Digital Startup News roundup 15 Jan 2017


Here is a roundup of startup news from the week past

  • A visit to dynamic Startup Incubators in Bengaluru – The startup ecosystem in Bangalore (Bengaluru) – by some accounts the “Silicon Valley” of the east – is vibrant and has been nurturing tech startups that aspire to go global. The startups and the tech ecosystem continues to receive a lot of media attention. I had an opportunity to join the tour of the startup accelerators in Bangalore during the recently conducted “Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2017.”
  • Bipartisan DIGIT Act Puts United States on Track to Be Global Leader on the Internet of Things – By bringing together a broad cross section of stakeholders in government and industry to shape a national strategy for the Internet of Things, the bipartisan DIGIT Act would put the United States on track to secure the enormous potential benefits this technology has to offer for both the private sector and the public. To make the United States more competitive and seize on all the opportunities from the Internet of Things, this working group should focus broadly on all challenges and opportunities the technology presents.
  • ELLI•Q, AI Driven Active Aging Companion Developed to Improve Quality of Life for Older Adults -Social companion technology helps older adults keep active, engaged and connected; ELLI•Q to debut at prestigious exhibit at The Design Museum in London
  • Microsoft Acquires Artificial-Intelligence Startup Maluuba – Montreal company creates programs that use natural-language processing, Microsoft Corp. on Friday said it acquired a Montreal startup that focuses on artificial intelligence, giving the software giant another tool as it competes against rivals such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Salesforce.com Inc. The startup, Maluuba, was launched in 2010 by students at the University of Waterloo. It creates programs that use natural-language processing, which helps computers understand dialogue and develop reasoning capabilities in areas of research known as deep learning and reinforcement learning.

Courtesy of Maluuba
Kaheer Suleman, left, and Sam Pasupalak are co-founders of Maluuba.

  • Salesforce’s Quip acquires startup Unity&Variety – The small Unity&Variety team will help add creative and visual elements to Quip’s productivity tools. Quip, the productivity platform that Salesforce acquired last year, announced its Friday that the firm Unity&Variety will be joining its team. The small Unity&Variety design team — which includes Joey Flynn, Drew Hamlin and Andy Chung — will help Quip “build the next generation of productivity tools,” Quip announced via Twitter. They’ll work on adding creative and visual elements to Quip, according to Salesforce. Has produced at least one public app, the game Pinchworm.
  • VR Startup Spaces Lands $6.5 Million From Chinese Theme-Park Operator Songcheng, Comcast, Other Investors – Spaces, the virtual- and mixed-reality firm founded last year by VR vets from DreamWorks Animation, has raised $6.5 million in funding led by China’s Songcheng Performances Development Co. Ltd., one of the world’s biggest theme-park and performing arts companies, with participation from previous investor Comcast Ventures and other venture-capital firms.
  • Exclusive: SAP dips its toes in the healthcare startup world – German software giant SAP is looking to entrench itself in the minds of healthcare technology startups and transform the industry through a new partnership with New York-based global health innovation company StartUp Health.
  • Rotten tomatoes? A Mumbai start-up will now keep them fresh for over a month – Ever had to throw out the last few squishy tomatoes in your veggie crisper because they went bad too soon? Well, a Mumbai start-up may have just hit upon something to save those rotten tomatoes. Science for Society (S4S), a start-up by Matunga-based Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), has developed a novel packaging technology – ProVegie – that will increase the shelf life of tomatoes by a month.

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