🦸♂️ The $1 Billion Giveaway
What’s happened this week in the Tech & Startup world? 🌍 Nike eyes up Blockchain powered trainers, Apple works on some game changing new headphones and dogs prevent justice.
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The Grapevine Newsflash 🔥
11 tech & startup stories in 141 seconds.
💰Stripe has raised $600m in funding at a $36bn valuation: With the current situation shifting economic focus onto e-commerce, and with Zoom, Instacart and DoorDash as clients, it’s possible this funding isn’t coincidental timing! Read more details about the funding here or listen to this fantastic podcast between Tim Ferris and the Stripe CEO here.
🎧Apple’s Customisable Headphones: Apple are developing a ‘retro look’ set of overhear headphones that will include ‘swappable earbuds’ alongside noise cancelling and Siri integration. Read more here. In addition, yesterday they also announced a new ‘cheap’ iPhone.
Getting in on the Action: Since the quarantines began, the attention has been firmly on Zoom. However, yesterday US telco Verizon, agreed to buy Zoom rival ‘Bluejeans’. Verizon will be offering it to their business customers so they can keep up with the times. The price of the company? A cool sub-$500m.
Interested in ‘Growth’? Check out this fascinating podcast with Mike Duboe, ex-head of growth at Stitch Fix and current investor at Greylock partners. 👏👏👏
FinTech? It’s Easy! Santander is taking on TransferWise, launching PagoFx, a standalone app giving customers speedy, low cost cross border payments functionality 🌍 This is another example of a big bank launching a FinTech challenger proposition to protect revenue and retain customers. Other examples? Bo, Mettle and Esme Loans.
In my {Zoom} Chambers Now! The legal industry has been resistant to adopting technology, until now. In fact, the changes to video/audio hearings have resulted in ‘more changes in 4-10 days than the last 4-10 years’ 📹 However, Issues are rife - dogs interrupting sentencing, lawyers being dropped from the call by accident and even a mistrial decision after a lawyer was overcome with a coughing fit. Read more here 🧑⚖️
🕶 Virtual Reality Credit Cards: VR Check out this awesome video showing how Apple could use augmented reality to give its credit card customers a new interface for their money. Cool? Very. Useful? Not convinced. See for yourself here.
Prime Time: It’s been revealed that Amazon customers are spending $11,000 a second its products and services which has also boosted CEO, Jeff Bezos’, net worth by 20% (or $24bn to $138bn) since January. It’s not all smooth sailing though as a group of employees are advocating a ‘Sick Day’ to protest their inadequate working conditions.
Q1 2020 VC Funding: What’s happened to Venture Capital funding so far in 2020? Check out the CB Insights report here 💰
CryptoKick 👠: Nike has patented a blockchain tokenisation system for shoes. Simply put, buyers and sellers can ensure they’re buying the real deal, and not a rip off version. Get the detail and view the patent itself here.
New Era of Privacy: Governments around the world have been using new tools to track and monitor individuals 🕵️ This includes drones, facial recognition & phone data. The public have largely accepted the necessity of this but many fear governments might not be inclined to wind down these practices after. What will this mean for privacy? Read more here.
A Positive Spin
We don’t need to tell you about what’s going on in the world this week; but we do want to tell you about the companies (especially startups) doing their part to support people around the world.
💰 Founder of Twitter & Square, Jack Dorsey, has pledged $1bn (or 28% of his wealth) to fund Covid-19 causes. Another opaque billionaire promise? Hell no, you can watch him give it away dollar by dollar right here.
😷 Jack Altman, former President of the startup incubator Y Combinator, has set up a campaign to crowdfund 1 billion masks. He’s asking corporations to fund the project … with a minimum order of 10 million masks.
Bonus: Want to spice up your Zoom calls while supporting a good cause? For a donation, you can request a cameo appearance in your video chat from a US farm’s llamas, goats & other animals. Click here for Goat 2 Meeting 🐐
So that’s all for this week!
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Over & Out,
Nick & Louis