Tag: Uber

In the News: Beyond Meat teams up with Dunkin’, humanoid robots – creepy or dangerous?

In the News: Beyond Meat teams up with Dunkin’, humanoid robots – creepy or dangerous?

Jul 29, 2019 |

The excitement around Beyond Meat is still sizzling as the company teams up with Dunkin’, has new plant-based products in store, and its stock continues to rise. Meanwhile, The Financial Times asks: Why does Israel lead the world in computer vision? Back at the office, we celebrated National Intern Day with WayUp. Read that and more below. Startup Nation and beyond “Humanoid robots are a familiar trope in popular culture, but is making machines look like us a little bit creepy and even potentially dangerous?” See what leaders in the field have to say, including Intuition Robotics CEO and co-founder Dor Skuler. Forbes explores: Why WayUp Launched a National Holiday That Trends #1 Worldwide Every Year. Top tech news this week Mobility…Zoomcar allows users to try electric vehicles at short-term rentals, says CEO Greg Moran and Uber tests monthly subscription that combines Eats, rides, bikes and scooters. Cybersecurity…ThetaRay 4.0 With IntuitiveAI Gives Banks a Powerful New Weapon Against Financial Cybercrime. Consumer Software…92% of US freelancers can’t take a nonworking vacation, a new survey by HoneyBook reveals. Here’s why. News...

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In the News: Lots of IPO talk, while Israel works to ‘scale up’

In the News: Lots of IPO talk, while Israel works to ‘scale up’

May 13, 2019 |

Everyone’s talking about how it’s raining IPOs – following Beyond Meat’s Nasdaq debut, Uber went public this past Friday; see interesting data here on today’s tech IPOs. Or watch my interview where I discuss how OurCrowd provides access to startups before they go public. Is Israel at 71 a scale-up nation? Read what I and other VCs have to say in this article. Startup Nation and beyond “There are more than 6,600 startups in Israel’s small and connected economy, 14 times the concentration of startups per capita in Europe.” Turning 71, Israel can look with pride at the tech firms it has generated. Featured in Forbes: How is fintech unicorn Lemonade disrupting the insurance business? See how the startup BioCatch prevents identity fraud by observing device interactions. Great coverage of Sweetch: Promising patients’ compliance and engagement with AI-based behavioral intelligence engine. Top tech news this week Healthcare…For Medical Cannabis Users, the Biggest Problem Is a Consistent Dose, Says Syqe Medical CEO and Israeli startup Insightec uses ultrasound waves to reduce Parkinson’s tremors. Cybersecurity…CyberX Selected as “Hot IoT Security Startup to Watch” Based on Named Enterprise Customers, Strength of Team, and Investors. News from the Industry  Honing Harvest: With...

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Why Uber Bought JUMP

Why Uber Bought JUMP

Jan 16, 2019 |

When Uber bought a small electric bike company in April 2018, it came as a shock to many. What was behind the acquisition of JUMP Mobility Technologies, an OurCrowd portfolio company? What did it suggest about how innovative companies could stay on the cutting edge of business models and technologies? A disruptive innovation gives new consumers at the bottom of a market access to a product or service historically only accessible to consumers with a lot of money or skill. These innovators figure out how to compete asymmetrically with market leaders, ultimately overturning — or disrupting — the status quo. New technologies, new business models, social trends or government policy may catalyze this process. This is exactly what happened in JUMP’s case. Municipalities granted existing bike-sharing vendors in cities like New York, San Francisco and Portland near-monopolies and they naturally grew complacent. These vendors essentially used pre-iPhone technology. Manual bikes needed to be picked up and returned to bulky, and often inconvenient, docking stations. Consumers grumbled about the mobile interface, pricing and the need to return the bike to...

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Sharing is Caring: From Ownership to Collaborative Consumption in a Sharing Economy

Sharing is Caring: From Ownership to Collaborative Consumption in a Sharing Economy

Jun 22, 2016 |

Airbnb and Uber may have become household terms, but they are far from being the only successful players in the sharing economy, also known as the gig economy, the peer economy and collaborative consumption – terms that refer to technology companies that enable individuals to rent out their under-used assets or skills. Companies like Chegg (homework help), WeWork (office sharing), Lyft (ride sharing), TaskRabbit (household errands), SoBi (bike sharing), Prosper (peer-to-peer lending), Boatbound (boat sharing), Zipcar (car sharing) and Etsy (a handmade marketplace) – as well as “Golden Oldie” eBay – are just some of the noteworthy names in the sharing space. The sharing economy has developed to cover a wide variety of core verticals, the primary ones being transportation, real estate, goods, and money, but that also has seen interesting developments in areas like utilities, health, food, and the corporate arena. But what makes the sharing economy significant, and why is it growing so fast? Part of the answer is that it brings together strangers by mobilizing technology, markets, and crowdsourcing capabilities, which creates a novel way of doing...

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