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VCs bet $12M on Troops, a Slackbot for sales teams Jun 06, 2019

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Slack wants to be the new operating system for teams, something it has made clear on more than one occasion, including in its recent S-1 filing. To accomplish that goal, it put together an in-house $80 million venture fund in 2015 to invest in third-party developers building on top of its platform. Weeks ahead of its direct listing on The New York Stock Exchange, it continues to put that money to work. Troops is the latest to land additional capital from the enterprise giant.

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AntiToxin sells safetytech to clean up poisoned platforms Jun 05, 2019

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The big social networks and video games have failed to prioritize user well-being over their own growth. As a result, society is losing the battle against bullying, predators, hate speech, misinformation and scammers. Typically when a whole class of tech companies have a dire problem they can’t cost-effectively solve themselves, a software-as-a-service emerges to fill the gap in web hosting, payment processing, etc.

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Dilution: The good, the bad and the ugly Jun 05, 2019

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Bernard Moon Contributor Bernard Moon is co-founder and partner at SparkLabs Group, a network of accelerators and venture capital funds.

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Cookware startup Great Jones launches Potline, a text service for recipes and advice Jun 04, 2019

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Great Jones, a startup selling pots, pans and even an oven directly to consumers, is introducing a new way to get help in the kitchen. Potline is a free text message service where anyone can ask for recipe ideas, or get advice when things are going wrong in the middle of the cooking process, or get tips on how to clean up afterwards.

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Fitness startup Mirror nears $300M valuation with fresh funding Jun 04, 2019

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Today, Peloton is a bonafide success. The company, which sells $2,245 internet-connected exercise bikes, boasts a $4 billion valuation and a cult following. That hasn’t always been the case. For years, Peloton battled for venture capital investment and struggled to attract buyers. Now that it’s proven the market for tech-enabled home exercise equipment and affiliated subscription products, a whole bunch of startups are chasing down the same customer segment.

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Startups net more than capital with NBA players as investors Jun 03, 2019

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Mary Ann Azevedo Contributor Share on Twitter Mary Ann Azevedo covers startups and tech at Crunchbase News. More posts by this contributor It’s not so obvious that this VC firm is focused on impact With these numbers, it’s no surprise SoftBank is investing in Latin America If you’re a big basketball fan like me, you’ll be glued to the TV watching the Golden State Warriors take on the Toronto Raptors in the NBA finals.

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Machine learning startup Weights & Biases raises $15M Jun 03, 2019

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Weights & Biases, a startup building development tools for machine learning, has raised $15 million in its second round of funding. The company was started by CrowdFlower founders Lukas Biewald and Chris van Pelt, along with former Google engineer Shawn Lewis. (Under its new name Figure Eight, CrowdFlower was acquired by Appen for up to $300 million in March.

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Logz.io lands $52M to keep growing open source-based logging tools May 31, 2019

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Logz.io announced a $52 million Series D investment today. The round was led by General Catalyst. Other investors participating in the round included OpenView Ventures, 83North, Giza Venture Capital, Vintage Investment Partners, Greenspring Associates and Next47. Today’s investment brings the total raised to nearly $100 million, according to Crunchbase data. Logz.

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Firefly raises $30M to bring more ads to Ubers, Lyfts and taxis May 31, 2019

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Firefly, a startup that allows ridehail drivers to make money from advertising, has raised $30 million in Series A funding. The company is about to launch in New York City, where it’s also acquiring the digital operations of advertising company Strong Outdoor. Co-founder and CEO Kaan Gunay said this will allow Firefly to start working with traditional taxis in a big way.

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Pillar launches with $5.5M from Kleiner Perkins and others to tackle your student loan debt May 30, 2019

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A new startup aims to help you get your student loans under control. Today, an app called Pillar, backed by $5.5 million in seed funding led by Kleiner Perkins, is launching a simpler way for consumers to better understand their student loan debt — and even pay it off early. To do so, the app connects with your student loan servicer and bank, then makes personalized suggestions based on your loans, your income, and your spending.

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