Author: pekandesigns

You wouldn’t expect a medical app to get its start as a Snapchat competitor. Neither did video chat startup TapTalk’s founder Onno Faber. But four years ago he was diagnosed with a rare disease called neurofibromatosis type 2 that caused tumors, leading Onno to lose hearing in one ear. He’s amongst the one in 10 people with an […]

Microsoft announced this morning it’s bringing Minecraft: Education Edition to the iPad for the first time. The game, which first launched to the public in late 2016, has been previously available in schools on Windows 10 devices and on macOS. The iPad software will roll out to schools starting in September, the company says. If […]

Fitbit’s ability to start righting the ship can largely be credited with its dive into the smartwatch category. Ionic was a bit of a mess, to be sure, but the Versa has proven a bona fide hit. But while smartwatches represent a rare bright spot in the stagnant wearable space, fitness bands have always — […]

iPrice, an e-commerce aggregation service in Southeast Asia, has landed a strategic investment from Naver, the Korean internet giant valued at over $21 billion, as part of a follow-on to the startup’s $4 million Series B from May. There’s actually a strong connection around that recent round. It was led by Line Ventures, the investment arm […]

Farfetch, the UK-based marketplace for high-end fashion and other luxury goods, has confirmed its plans to go public. According to an F-1 form filed with the SEC, the company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FTCH. An IPO for the company has been in the works for some time, and […]

Apple is cracking down on illegal content in China after it removed potentially thousands of apps related to gambling, including ‘lottery’ services. The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. phone-maker purged as many as 25,000 apps — that’s a figure that was first cited by state-owned broadcaster CCTV [link in Chinese]. Apple didn’t comment […]

Walmart announced over the weekend that it has completed a $16 billion investment in Flipkart that sees it become the majority owner of the Indian e-commerce company. The deal was first revealed back in May and now it has closed after receiving the necessary approvals. It sees Walmart take a 77 percent share in the company, […]

Begnadigung. That’s German for reprieve… well, close enough for us. And that’s what we’re giving all the lollygaggers, procrastinators and last-minute decision-makers. We extended the deadline to apply for Startup Battlefield at Disrupt Berlin 2018 on November 29-30. Yup, you now have until August 27 at 9 p.m. PST to submit your application. But why wait any […]

For three years, Velo3D has operating in stealth mode. The bay area based startup has largely managed to fly on the radar, in spite of raising an impressive $90 million since launching in June 2015. Today, however, the 120 person company is finally ready to discuss what it’s been working on, just as it announces […]

SoftBank’s Vision Fund is backing Chinese online insurance giant ZhongAn through its latest investment, which could take the company — which has struggled for stability following a monster IPO last year — into international markets. The Vision Fund announced today it has made an undisclosed investment in ZhongAn International, the global arm of the five-year-old company created by $200 […]