Mobile Technology Science / News

Travel search giant Skyscanner has acquired Twizoo, a U.K.-based platform that identifies user-generated content on Twitter for companies to use as part of promotional campaigns on their websites. The deal represents Skyscanner’s sixth known acquisition of all time, and its first since being acquired itself last year by Ctrip, one of China’s biggest online travel companies, […]

A few months ago, Natural Cycles began marketing itself as a certified contraceptive app. That’s right, no condoms or pills, just an algorithm that accurately tracks a woman’s ovulation cycle. Today, the Stockholm, Sweden-based startup announced that it has secured $30 million to continue its efforts in the women’s health space. EQT Ventures led the […]

Despite weak infrastructure and poor power supply, Nigeria stands out as one of Africa’s top tech hubs — something that was confirmed last year when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited the capital, Lagos. But to boost innovation even further, the country desperately needs a well-functioning WiFi system, which Tizeti has been trying to provide through […]

Monzo, a U.K.-based startup building a mobile-first banking service, has raised £71 million ($93 million) in a round of funding from Stripe, Goodwater Capital, Sequoia’s Michael Moritz, Passion Capital, Thrive Capital, and Orange Digital Ventures. This latest tranche takes the company’s total funding to £106 million ($140 million) and values the London-based startup at £280 million ($366 […]

(Reuters) – I.am , the tech startup founded by pop star and entrepreneur will.i.am, has raised $117 million in venture funding, the company told Reuters on Monday as it announced its entry into the corporate computing market with a voice assistant for customer service. The company, founded in 2012, initially focused on consumer electronics devices such […]

GUEST: Last year I founded Genvid Technologies, a company that builds esports broadcasting tools, along with my incredible co-founders and early employees. Having spent years working for CEOs of Square Enix Holdings, before starting this company my background was in game publishing and development. I wanted to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned since […]

Last quarter was typical: smartphones up, tablets down. The tablet market has now declined every quarter over the past three years. Q3 2017 saw a 5.4 percent year-over-year decline: 40.0 million units shipped worldwide, compared to 42.3 million units in the same quarter last year. The only silver lining is that the 2017 drops aren’t […]

EXCLUSIVE: Startup stock exchange Funderbeam today announced that early-stage startups have raised over €5 million ($5.8 million) from investors in nearly 100 countries through its blockchain-powered platform. Funderbeam allows companies to fundraise and trade using blockchain technology. Founded in 2013 and launched in 2016, the Estonia-based company has already secured seed funding of more than $7 million from noteworthy […]

(Reuters) — Digital currency bitcoin took another leap higher on Thursday, rocketing above $7,000 for the first time after a more than tenfold increase in its value over the past year. Bitcoin has seen eye-watering gains in recent months, having more than doubled in value in the past seven weeks alone. It is on track […]

GUEST: Boundless recently moved its headquarters from New York to St. Louis, and we couldn’t be more excited. Some of the reasons for moving our five-year-old company are unique to our business, but others reflect St. Louis’ surprising uptick in entrepreneurial activity and its attractiveness as a place to live, especially when compared to outrageously expensive […]

Testim.io builds software that helps businesses automatically test their websites to ensure they remain functional, and today the startup announced that it has raised a $6.5 million round of series A funding to propel its growth. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, which brought Testim’s total sum of money raised to $8 million. The company’s other […]

International money transfer service TransferWise has raised  $280 million in a round of funding led by asset management firm Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) and Silicon Valley’s IVP, with participation from Sapphire Ventures, Mitsui & Co, World Innovation Lab, Richard Branson, Andreessen Horowitz, and Baillie Gifford. Founded out of London in 2010, TransferWise offers a peer-to-peer (P2P) international […]

Last week, we republished a story on the Heartland Tech section about American Underground, a hub for tech programming in Durham, North Carolina and a partner organization of Google for Entrepreneurs. Phillipe Charles, the director of communications and member experience for American Underground, spoke with author Muriel Vega about the steps American Underground takes to […]

Quip, a subscription-based electric toothbrush startup, has raised a $10 million series A round of funding from early Airbnb and Uber investor Sherpa Capital, Kal Vepuri’s Brainchild fund, Blue Scorpion VC, Demi Lovato, and Eric Grosgogeat, among other investors from the “fashion, entertainment, and oral care industries.” Founded out of New York in 2012 by […]

Samsung has announced a new enterprise-grade version of its Galaxy Note8 phablet for the U.S. market. Priced at $994, the aptly named Galaxy Note8 Enterprise Edition is available to order from today through “authorized Samsung channel partners.” The device comes unlocked and ships with a number of enhancements compared to the consumer incarnation that launched a […]

Kano, the company behind the popular DIY computing and coding kits, has raised $28 million in a series B round of funding led by the Thames Trust and Breyer Capital, with participation from Index Ventures, Salesforce founder Marc Benioff, the Stanford Engineering Venture Fund, LocalGlobe, John Makinson, Collaborative Fund, Triple Point Capital, and Barclays. Founded out […]

Steve Case and the team at Rise of the Rest are raising $100 million for a new seed fund, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Friday shows. According to the Form D filing, the fund has yet to bring in outside investors and the minimum investment is $250,000. Revolution CEO Steve Case is listed as the fund’s general […]

Reaction Commerce, an open source ecommerce platform aimed at online retailers, has raised $8.5 million in a series A round of funding led by Google’s venture capital arm, GV, with participation from CrossCut Ventures, Double M Partners, Joanne Wilson, and Female Founders Fund. Founded out of Santa Monica initially as Ongo Works back in 2013, Reaction […]

HMD Global, the business vehicle set up to create and market Nokia-branded mobile devices, has appointed a new permanent CEO three months after Arto Nummela vacated the role. Nummela previously headed up Microsoft’s mobile devices business in Greater Asia, the Middle East, and Africa after the company bought out Nokia’s mobile phone business. But with Microsoft effectively […]

EXCLUSIVE: A ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs) in China and South Korea has caused a ripple effect — including a token listing exodus to Japan — and we’re seeing continued evidence that Chinese investors are looking elsewhere. Today, Trade.io — the blockchain peer-to-peer trading platform — has announced that Chien Lee, Chinese-American billionaire and majority shareholder of French […]