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NHS COVID-19: The UK’s coronavirus contacts-tracing app explained
The UK has this week started testing a coronavirus contacts-tracing app which NHSX, a digital arm of the country’s National Health Service, has been planning and developing since early March. Th
In conversation with Icebreaker, Finland’s most active pre-seed VC
Icebreaker claims to be Finland’s most active pre-seed VC. The firm, which also invests in Estonia and Sweden, has backed 38 companies in the last three years out of its first fund, with a 65% s
UK’s coronavirus contacts tracing app could ask users to share location data
More details have emerged about a coronavirus contacts tracing app being developed by UK authorities. NHSX CEO, Matthew Gould, said today that future versions of the app could ask users to share locat
Finnish VC Icebreaker launches second fund to continue backing ‘pre-founders’ and pre-seed startups
Icebreaker.vc, the Finnish venture capital firm that backs “pre-founders” and pre-seed to seed-stage startups, has launched a second fund, with a first close of €50 million. That’s
Bolt raises €50M in venture debt from the EU to expand its ride-hailing business
Bolt, the billion-dollar startup out of Estonia that’s building a ride-hailing, scooter and food delivery business across Europe and Africa, has picked up a tranche of funding in its bid to take
Salv, the anti-money laundering startup founded by ex-TransferWise employees, picks up $2M seed
Salv, an anti-money laundering (AML) startup founded by former TransferWise and Skype employees, has raised $2 million in seed funding. The round is led by Fly Ventures, alongside Passion Capital and
Uber rival Bolt returns to London 21 months after a TfL investigation shut it down
Bolt, the Uber rival formerly known as Taxify, is taking a significant step this week in its effort to build out its transportation-on-demand business across the biggest cities in Europe and Africa, w
MeetFrank nets $1.1M for its passive job matching chatbot
MeetFrank, aka a ‘secret’ recruitment app that uses machine learning plus a chatbot wrapper to take the strain out of passive job hunting and talent-to-vacancy matching, has closed a €1
Uber’s European rival Taxify raises $175M led by Daimler at a $1B valuation
There’s a new unicorn in the global ride-hailing space after Taxify, a startup born in Estonia that does battle with Uber across Europe and Africa, closed $175 million in new funding that takes
Our ‘modern’ Congress doesn’t understand 21st century technology
Lorelei Kelly Contributor Lorelei Kelly leads the Resilient Democracy Coalition, a group working to make sure Congress succeeds in the Information Age. More posts by this contributor Congress needs yo
This European country may hold an ICO and issue its own cryptocurrency
We’ve officially hit peak ICO. Estonia, a small country in Northern Europe, just floated the idea of potentially raising money by issuing a token called “estcoins“. So why Estonia? T
You can’t have financial inclusion without digital inclusion
Technology alone is not the answer, but the promise of blockchain could act as an enabler for a decentralized global identity database, where the people owned their own identity and no single governme
The future of healthcare is not people versus machines
A digital shift in healthcare in recent years has paved the way for advances in automation, artificial intelligence and even surgical robots. Whether using a virtual human to capture patient intake da
Governments must embrace the Information Age or risk becoming obsolete
Thirty-six years ago, futurist Alvin Toffler wrote The Third Wave, outlining the inevitable transition from a “Second Wave,” characterized by an industrial society, to a “Third Wave,” characte
Google Is Now Surfacing The World’s Constitutions In Its Search Results
Google has partnered with the Constitute Project to surface, analyze and compare key passages in the US Constitution, as well as the constitutions of Afghanistan, Bhutan, Estonia, Finland, France, Ice
Jomi’s Smart Water Bottle Sleeve-Plus-App Wants To Track & Chart Your Liquid Intake To Make You Drink More
Move over HAPIfork. Estonian startup Jomi Interactive is cooking up a pair of smart devices that will remind people to drink more water. Or at least whatever liquid/poison of choice you put in your wa
Estonia Drives Robotics and Coding Education With Smartlab Hobby Groups, Backed By Microsoft
The Baltic country of Estonia -- known as the birthplace of Skype and a go-to market for tech companies in the U.S. and elsewhere needing developers -- is making another IT investment so that younger
Russia Locked In Cyberwar With Estonia
In the first war of its kind, Russia has been attacking the small country of Estonia for several weeks now. The incident started after a bronze statue of a soviet soldier was removed from its memorial