 It took more than a week for remaining Skully execs to admit to themselves it was time to shut down. But late last night the company finally sent customers an email, which was obtained by TechCrunch, telling them it has officially closed its doors. The startup’s troubles have been brewing for several months but came to a head two weeks ago when Skully’s board forced founders… Read More
Playbuzz has been offering publishers tools to create interactive/social media-friendly content like galleries, lists and polls. Now it’s giving them new ways to track the effectiveness of those tools.
The company is announcing the launch of its analytics product, Impact — which was previously in beta testing with select partners, but is now available to all Playbuzz partners. Read More
Tech unicorn and sharing economy darling Airbnb has informed the State of Delaware that it’s raising another heap of cash. TechCrunch independently verified that Airbnb indicated in a 28 page filing on July 28th that it has plans to bring in additional late-stage capital. Almost a year after its last raise of $1.6 billion, the company is said to be adding $850 million to its… Read More
One of these days we’re going to see aircraft go electric, just as cars are — but not for a while. In the meantime, we can’t slack off when it comes to the research that will make it possible. NASA has announced five research projects that may help make planes more efficient and green. Read More
Google’s self-driving car project is losing Chris Urmson, who served as the unit’s CTO and lead technical resource after going the company from Carnegie Mellon. Urmson has considerable status among roboticist in the world of autonomous vehicles, but said in a Medium post announcing his departure that he was “ready for a fresh challenge,” without specifying what… Read More
Spotify is doubling down on its strategy to beat Apple Music with big data-driven personalized playlists like Discover Weekly — a huge hit that saw 40 million users in its first year. Today it launches Release Radar, a 2-hour algorithmically personalized playlist updated each Friday that features newly released songs from artists each user already listens to. Release Radar will appear at… Read More
The average seed round in the nascent cannabis industry in the U.S. hovers around $1 million, according to hemp and cannabis-focused investment research by Poseidon Asset Management. But Denver-based Baker Technologies Inc. has raised $1.6 million in seed funding for software that helps marijuana dispensaries win new customers, eliminate long lines in stores, and retain and reward their… Read More
It seems there’s no limit to the perils being faced by athletes at the Rio 2016 Olympics: not just their competitors, but toxic water, poor accommodations and impressive mobile bills. Add malicious pandas to the menu — virtual ones, at least. A nasty Trojan known as Zeus Panda has made its way to the Olympic host just in time for an influx of visitors. Read More
Connected bikes could be huge assets to the future of urban transit, especially as cities and cars grow more connected, too. But smart cycles can be very expensive, and cyclists also tend to be very particular about, and attached to, their bikes. Shoka’s new Shoka Bell is an accessory that adds a heavy helping of intelligence to your bike without requiring the purchase of an entirely… Read More
In a beacon of hope for onlooking founders, Y Combinator reject and network analytics startup Kentik Technologies, locked down a $23 million Series B this morning. Let’s be honest — most of us don’t know anything about network infrastructure. Fortunately for most of us, we can afford not to know. For internet service providers and companies making use of a large number of… Read More
