Wed.Jan 12, 2022

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Women millionaire founders under 35: Three different journeys

Entrepreneurs' Organization

Contributed by Libby Rothschild , EO New Jersey, the founder of Dietitian Boss , an online education and coaching platform that shows registered dietitians how to start, grow and scale a virtual private practice. In photo, from left: Christine Yaged, Justine Tiu and Libby Rothschild. Hitting the million-dollar mark isn’t easy—as every founder who has done so will tell you.

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Q&A: How Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Can Help You

StartupNation

We reached out to Brianna Ellison, director of community engagement for Verizon, as part of our initiative to bring the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program to Michigan entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners. Brianna Ellison. From marketing tools to one-on-one mentoring, learn more about what Verizon is doing to help small businesses in Detroit and throughout Michigan in this Q&A.

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Nigeria’s SeamlessHR raises $10M to expand HR and payroll solutions across Africa

TechCrunch

Africa’s appetite for cloud computing software continues to increase as connectivity and bandwidth opportunities push boundaries. Per reports, the continent’s cloud computing industry coupled with the Middle East is expected to grow to $31.4 billion in 2026 from $14.2 billion last year. SeamlessHR , a Nigeria-based company that wants to help African businesses “leverage the continent’s greatest asset: abundant human capital” with its cloud-based human resources (HR) and payroll software, has rai

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Exciting Protocol Lead Opportunity

A VC: Musings of a VC in NYC

Last month our portfolio company Kickstarter announced the creation of a protocol organization that will develop a web3 protocol for the crowdfunding of creative projects. They are now assembling a protocol team and are talking to candidates to lead that effort. The protocol lead role is an exciting one that combines product leadership, smart contract development, team management, and a lot more.

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From Curiosity to Competitive Edge: How Mid-Market CEOs Are Using AI to Scale Smarter

Speaker: Lee Andrews, Founder at LJA New Media & Tony Karrer, Founder and CTO at Aggregage

This session will walk you through how one CEO used generative AI, workflow automation, and sales personalization to transform an entire security company—then built the Zero to Strategy framework that other mid-market leaders are now using to unlock 3.5x ROI. As a business executive, you’ll learn how to assess AI opportunities in your business, drive adoption across teams, and overcome internal resource constraints—without hiring a single data scientist.

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Checkout.com raises $1B round at $40B valuation

TechCrunch

Payments company Checkout.com isn’t just a unicorn — it has closed a $1 billion Series D funding round. Following today’s round, the company is now valued at $40 billion. That’s a stark increase compared to last year’s valuation. With its Series C round , the company raised $450 million at a $15 billion valuation — it represents a 167% valuation jump in 12 months, which is not too bad.

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Headspace Health acquires AI-powered mental health and wellness company Sayana

TechCrunch

Headspace Health has acquired Sayana , an AI-powered mental health and wellness company, for an undisclosed amount. Headspace Health says the acquisition of the San Francisco-based company will expand its ability to provide personalized self-care to its users. The acquisition comes as Headspace and Ginger merged last year to form Headspace Health, which is valued at $3 billion.

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Why Service Businesses Should Offer Physical Products, Too

StartupNation

In an effort to increase revenue and balance cash flow, many service businesses are now attempting to mix products with their services. Customers for services ranging from personal trainers to web designers are big on the personalization and convenience factors. Hybrid solutions—products and services combined into original offerings—can help your business attract new customers and ramp up demand among existing ones by providing exceptional value.

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Outlines showers your home with recyclable options

TechCrunch

The sign of a true entrepreneur is someone who can look around and go “wait a minute, there must be a better way. ” That approach worked well for Outlines ‘ founders, who are tackling the unsexy but pretty serious recycling issue of shower curtain liners. The company just closed a $1 million pre-seed lead by Social Impact Capital to make sure that the giant water-splash-stopping sheets of plastic that are present in most of the 128 million households in the U.S. get sustainably

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How COVID-19 Has Impacted the Gig Economy (and How Freelancers Can Pivot)

StartupNation

It’s hard to see any area of work and life that has been left untouched by COVID-19. This unprecedented pandemic has impacted industries and businesses of all sizes, and that includes the gig economy. In March, media like The New York Times predicted the erosion of the gig economy. However, many months later, the reality is that there has been an adverse impact , but there has also been a positive outcome.

