TechStars
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More than 800 startups ask FCC chair to not kill net neutrality
Today, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released the broad strokes of his plan to abandon consumer protections to the benefit of large corporate players in the telecommunications industry. While major telecom companies are looking forward to Pai’s FCC makeover, the same can’t be said for everyone else in tech. Read More
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Meet the 14 startups in Techstars NYC’s winter class
The entrepreneurs in the Techstars NYC program are going to spend today meeting with investors, reporters and other folks from the tech industry — but luckily, I had a chance to do rapid-fire interviews with most of them on Tuesday. Though Techstars may be increasingly known for the industry-focused startup accelerators it creates with companies like Comcast and Target, it still runs… Read More
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Infiniti launches a startup lab in Toronto to focus on IoT and smart cities
Nissan’s upscale auto brand Infiniti is putting down startup roots in Canada with a new accelerator designed to help spur growth of companies that focus on internet-of-things and smart city technology. The new Infiniti Lab follows the model of the debut Lab launched by the carmaker in Hong Kong in 2015, and is the first Lab in North America, as well as Canada’s first… Read More
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Lystable takes $10M top-up to tackle freelancer payments
Lystable, a startup that makes a workflow management platform aimed at businesses needing to manage lots of freelancers, has topped up its Series A again — this time with an additional $10 million, which founder and CEO Peter Johnston says will be used to fund a change of business model with a payments focus. Read More
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Techstars launches a new program in Paris at the Partech Shaker
Techstars is about to launch a new startup accelerator in Paris. Every year, 10 startups will participate in this 13-week program. Techstars is partnering with VC firm Partech Ventures. And, in particular, Techstars Paris is going to happen in the Partech Shaker building. Read More
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Chowbotics raises $5 million for salad-making robots named Sally, of course
Chowbotics Inc. has landed $5 million in a Series A round of venture funding to develop what it’s calling food service robots. These are machines designed to prepare food in restaurants, cafeterias and hotels, as well as food courts in airports, malls and hospitals. The company’s flagship product, Sally, is a salad-making robot that uses 20 different food canisters to prepare… Read More
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Codementor raises $1.6 million to become elite marketplace for freelance developers
Codementor (incorporated as Peer Idea Inc.) has raised $1.6 million in seed funding to grow its online education business into a marketplace for elite freelance developers who are among the top-rated mentors on its site. Based in Mountain View with a development office in Taiwan, Codementor is a graduate of Techstars in Seattle. WI Harper led the seed round in Codementor, which had… Read More
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Amazon has a shiny new startup accelerator to advance conversational AI
Big tech companies have been creating accelerators left and right to evangelize their brands and get developers engaged with APIs and other open-source efforts. Today, Amazon joined the crowd by announcing a new program for startups developing conversational AI. This is Amazon’s first foray into the world of accelerator programs, though its $100 million Alexa Fund has already invested… Read More
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With a fresh $2 million Simple Contacts looks to cut refill costs for lenses
Simple Contacts, a new startup launched by a former Techstars entrepreneur-in-residence and the co-founder of the 3D printing startup Sols, is looking to make the process of refilling contacts cheaper and more affordable. The company started from a pain that founder Joel Wish felt all too acutely. A lifetime wearer of contact lenses, Wish was pretty appalled by the cost of getting refills of… Read More
Latest Crunch Report
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Lease marketplace Flip raises $1.2M
Flip, a startup that helps tenants find someone to take over their lease, is announcing that it has raised $1.2 million in seed funding. The New York City-based company has created a marketplace where lease holders can post apartments that they need to rent out, and where pre-screened applicants can look at housing before it hits the rental market. (Depending on how badly they need to get out… Read More
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Techstars launches accelerator with the world’s biggest brewery
It’s not much of a secret that the beverage industry is big business, with Anheuser-Busch alone taking a $43 billion slice of the cake last year. The beer maker also has a venture arm, ZX Ventures, which operates under the slogan “brewing up the future.” I see what they did there. ZX is teaming up with Techstars to throw one hell of a party. Oh, and to run an accelerator… Read More
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GreatHorn raises $2.25 million for its young cloud security platform
GreatHorn, a cloud security platform focused on stopping phishing attacks, has raised $2.25 million in seed funding led by ff Venture Capital and SoftTech VC, with participation from Techstars Ventures, RRE Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, V1.VC and investor Walter Winshall. The Belmont, Ma.-based company came together last year, as a kind of bet that CEO Kevin O’Brien and his cofounder… Read More
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SPLT brings ridesharing to you and your colleagues
SPLT is bringing ridesharing to the corporate world. Instead of pairing you up with strangers who happen to be heading the same way, SPLT is targeted at large organizations to help ease the logistical and environmental impact of ping-ponging back and forth between the home and the workplace. The company also aims to maximize the side-effects of its service, such as encouraging mentor sessions. Read More
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StatMuse Picks Up $10M For Its AI-Based, Graphic Search Engine For Sports Statistics
The business of sport revolves around stats — from those who use them to improve performance, through to enthusiasts who look at them for fun, or for more financial ends. Now a startup that helps make it easier for regular people to dig into and visualise sports stats has picked up some funding to grow. StatMuse, a startup out of San Francisco that currently lets you search for… Read More
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Sundar Raises $1.3 Million From NEA To Bring Transparency To Fashion’s Supply Chain
It was in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster, amid a growing push for greater oversight and an increasing number of startup fashion brands catering to this sustainable sensibility, that Jag Gill began working on Sundar, which offers a new way for designers to source materials for clothes. Read More
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Crunch Network
The Pros And Cons Of Accelerating Your Startup
Startup accelerators are an excellent way for early stage startups to get up to speed quickly, identifying their best growth strategy and a reasonable plan to achieve it. The number of accelerators has dramatically increased over the past few years. At the same time, competition for participation in these accelerators has increased. But is participation in an accelerator program the best next… Read More
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Target Teams Up With Techstars To Create A Retail-Focused Startup Accelerator
Target is the latest big company to launch its own startup accelerator. This will a partnership between Target and Techstars, and it’s being led by West Stringfellow, former chief product officer at Big Commerce and Rosetta Stone. (There are plans to hire a managing director as well.) Stringfellow said this was one of his initial ideas when he joined Target’s entrepreneur in… Read More
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