Use cohort analysis to drive smarter startup growth

Cohort analysis is a way of evaluating your business that involves grouping customers into “cohorts” and observing how they behave over time. A commonly used approach is monthly cohort analysis, where customers are grouped by the month they signed up, allowing you to observe how someone

Shepherd raises $6.2M seed round to tackle the construction insurance market

Shepherd, an insurtech startup focused on the construction market, has closed a $6.15 million seed round led by Spark Capital. The funding event comes after the startup raised a pre-seed round in February led by Susa Ventures, which also participated in Shepherd’s latest fundraising event. Th

FBI says Chinese authorities are hacking US-based Uyghurs

The FBI has warned that the Chinese government is using both in-person and digital techniques to intimidate, silence and harass U.S.-based Uyghur Muslims.  The Chinese government has long been accused of human rights abuses over its treatment of the Uyghur population and other mostly Muslim ethnic

Locast suspends local TV streaming service in wake of court ruling

Local TV streaming service Locast has closed up shop, at least for the time being. It suspended operations following a ruling on Tuesday that it couldn’t use its non-profit status as a legal shield. Networks have claimed that Locast violated their copyright. “We are suspending operation

Botify raises $55 million to optimize search engine indexing

Botify has raised a $55 million Series C funding round led by InfraVia Growth with Bpifrance's Large Venture fund also participating. The company has created a search engine optimization (SEO) platform so that your content is better indexed and appears more often in search results. Existing inv

Fintech startup Jeeves raises $57M, goes from YC to $500M valuation in one year

Last summer, Jeeves was participating in Y Combinator's summer batch as a fledgling fintech. This June, the startup emerged from stealth with $31 million in equity and $100 million in debt financing.  Today, the company, which is building an “all-in-one expense management pla

Voice chat is coming to Roblox

As one of the frontrunners in the race to build the metaverse, Roblox is thinking ahead to what virtual worlds really need. And while the platform has had no shortage of growth on its current path — as of July, it boasted 47 million daily active users — it's looking to chart a course toward

Virgin Galactic looks to late September, early October for first commercial crewed flight

Just two months after celebrating its first manned launch to orbit — which is now under investigation with the Federal Aviation Administration — Virgin Galactic wants to return to space. The company will be conducting its first commercial mission, the 23rd for the VSS Unity rocket-power

Europe’s top court slaps down ‘zero rating’ again

Europe’s top court has dealt another blow to “zero rating” — ruling for a second time that the controversial carrier practice goes against the European Union’s rules on open internet access. “Zero rating” refers to commercial offers that can be made by mobi

Alphabet X’s exosuit

Last week, Kathryn Zealand shared some insight on the eve of Women's Equality Day. The post highlighted an issue that’s been apparent to everyone in and around the robotics industry: there's a massive gender gap. It's something we try to be mindful of, particularly when programmin

Tesla ordered to share Autopilot data with the US traffic safety agency

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ordered Tesla to hand over detailed Autopilot data by October 22nd or else face fines of up to $115 million, according to The New York Times. Back in August, NHTSA announced that it’s investigating incidents wherein Tesla vehicles with

Elon Musk warns the Tesla Roadster might not ship until at least 2023

Add the Roadster to the list of delayed Tesla vehicles. On Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk said the performance EV wouldn't make its previously announced 2022 shipment date. “2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn't matter if we had 17 new products, as none wo

Panorama raises $60M in General Atlantic-led Series C to help schools better understand students

Panorama Education, which has built out a K-12 education software platform, has raised $60 million in a Series C round of funding led by General Atlantic. Existing backers Owl Ventures, Emerson Collective, Uncork Capital, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Tao Capital Partners also participated in

Box, Zoom chief product officers discuss how the changing workplace drove their latest collaboration

If the past 18 months is any indication, the nature of the workplace is changing. And while Box and Zoom already have integrations together, it makes sense for them to continue to work more closely. Their newest collaboration is the Box app for Zoom, a new type of in-product integration that allows