Roundup of news and ideas from the world of startups – Week ending 10th Nov 2019.
News you can use
Regulation takes center stage as China delves further into blockchain – It’s been a week where regulators have stepped up their game, cracking down on blockchain and crypto startups. However, it’s not been all negative, with some regulators launching initiatives that seek to drive adoption of blockchain higher. China was in the limelight again, this time for blockchain initiatives in identity management and a digital currency. In the crypto mining sector, it was a week of comebacks and infighting. The week has seen a number of fraudulent blockchain startups brought to book. In New York, a blockchain startup founder was charged with wire fraud and he faces 20 years in prison for his crime. The accused, Asa Saint Clair founded a startup which he claimed was affiliated with the United Nations, but ended up defrauding his investors.
Startup Merger and Acquisitions
An Electric Truck Startup Is Buying a Highly Politicized Ohio Factory From GM – Lordstown Motors Corp., the electric-truck startup formed specifically to save a shuttered Ohio car factory, has acquired the highly politicized plant from General Motors Co.
Networking heavyweight Infoblox acquires Microsoft-backed startup SnapRoute – Infoblox Inc., a major maker of networking equipment and software, today said that it has acquired California startup SnapRoute Inc. to add more depth to its product portfolio. Infoblox is the biggest player in a niche but important segment of the networking industry. The company sells solutions that help enterprises manage their internet protocol or IP addresses and domain name system deployments, a product category in it which had an estimated 50% market share as of 2018.
Edmonton Based startup Mover acquired by MICROSOFT – Mover, an Edmonton-based startup that offers data migration services, was acquired by Microsoft today. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The announcement was made Monday, with Mover co-founder and CEO Eric Warnke stating in a blog post that it has been a fantastic journey these last eight years, and Mover was ready to embark on its next chapter.
Tesla Acquires AI Startup DeepScale – AI NEWSTesla Acquires AI Startup DeepScalemmPublished 19 hours ago on October 5, 2019By Alex McFarland Tesla Acquires AI Startup DeepScale First reported by CNBC and later picked up by various outlets, Tesla has acquired DeepScale, a four-year-old artificial intelligence startup that will help push Tesla forward in developing autonomous vehicles. As of right now, their vehicles are unique because we automate feature engineering, which is the process of using domain knowledge to extract new variables from raw data that make machine learning algorithms work,” Kanter told TechCrunch in 2018.
Startups failures
Doodhwala shuts down operations; FreshToHome takes over its consumer base – Microdelivery business (aka subscription commerce) isn’t an easy business as making money through selling milk is tough. We have witnessed the shutdowns of several startups as well as the consolidation of a few with large companies interested in the space. The segment seems to have seen another casualty. Bengaluru-based Doodhwala has stopped operations due to certain undisclosed constraints. According to an email sent to its subscribers, FreshToHome will continue to service Doodhwala’s customer base in Bengaluru.
‘Nanny-share’ child-care startup Cozykin abruptly shuts down – CozyKin, a Boston-area “nanny-share” startup, abruptly announced Tuesday to employees and clients that it would shut down, leaving surprised nannies out of work and parents scrambling to find someone to care for their children after this month. “We worked diligently over the past few years to keep improving and deliver on our values,” CozyKin management wrote in an e-mail to employees. “We are disappointed that this will not be the service to bring this vision to life.” The company said in e-mails that its last day of operation would be Oct. 31. The move will affect 148 employees, the company said in a notification filed with the state.
Toronto based FinTech startup Planswell shuts – Toronto based FinTech startup Planswell announced that it is shutting down. The company confirmed that all 57 employees would be out looking for a new job. Planswell was developing a financial planning service for Canadians looking to build financial plans. Its business model included acting as a brokerage to connect people with mortgage, investment, and insurance offers. The company had previously claimed to have built over 150,000 financial plans for Canadians.