Roundup of news and ideas from the world of startups – Week ending 30th Dec 2018
News you can use
Getting PR for Your Startup – Getting media attention is a powerful and often misunderstood communication tool. For entrepreneurs, it can mean massive exposure, and validation for their product. Join us on January 9th for a panel with founders and PR professionals, Laura Lisowski Cox (Co-Founder and CMO of Oars + Alps), LT Taylor (Director of Communications at Burrow), J.J. Colao (Founder & President of Haymaker Group), and Michael Alexis (Chief Marketing Officer of Museum Hack), who’ll share stories about how they generated early press for their own startups and others.
Google announces Adopt a Startup program finalists – Google recently announced 8 startups selected for Grand Finals from its Adopt A Startup contest. The grand Finals in The Foundry on December 11th, 2018.
GE lawsuit accuses Uptake of ‘ruthless scheme to poach’ executives and trade secrets – Uptake Technologies allegedly has engaged in a “ruthless scheme to poach” executives and trade secrets from General Electric, according to a lawsuit the struggling conglomerate filed Monday against the Chicago-based data analytics firm. The lawsuit says the alleged “scheme” started roughly a year ago, after Caterpillar and another company ended their investments in Uptake and it laid off about 50 people.
Corporate M&A
Wine firm Madison to acquire stake in cryptocurrency startup BitOcean – Madison Lab, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed wine firm Madison, is planning to acquire a stake in cryptocurrency startup BitOcean, the South China Morning Post reported. Referring to a company filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the SCMP said that Madison Lab is going to acquire 67.2 percent of BitOcean from independent third parties for 1.68 billion yen (US$15.12 million), and another US$15 million (approximately) in various fees.
3M scooped up a clinical speech recognition business for $1 billion (MMM) – Massive US conglomerate 3M acquired the tech business of healthcare speech recognition company MModal for $1 billion , highlighting healthcare players’ bullishness on voice tech in healthcare. MModal sells voice software that integrates with electronic health record (EHR) systems and allows doctors to verbally create, edit, and sign patient notes. The acquisition builds on 3M’s existing healthcare portfolio, which includes clinical documentation software and risk assessment systems that help providers analyze patient data, per ZDNet.
Failed Startups
AI security camera maker Lighthouse shutting down – A Bay Area based startup, Lighthouse, that was trying to market a $300 security camera with some sophisticated artificial intelligence capabilities, is shutting down. The reason was the lack of “commercial success” of its product.
Canadian FoodTech startup Food Starter abruptly shuts down – Food Starter, a Toronto based startup incubator is shutting down. According to Canadian news agency, CBC, Food Starter sent out an email to clients alerting them that the final day for processing at the facility would be December 21, and that all tenants would need to move out of the plant as early as December 31.