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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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TravelPerk adds $115M to equity and debt Series D, discloses unicorn valuation

TechCrunch

SME-focused business travel booking platform TravelPerk has topped up the $160 million in equity and debt it raised last in a Series D last April with an additional $115 million — closing out the round at $275 million. TravelPerk said its business is now being valued at $1.3 billion — meaning it’s achieved coveted “unicorn” status.

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The Former McDonalds Cook Who Made $1 Billion In Less Than 7 Months

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Crypto exchange CEO Changpeng Zhao is now worth $96 billion Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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BigPanda gets its horn after securing $190M in fresh capital

TechCrunch

AIOps leader BigPanda is now valued at $1.2 billion following a new Series D round of $190 million led by Advent International. Joining Advent in the round are Insight Partners and other existing investors. The latest round gives the company $317 million in total funding, according to Crunchbase data. Assaf Resnick, BigPanda co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch the company is cementing its leadership in AIOps event correlation and automation.

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Asset Management Is a Peculiar Industry Ripe for Disruption

David Teten VC

“ One summer day, probably in the 1870s, friends of a major short-seller got together on the shores of Newport, Rhode Island, where they admired the enormous yachts of New York’s richest brokers. After gazing long and thoughtfully at the beautiful boats, the short seller asked wryly, ‘Where are the customers’ yachts?’ ”. Jason Zweig, in his introduction to Fred Schwed’s 1940s Wall Street classic, “Where Are the Customers’ Yachts – A Good Hard Look at Wall Street”.

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15 Modern Use Cases for Enterprise Business Intelligence

Large enterprises face unique challenges in optimizing their Business Intelligence (BI) output due to the sheer scale and complexity of their operations. Unlike smaller organizations, where basic BI features and simple dashboards might suffice, enterprises must manage vast amounts of data from diverse sources. What are the top modern BI use cases for enterprise businesses to help you get a leg up on the competition?

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AI-powered transcription platform DeepScribe raises $30M to unburden doctors from tedious data entry

TechCrunch

DeepScribe , an AI-powered medical transcription platform, has raised $30 million in series A funding led by Nina Achadjian at Index Ventures, with participation from Scale.ai CEO Alex Wang, Figma CEO Dylan Field, and existing investors Bee Partners, Stage 2 Capital and 1984 Ventures. The company’s latest round of funding follows its $5.2 million seed round announced in May 2021.

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Interview with Sutton Capital: Emerging Managers, Fundraising, Limited Partners, VC Strategy

David Teten VC

I did a live interview today with Joel Palathinkal, CEO, Sutton Capital , and an LP / Mentor to emerging investment managers. Sutton Capital invests in opportunities focused on Fintech, Real Estate, B2B SaaS, Deep Tech, Space Exploration, Impact Investing, Cleantech, & Climate Change. Early in Joel’s career, he ran technology product innovation in Fintech, Artificial Intelligence, & for the Dept. of Defense.

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Jakarta-based investment app Pluang raises $55M led by Accel

TechCrunch

Jakarta-based investment app Pluang announced that it has raised $55 million led by Accel. This is a follow-on to its Series B and brings that round’s total to $110 million. The funding will be used to make Pluang available in more Southeast Asian countries, increase its asset classes and on hiring. . Pluang’s last round of funding was a $3 million Series A in 2019. .

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How To Use The 3 P’s Of Marketing To Sell Anything To Anyone

Entrepreneur's Handbook

Discover how to make more sales using the powerful combination of Packaging, Priming, and Prestige. Continue reading on Entrepreneur's Handbook ».

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The GTM Intelligence Era: ZoomInfo 2025 Customer Impact Report

ZoomInfo customers aren’t just selling — they’re winning. Revenue teams using our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform grew pipeline by 32%, increased deal sizes by 40%, and booked 55% more meetings. Download this report to see what 11,000+ customers say about our Go-To-Market Intelligence platform and how it impacts their bottom line. The data speaks for itself!

