Passbase is building a full stack identity engine with privacy baked in

Digital identity startup Passbase has bagged $600k in pre-seed funding led by a group of business angel investors from Alphabet, Stanford, Kleiner Perkins, EY; as well as seed fund investment from Chicago-based Upheaval Investments and Seedcamp. The 2018-founded Silicon Valley-based startup — whose co-founder we chatted to briefly on camera at Disrupt Berlin — is […]

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How ‘neurosculpting’ can train your brain

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March Mindfulness is our new series that examines the explosive growth in mindfulness and meditation technology — culminating in Mashable’s competitive meditation bracket contest. Because March shouldn’t be all madness.

Having sliced open my skull Hannibal Lecter style, I removed the familiar folded lump of still-pulsing pink matter — brains only turn gray when they die — and placed it on a wooden workbench. After massaging it for a while, I picked up a steak knife and started slicing neatly between the hemispheres like I’m on a cooking show. Wait, that couldn’t be good.

“Stop!” my sleeping mind screamed at the image. “What are you thinking?” Read more…

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Randi Zuckerberg launches a new podcast where she tells woke fairy tales

In Randi Zuckerberg’s world of satirical fairytales, “happily ever after” is not a guarantee.
On Friday, Zuckerberg and her longtime business associate Natasha Lewin announced the launch of a silly, yet surprisingly dark, family-friendly podcast call…

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Fresh tickets and New VC partners for the TechCrunch Winter Party

We’ve got a double dose of exciting news for you, startup fans. First, we’re thrilled to announce that investment firms August Capital, SV Angel and Uncork Capital have partnered with us for the 2nd Annual TechCrunch Winter Party at Galvanize on February 8. And second, today we released into the wild another fresh, though limited, […]

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Self-driving scooters and bikes? Uber’s working on it.

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Your electric scooter could one day be autonomous. 

Uber is working on self-driving scooters and bikes, according to 3DRobotics CEO Chris Anderson. The company announced plans to explore electric scooters and bikes that can drive themselves to charging stations and riders. 

In a tweet on Saturday, Anderson revealed that the ride-hailing app is hiring engineers for “Micromobility Robotics” — a division under JUMP, Uber’s on-demand rideshare for bikes and scooters. Its main group, Uber Advance Technologies Group, will continue its work on self-driving cars.

Exciting announcement from @UberATG at today’s @DIYRobocars event. “Micromobility” = autononomous scooters & bikes that can drive themselves to charging or better locations. Hiring now pic.twitter.com/sOjroo8XZI

— Chris Anderson (@chr1sa) January 20, 2019 Read more…

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Redpoint Ventures is raising another $400M to invest in Chinese companies

Redpoint Ventures is doubling down on China. The firm, headquartered in Menlo Park, has filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $400 million across two new China-focused funds. The firm has set a $300 million target for its second flagship China fund, a significant increase from the $180 million it garnered […]

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Why Silicon Valley needs more visas

Henrique Dubugras Contributor Share on Twitter Henrique Dubugras is the founder Brex, the billion-dollar corporate credit provider for startups. When I hear protesters shout, “Immigrants are welcome here!” at the San Francisco immigration office near my startup’s headquarters, I think about how simple a phrase that is for a topic that is so nuanced, especially […]

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Bowtie raises $30M to bring the digital insurance model to Hong Kong

The digital revolution has spawned ‘challenger’ banks that operate entirely online, with no high street presence. That phenomenon has taken off in Europe — particularly the UK — but over in Hong Kong, one of the world’s key financial hubs, the digital-only push is coming to the insurance industry. Bowtie, a Hong Kong-based digital insurer, just […]

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Robot couriers scoop up early-stage cash

Much of the last couple of decades of innovation has centered around finding ways to get what we want without leaving the sofa. But there’s a catch: We can’t lie around ordering pizzas if someone still has to deliver them.

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Bill Gates really identifies with this ‘Silicon Valley’ character, but he has one complaint

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Apropos of nothing, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has decided to share his thoughts on the HBO comedy Silicon Valley.

On Monday, Gates published a new post on his blog — known as GatesNotes (seriously) — about the tech industry satire, which is currently in between seasons. Gates sees Silicon Valley as a rare example of pop culture getting life in the tech world “right.” 

“If you really want to understand how Silicon Valley works today, you should watch the HBO series Silicon Valley,” Gates wrote.

Bill Gates: apparently not opposed to dick jokes!

Bill Gates: apparently not opposed to dick jokes!

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