelList, a service that matches early stage startups with investors, is today continuing its transformation from social network to investing platform with the launch of a new feature called AngelList Invest. Created in partnership with broker-dealer SecondMarket for regulatory compliance purposes, the new addition will allow smaller, accredited investors the ability to put in $1,000 or more in… → Read More
Toronto-based startup Wave Accounting is shortening its name and broadening its vision today, with a newly-launched web presence under its new Wave banner. The startup found its footing offering free online accounting service via an ad-supported model, but has since expanded into payroll and invoicing, as well as payment transaction and personal finance. The company feels there’s a much bigger… → Read More
While organized hackathons and startup-building events have begun to sprout up across the globe thanks to companies like AngelHack and Startup Weekend, university-focused hackathons remain underrepresented. General Catalyst, the veteran venture capital firm based in Massachusetts and Palo Alto, wants to change that. General Catalyst, in partnership with hacker event specialist Signalfire, has… → Read More
Editor’s note: Cherian Thomas is founder and CEO of Cucumbertown, a recipe-publishing platform.
Cucumbertown raised its first round from the Valley a month ago and during the course of this journey, I realized that, as a first-time entrepreneur without any solid Valley footing, my run toward raising funds as a non-American co-founder was somewhat unique. → Read More
Start-Up Chile, the government-sponsored startup accelerator, is hosting its 3rd demo day today. The focus of this demo day is on social enterprise and green tech and, for the first time ever, the program partnered with Common Pitch to host today’s event. → Read More
Montreal-based FounderFuel, one of Canada’s leading startup accelerator programs, announced a new plan this week to provide access to free work space at Rocketspace or Plug Snd Play in SF and Silicon Valley for three teams for each of its cohorts for three months. The deal applies retroactively, too, meaning 9 graduated teams get a chance to go south for additional connections. → Read More
Hot on the heels of Shifthub comes PayrollHero, a Philippines-based startup aimed at streamlining payroll and time and attendance tracking for iOS devices. → Read More
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Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
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