Roundup of news and ideas from the world of startups – Week ending 2nd Sept 2018

News you can use

Google, Xiaomi in talks to invest in two-year-old startup – Search engine giant Google and smartphone maker Xiaomi are among investors lining up for two-year-old startup Where Is My Train, an app that provides live updates on trains without the use of internet and GPS, according to two people familiar with the development.

News Giant Associated Press Partners Blockchain Journalism Startup Civil – The Civil Media Company and The Associated Press (AP) have announced a partnership to license AP news content for use by newsrooms that use Civil. The news was revealed in a blogpost on Civil’s website on Tuesday, August 28. Under the terms of the agreement, AP will deliver news content – local and international – to Civil, giving newsrooms easy access to it through Civil’s platform. Newsrooms that want to access AP content through Civil will still need to be licensed directly by AP.

Corporate M&A

Kerala-Based Blockchain Solution Startup Servntire Acquired By US-Based Netobjex – Netobjex, a digital asset management platform based in California, US, has acquired Kerala-based blockchain solutions company Servntire Global for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock deal. ServntireGlobal was co-founded by Mahesh Rajagopalan Nair, Mohan Raman, Tittu Varghese, Georgey Punnilethu Jacob, and Sreeraj Sudhakaran in 2017. It is a technology startup that offers simple, efficient, end-to-end solutions to enterprises and organisations that want to switch to blockchain technology.

Landis acquires real estate startup GoldenKey – Landis, a platform that uses data science to help institutional real estate investors buy and sell residential real estate, today announced that it has acquired GoldenKey, a well-funded startup that set out to disrupt real estate agents and unbundle the real estate industry. GoldenKey, which was also once known as SoloPro, is now defunct and Landis has acquired all of its IP and data, though it’s not taking on any of GoldenKey’s employees.

Persistent Systems gains 5% as Co acquires US-based start-up Herald Health – Shares of Persistent Systems added 5.2 percent intraday Thursday as company acquired Herald Health, a startup created to transform the data overload swamping healthcare professionals into clear and actionable insights.

Startup shut and failed last week

Last mile delivery startup, The New Post shuts down – A 5-month-old package holding and delivery service, The New Post, abruptly closed down, leaving its customers in a lurch. Its general manager Sean Khokhar confirmed on Sunday that they had closed.

RIP Theranos – Embattled Blood-Testing Startup to Shut Down – The once-hot startup, Theranos, that was trying to revolutionize bood-testing industry in the US is finally shutting down. Theranos’ solution was once heralded as a revolutionary new way to conduct a blood test to detect myriad diseases  with a single finger prick.