The one downside to using Hotel Tonight is that you have to forgo the loyalty points you’d normally earn from a hotel stay. That’s because almost all major hotel brands now won’t give you points if you book through a third-party platform like Hotel Tonight. So Hotel Tonight is launching their own program called HT Perks. Here’s how it works: It’s not… Read More
Line is ramping up incentives for third party developers to make chatbots, and thereby expand the utility of its platform, as the great scramble of messaging giants applying AI to keep users engaged continues. Read More
Robinhood says it will never charge commissions to trade stocks, but the $66 million-funded startup is finally ramping up monetization with the launch of “Robinhood Gold” premium features. For $10 per month, users can skip the three-day waiting period with instant deposits and reinvesting, trade 30 minutes before and 2 hours after the market is open, and borrow up to double the… Read More
Civilization is a game I’ve been playing for more or less 15 years, across multiple iterations of the series, and yet each new version always seems to feel fresh. After spending nearly 20 hours with a special preview version of Civilization VI, I can safely say that the same is true of this upcoming game, which manages to deliver all the familiarity you’d want as a Civ fan, with… Read More
Artificial intelligence is quickly shaping up to be one of the key defining technology areas of our time. A day after announcing a new artificial intelligence partnership with IBM, Google, Facebook and Amazon, Microsoft is upping the ante within its own walls.
The tech giant announced that it is creating a new AI business unit, the Microsoft AI and Research Group, which will be led by… Read More
Mercedes-Benz is trying to play with your emotions with its new electric vehicle concept, debuted at the Paris Motor Show today. The “Generation EQ” it unveiled is a sporty SUV design, which is reminiscent of the Tesla Model X in its lines and overall look. It has a dual electric motor drive train, and a theoretical max range of around 310 miles, thanks to a scalable battery… Read More
It probably won’t be the last time most PlayStation VR purchasers ever pull themselves away from their console long enough to leave the house, but just in case, Best Buy is turning the headset’s launch into a social event of sorts.
The big box retailer announced this morning that it will be opening extra early on October 13 to offer up the gaming peripheral as early as humanly… Read More
Online banking service Simple is today rolling out a new product: shared accounts. However, unlike joint checking accounts typically shared by spouses, Simple’s shared accounts work differently. They allow customers to maintain their own accounts, but quickly fund then switch over to shared accounts to collaborate with each other on financial planning by tracking shared expenses,… Read More
Helping businesses better manage gig economy workers is turning out to be a pitch with serious pulling power for Lystable, the UK startup which closed an $11 million Series A this summer, led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures — following fast from its $3.5M seed round last year, which Thiel’s fund also participated in. Read More
Some more details are coming through on Facebook at Work, the social network’s big effort to move into enterprise communication services with a business version of its popular platform. Facebook has now sent out invites for a Facebook at Work launch event to take place in London on Monday, October 10. The invite confirms our report earlier this week that it would launch next month,… Read More
A cybersecurity startup based in Hod Hasharon, Israel, Karamba Security, has raised $2.5 million in new Series A funding to protect internet-connected cars and self-driving vehicles from hackers. Fontinalis Partners, a venture firm that is focused on mobility and transportation-related technologies, led the investment joined by Karamba’s earlier seed backers YL Ventures and GlenRock.… Read More
Chat app company Line is investing in international opportunities after it announced that it is backing two VC firms: DAG Ventures in the U.S. and France-based Korelya Capital. Read More
Boston-based Lose It! (incorporated as FitNow Inc.) has released a new beta feature today called Snap It within its weight loss and calorie tracking app.
As is easily guessed by the name, Snap It beta lets users take photos of their daily meals and snacks to automatically log them and derive approximate calorie counts.
For now, users will be able to open the Lose It! app, pick a meal-type… Read More
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s surprise August/September trip to Nigeria and Kenya put the global spotlight on Africa’s emerging IT ecosystem. Unsurprisingly, when one of the world’s most recognized tech entrepreneurs pops up at startups and tech hubs few have heard of it draws attention. News of Zuckerberg’s unannounced visit broke with social media photos of him… Read More
Line, the messaging company that went public in the year’s highest IPO to date, is diversifying its business and focusing on social after it invested $45 million (50 billion KRW) in Snow, a Snapchat clone focused on Asia. Read More
LocalGlobe, founded by former Index Partners investors Robin Klein and Saul Klein, has taken the lead in a GBP500,000 financing for the education technology startup, Lingumi. A member of the 5th cohort of the Entrepreneur First accelerator, Lingumi has not only raised its first capital, but also launched its first product this week. Created by an Oxford University graduate Toby Mather and… Read More
Are you interested in rolling up your sleeves and get to work helping the TechCrunch Disrupt team put on the best startup show in Europe? If so, you should definitely sign up to be a Work Exchange Volunteer at Disrupt London 2016.
Applications are now open, and you can submit one here.
Volunteers selected for the Work Exchange program are required to work up to 16 hours during the conference. Read More
French startup Lydia raised $7.8 million (€7 million) from New Alpha AM and Oddo & Cie in order to expand to other European countries. The startup lets you easily pay back your friends without any fee using a mobile app — among other things. Think about it as a sort of Venmo for France. While Lydia has only been available in France, with today’s funding round, the company… Read More
Volkswagen did indeed debut its first dedicated electric car at the Paris Motor Show, as heavily teased. The I.D. revealed at the show is still labeled a “concept,” but VW says it’s due to become a buyable car in 2020, with a total range of ups to 373 miles per charge, driven by a 168hp electric motor. The concept design for the I.D., which will be Volkswagen’s… Read More
