Day: August 10, 2017

 Ride hailing company Lyft has acquired two companies focused on growth, including customer acquisition, retention, referral programs and more. The companies being acquired are YesGraph, whose team and talent will join Lyft, and DataScore, whose growth team is coming over to the ride share provider. The acquisitions are designed to help Lyft capitalize on its […]

 Discord wants to destroy its biggest, best-funded competitor in the battle to be the communications layer for gaming. It wants to be the home for gamer clans strategizing and trash-talking with each other. After out-gunning its gaming-specific competitors like TeamSpeak, Mumble and Ventrilo with a secret $50 million fundraise earlier this year, Discord is setting […]

 The Surface line has been a surprising hit for Microsoft in recent years. What many regarded as little more than proof of concept for Windows 10 has become a leader in the two-in-one tablet category in its own right. But according to a new survey conducting by Consumer Reports, the devices have proven far more […]

 betaworks, the startup studio responsible for companies like Giphy, TweetDeck, and Dots, is today formally announcing the launch of a $50 million early-stage fund called betaworks ventures. betaworks ventures has actually been active in the market for the last year, though operating somewhat under the radar, and betaworks has been making investments long before that […]

 It’s clear that voice is becoming a major interface, as we witness the rise of the Amazon Echo, Google Home, Siri, Cortana and their ilk. We’re also seeing an increasing use of chat bots and other voice-driven tools, which often require speech recognition with a very specific vocabulary. That’s where AssemblyAI, a member of the […]

 TechCrunch and Canaan Partners are teaming up to host Include Office Hours in San Francisco on August 22nd from 1-3pm. General partner Rich Boyle and partner Joydeep Bhattacharyya will give key guidance, advice and feedback to founders. TechCrunch started the Include Program in 2014 to leverage key networks and facilitate opportunities for underserved and underrepresented […]

 Cancer and heart disease are the two leading causes of death in the United States. So far, Color Genomics has been focused on testing for mutations leading to a higher risk of certain cancers. But, today the four-year-old company is introducing a new category of genetic testing for cardiovascular health. The new Color Hereditary High […]

 If you’re looking for a little more arcade feel for your Nintendo Switch, look no further than 8Bitdo’s NES30 Arcade Stick. The Bluetooth controller accessory is compatible with a range of platforms besides the Switch, and it’s a well-made gadget with careful attention paid to how buttons and the joysticks feel, giving an authentic arcade […]

 Filecoin, the much-anticipated cryptocurrency that will eventually power a distributed file storage system, is opening its ICO today at 12pm PT / 3pm ET today. Last week Filecoin concluded a much talked about “advisor” sale that brought in a total of $52M from ~150 investors including Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, Winklevoss Capital […]

 The burst of the wearable bubble may have been overstated — on a global scale, at least. The category has been struggling here in the U.S., but internationally, it’s still seeing growth. Wearables are up eight-percent year-over-year, according to new numbers from Canalys — not exactly exponential, but at least things are trending in the […]