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It’s Monday and we’re excited to plunge ourselves into another week of summer tech news. By summer – when the VCs stop answering their phones in favor of drinking elderflower lime martinis, playing pickles, caving in the Bitcoin mines and kite surfing (I can only assume this is what VCs do for their summer vacation), it gives us tech reporters a little more time to dig deeper into some of the stories and companies that pique our curiosity.
In my distant past as a startup founder, long before I became a writer at toptecheasy.com, exhibiting at toptecheasy.com Disrupt turned out to be a huge moment for my first startup. As a startup startup founder, you know that the hustle and bustle is part of the game; if your company doesn’t have the budget to attend, you can volunteer and attend that way. Don’t miss the Volunteer FAQ to see if this is a good option for you! — hi
The toptecheasy.com Top 3
Startups and VC
The regulatory environment around crypto is shifting in the US as the SEC targets major players in the web3 world and promises to shake things up as usual with aggressive action. David Nage discusses how regulatory oversight affects venture investing in web3. It’s a good conversation with Luke and Anita on this week’s episode of Chain Reaction, for you podcast fans!
Oui Capital, an Africa-focused VC firm based in Lagos and Massachusetts, today announced it has completed the first close of its second $30 million fund, Tage reports. The company wants to strengthen its presence on the continent.
more more more:
- Head of the week: Ugh, why is Natasha M awesome! Don’t miss her Startups Weekly, the succinct summary of what’s been happening in the land of startups over the past week. Also, “The bootstrapped are coming, the bootstrapped are coming” is just straight forward: chefs-kiss:.
- Like games but chainier: The resounding success of Axie Infinity and StepN has convinced a stream of entrepreneurs that web3 gaming is the future. In Rita‘s piece, gaming vets promise to make blockchain games fun and sustainable.
- Still right, just with a thicker treasure chest: Equal Ventures has a new pair of funds. The New York City-based company has closed a $95 million second fund and a $75 million first opportunity fund. Natasha M tracked down from the company’s SEC filings.
- Talk to the machine: UiPath has acquired Reinfer, a London-based startup developing natural language processing (NLP) tools for enterprises, Paul reports.
- Ixnay on the Chipper CashKenya has ordered all banks to stop dealing with Chipper Cash and Flutterwave, claiming the companies are unlicensed, annie reports.
- More vibrant climate market: Climate-focused VC Buoyant Ventures seeks a $100 million fund as the climate market continues to evolve, Harris reports.
Build a solid deck for your quarterly board meetings
Image Credits: Hiroshi Watanabe (Opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Board meetings are great for getting feedback on your progress and your plans for the future, but what’s the best way to tell them what’s going on?
According to Ridge Ventures partner Yousuf Khan, often the best and easiest way to “make sure you’re giving board members the information they want to see is to just ask.”
“Reaching your board not only helps provide direction, it also gives you the opportunity to build your relationship. People appreciate the ability to weigh,” he says.
Khan also provides seven tips for creating a presentation to keep your board informed about your progress, plans, product and finances.
(toptecheasy.com+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams move forward. You can register here.)
Big Tech Inc.
Hyundai is considering acquiring South Korea-based lidar-free autonomous mobility platform 42dot. A spokesperson for 42dot told Kate that the startup is in talks, but warned that terms, including the size of the stake and the valuation of the deal, have not yet materialized.
In one of the craziest moves in a while, Spotify announced that it will introduce a Play button and a Shuffle button at the top of album playlists to make it easier to play the music the way you want. Sarah reports. Plot twist: the separate buttons are only available to paying subscribers. As Sarah concludes, “Streamers may be disappointed to find that what should be an app update in favor of better usability is strangely sold to them as a reason to upgrade.”
A few more:
- You never know when you’ll need jeans in 25 minutes: Ecommerce giant Amazon launches same-day delivery from select stores, including PacSun and Diesel, Aisha reports.
- Accountless Twitter in test: Ivan reports on a new test from Twitter, where you can now use Twitter’s iOS app without signing up for an account.
- Pinterest slides into your mood boards: Social media company Pinterest introduces a new app, Shuffles, for creating collages and mood boards, Sarah reports.
- oh oh: Things get (even) more interesting in hackland, as hackers steal passwords to access 140,000 payment terminals, reports Bag.
- AI might be going too far: There’s a reason more than 450,000 people read Emerging Tech Brew – the thrice-weekly email with the latest technology news impacting you and your world. Best part? It’s free and only takes 5 minutes to read, so there’s really no reason not to try it. To stay on top of the latest advancements in technology and AI, sign up for the Emerging Tech Brew newsletter free.
