Year: 2018

03 Jan 2018

Didi confirms it has acquired 99 in Brazil to expand in Latin America

 Earlier today, we reported that Didi was in the process of acquiring 99, a ridesharing company in Brazil, and now the two companies have confirmed the deal as part of Didi’s plans to expand its service into Latin America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed — we are asking — but earlier today we noted that Didi was effectively putting in $900 million — $600 million to… Read More
03 Jan 2018

FanDuel is giving away bitcoin to winners of a fantasy football tournament

 Daily fantasy sports platform FanDuel just announced The Bitcoin Bowl, a promotion that will last the length of the NFL playoffs and give winners a chance to win some bitcoin. They’ll be two contests – one is a single-entry free contest where the winner wins 1 bitcoin, and one is a multi-entry $3 contest that has a tiered payout – 1st place will get 2 bitcoin, 2nd place will… Read More
03 Jan 2018

Berlin-based Yoga startup Asana Rebel raises $6.5M led by e.ventures, La Famiglia

 Today, Yoga is known worldwide as an attractive way of staying healthy and fit. However, there remains a psychological barrier for many people confused by what style of yoga they want to do (Kundalini, Vinyasa, Bikram, …?) and how it matches with their aims, (back pain, flexibility, lose weight etc). The market is also dominated by many small Yoga studios which vary in quality. Surely… Read More
03 Jan 2018

Rubikloud scores $37 million investment to bring intelligence to retail industry

 The retail industry is one that’s ripe for disruption by technology. Under intense pressure from giants like Amazon and Walmart, retailers are often stuck using legacy systems and are ill equipped to compete using the latest tools. Rubikloud announced a $37 million investment today to help retailers attack the modernization problem with cloud tools built with artificial intelligence… Read More
03 Jan 2018

Spotify files to go public

 Spotify has filed confidentially to go public, sources told Dan Primack at Axios. He learned that the music streaming company filed with the SEC at the end of December. The timing is consistent with what we are hearing. Sources told us that they’ve been targeting a debut for the first quarter of this year. We’ve gotten hints that it could happen within the next month or so.… Read More
03 Jan 2018

A major kernel vulnerability is going to slow down all Intel processors

 A significant vulnerability has been discovered in all Intel processor chips and it’s going to have a huge impact going forward. The Register first noticed this major design flaw in Linux kernel patch notes. All operating systems will have to be updated (Linux distributions, Windows, macOS…). And the worst part is that this patch is going to affect your computer performances. Based on… Read More
03 Jan 2018

A flower giant has reportedly acquired BloomThat, an on-demand flower startup

 BloomThat, an on-demand flower startup, has sold itself to flower giant FTD, Axios reports. FTD, which offers same-day delivery flowers for a variety of occasions, reportedly paid a small amount of money for the startup. Prior to this reported acquisition, BloomThat had raised $7.5 million from investors like Rothenberg Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Sherpa Capital and others. Read More
03 Jan 2018

Why Twitter won’t remove Trump’s nuclear tweet

 Trump’s tweet raising the prospect of nuclear war with North Korea isn’t in violation of Twitter’s guidelines, the company says, and will remain online. In the tweet, Trump boasted that his “Nuclear Button” is “much bigger” and “more powerful” than the one belonging to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – a combative and childish taunt… Read More
03 Jan 2018

Baidu teams up with BlackBerry on self-driving and connected car tech

 Chinese internet tech giant Baidu will work with Canada’s BlackBerry in a partnership that will see QNX used as the basis for Baidu’s Apollo self-driving platform, and which will also see Baidu’s CarLife smartphone software for in-car use, DuerOS AI assistant and HD maps integrated into BlackBerry’s QNX infotainment software. The partnership is a big one for… Read More
03 Jan 2018

Baidu teams up with BlackBerry on self-driving and connected car tech

 Chinese internet tech giant Baidu will work with Canada’s BlackBerry in a partnership that will see QNX used as the basis for Baidu’s Apollo self-driving platform, and which will also see Baidu’s CarLife smartphone software for in-car use, DuerOS AI assistant and HD maps integrated into BlackBerry’s QNX infotainment software. The partnership is a big one for… Read More