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Jitterbit acquires low-code service PrimeApps

TechCrunch

API transformation company Jitterbit today announced that it has acquired PrimeApps , a Turkey-based low-code application development service. Jitterbit plans to combine its API platform with PrimeApps to build an end-to-end platform that will make it easier for non-technical users to build business apps, something that — almost by default — includes integrating different data sources.

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Using Technology to Address Nigeria’s Urgent Educational Challenges

Impact Hub

Nigeria is quickly becoming one of the most important tech hubs in Africa. From healthcare to financial services, Nigerians are using technology to solve some of the country’s most pressing issues in various fields, many of which were exacerbated by the pandemic. When the New Economy Booster program called for businesses to offer support and resources to enable them to thrive despite the pandemic, it received applications from many innovative technology companies.

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Web3Auth secures $13M from Sequoia India to simplify crypto onboarding and authentication

TechCrunch

Web3 is seen as the future of the internet because it allows people to control their own data and digital assets, but crypto developers have been learning from the past when it comes to onboarding new users. The current state of crypto onboarding is unwieldy and unnecessarily prolonged due to the seed phrase, a series of words created by the crypto wallet to regain access.

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Using Technology to Address Some of Nigeria’s Most Pressing Educational Needs

Impact Hub

Nigeria is quickly becoming one of the most important tech hubs in Africa. From healthcare to financial services, Nigerians are using technology to solve some of the country’s most pressing issues in various fields, many of which were exacerbated by the pandemic. When the New Economy Booster program called for businesses to offer support and resources to enable them to thrive despite the pandemic, it received applications from many innovative technology companies.

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How Top Tech CFOs Solve Annual Planning’s Biggest Challenges

Gearing up for 2025 annual planning? Our latest eBook from the Operators Guild is your ultimate guide. Discover real-world solutions and best practices shared by top CFOs, drawn directly from discussions within OG’s vibrant online community. Learn from senior executives at high-growth tech startups as they outline financial planning strategies, align CEO and board goals, and coordinate budgets across departments.

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Nuro’s newest autonomous delivery bot is designed for the masses

TechCrunch

Nuro showed off Wednesday one of the final pieces of its commercial autonomous delivery strategy. The startup, which has raised more than $2.13 billion since former Google engineers Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu founded the company in June 2016 , unveiled a third-generation electric autonomous delivery vehicle designed for commercial operations and manufactured in partnership with BYD North America.

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Making the Exit a Top Priority

The Seraf Compass

When pitching to investors, many entrepreneurs get overzealous with their exit strategy, spending too much time on what might be, and not focusing enough on the practicalities of bringing their vision to market. After all, exits aren’t a possibility without working product and a functioning business. In certain situations, however, a proactive, explicit exit strategy is what the entrepreneur and board require as a condition of going forward.

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Merit grabs $50M Series B to expand digital credentials platform

TechCrunch

When we think about identity in the digital world, it usually involves a username and password, but Merit (originally called Sigma) wants to help governments issue digital credentials that link back to a government license database with the goal of bringing an end to flimsy paper cards. Today the company announced a hefty $50 million Series B. Rose Park Advisors led the round with participation from prior investors a16z, Bow Capital and Govtech Fund, along with new investors Experian Ventures, S

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How Correlated are the Web 2 and Web 3 Software Markets?

Tomasz Tunguz

In the last few weeks, public software company multiples have halved. As have cryptocoins. Solana and Etherum followed Snowflake and Elastic downwards. So much for the Santa Claus rally. Both declines seem to have been catalyzed by the Fed’s intention to hike the Fed Funds rate three to four times in 2022. Beyond the most recent cycle, how often do the web2 and web3 software markets move in synchrony?

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5 Ways You Can Win Faster with Gen AI in Sales

Incorporating generative AI (gen AI) into your sales process can speed up your wins through improved efficiency, personalized customer interactions, and better informed decision- making. Gen AI is a game changer for busy salespeople and can reduce time-consuming tasks, such as customer research, note-taking, and writing emails, and provide insightful data analysis and recommendations.