Roundup of news and ideas from the world of startups – Week ending 19th May 2019
News you can use
Are Electric Motorbikes in India: likely to take off – A recent article in New York times highlights the shift in ride-sharing trends in India. (ref: Ride-Sharing’s Future? It May Sit on Electric Motorbikes). The article describes “Several start-ups — backed by big Silicon Valley venture firms and Uber’s Indian competitor, Ola — are betting that shared “two-wheelers” are better suited to wallets and transportation needs than the cars that are the heart of the ride-hailing industry.”
A weather tech startup wants to do forecasts based on cell phone signals – ClimaCell claims its service, which taps into millions of wireless devices, is 60% more accurate than traditional forecasting methods. Founded in 2015, ClimaCell has spent the last few years developing the technology and business relationships that allow it to tap into millions of signals from cell phones and other wireless devices around the world. It uses the quality of those signals as a proxy for local weather conditions, such as precipitation and air quality. It also analyzes images from street cameras. It is offering subscribers a weather forecasting service that it touts as 60% more accurate than those of existing providers such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Startup Merger and Acquisitions
ServiceNow picks up mobile app analytics startup Appsee – ServiceNow Inc. today announced that it has acquired Appsee Ltd., an analytics startup focused on helping developers understand how users interact with their mobile apps. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. ServiceNow expects to complete the acquisition by the end of the quarter, at which point Appsee’s two co-founders and engineering team will join the company to support product development efforts.
Vodacom acquires 51% of SA startup IoT.nxt – Vodacom has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in SA Internet of Things (IoT) startup IoT.nxt. While neither Vodacom or IoT.nxt have disclosed the amount the telco paid to acquire a majority stake in the startup, it’s likely to be in the hundreds of millions of rands. IoT.nxt startup has raised R120-million in two rounds in under four years, from Talent10, a Midrand-based asset management company which currently holds a 30% stake in the startup (though this was taken at a time when the startup was generating far lower revenue than it is now).
Remitly acquires small Seattle startup that helps immigrants access financial services – Seattle-based mobile remittance company Remitly has acquired Symphoni, a small Seattle startup building software that helps immigrant and underserved small business owners access credit. Remitly describes itself as the largest independent mobile remittance company in North America. The company, ranked No. 7 on the GeekWire 200 index of top Pacific Northwest startups, said it was drawn to Symphoni in part because of an aligned mission to navigate the highly-regulated financial services industry.
Startups failures
The Decelerator: How Do You Shut Down A Startup? Figuring out what to do if your startup doesn’t take off ? That’s another challenge, says Abigail Edgecliffe-Johnson. “Startups are all about embracing failure and reinventing yourself and starting again,” she says. But when you’re actually in the process of failing, she says, “It’s like you’re a leper. Nobody wants to come anywhere near you because they think the failure is contagious.”
Seattle based travel planning startup Utrip shuts down – The startup was founded in 2011, and aimed to offer free AI based itinerary-planning tools to consumers. Users could enter information about their travel and activity preferences and Utrip would recommend schddules to plan their trip. Utrip made money by licensing its software and building products for businesses in the hospitality space, such as hotels and cruise lines.
Fashion discovery Startup Wooplr Shuts Down As Merger Talks Fall Through – According to the company’s LinkedIn profile, it had 335 employees working at the startup. Since April, Wooplr had made massive job cuts — primarily operational roles and those in cataloguing division, while holding on to its core leadership team. Wooplr had raised $14 Million in funding with a recent Series B round of $8Mn led by Sistema Asia Fund with participation by Series-A lead VC Helion Ventures and Amereus Group.