Author Archives: Ingrid Lunden

Facebook has acquired Servicefriend, which builds ‘hybrid’ chatbots, for Calibra customer service

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As Facebook prepares to launch its new cryptocurrency Libra in 2020, it’s putting the pieces in place to help it run. In one of the latest developments, it has acquired Servicefriend, a startup that built bots — chat clients for messaging apps based on artificial intelligence — to help customer service teams, TechCrunch has confirmed. […] Continue reading Facebook has acquired Servicefriend, which builds ‘hybrid’ chatbots, for Calibra customer service→

Aliro comes out of stealth with $2.7M to ‘democratize’ quantum computing with developer tools

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It’s still early days for quantum computing, but we’re nonetheless seeing an interesting group of startups emerging that are helping the world take advantage of the new technology now. Aliro Technologies, a Harvard startup that has built a platform for developers to code more easily for quantum environments — “write once, run anywhere” is one […] Continue reading Aliro comes out of stealth with $2.7M to ‘democratize’ quantum computing with developer tools→

LinkedIn launches skills assessments, tests that let you beef up your credentials for job hunting

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LinkedIn, the social networking service for the working world, is today taking the wraps off its latest effort to provide its users with better tools for presenting their professional selves, and to make the process of recruitment on the platform more effective. It will now offer a new feature called Skills Assessments: short, multiple-choice tests […] Continue reading LinkedIn launches skills assessments, tests that let you beef up your credentials for job hunting→

Salesforce doubles down on verticals, launches Manufacturing and Consumer Goods Clouds

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As legacy industries make the migration to cloud-based, digital solutions to run and grow their businesses, Salesforce is hoping that it will get a cut of the action when it comes to their IT investments. The CRM giant has been doubling down on building specialised solutions for individual industry verticals, and today, it is unveiling new […] Continue reading Salesforce doubles down on verticals, launches Manufacturing and Consumer Goods Clouds→

SmartDrive snaps up $90M for in-truck video telematics solutions for safety and fuel efficiency

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Trucks and other large commercial vehicles and the biggest whales on the road today — are they also, by virtue of that size, some of the most dangerous and inefficient if they are driven badly. Today, a startup that has built a platform aimed at improving both of those areas has raised a large round […] Continue reading SmartDrive snaps up $90M for in-truck video telematics solutions for safety and fuel efficiency→

Payments giant Stripe debuts a credit card in its latest step into the financing fray

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Last week, when the popular payments startup Stripe made some waves with its first move into money lending through the launch of Stripe Capital, we reported that the company was also soon going to be launching a credit card. Now, that news is official. Today, the company is doubling down on financing with the launch […] Continue reading Payments giant Stripe debuts a credit card in its latest step into the financing fray→

Payments giant Stripe debuts a credit card in its latest step into the financing fray

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Last week, when the popular payments startup Stripe made some waves with its first move into money lending through the launch of Stripe Capital, we reported that the company was also soon going to be launching a credit card. Now, that news is official. Today, the company is doubling down on financing with the launch […] Continue reading Payments giant Stripe debuts a credit card in its latest step into the financing fray→

Snyk grabs $70M more to detect security vulnerabilities in open source code and containers

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A growing number of IT breaches has led to security becoming a critical and central aspect of how computing systems are run and maintained. Today, a startup that focuses on one specific area — developing security tools aimed at developers and the work they do — has closed a major funding round that underscores the […] Continue reading Snyk grabs $70M more to detect security vulnerabilities in open source code and containers→

Q-CTRL raises $15M for software that reduces error and noise in quantum computing hardware

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As hardware makers continue to work on ways of making wide-scale quantum computing a reality, a startup out of Australia that is building software to help reduce noise and errors on quantum computing machines has raised a round of funding to fuel its U.S. expansion. Q-CTRL is designing firmware for computers and other machines (such […] Continue reading Q-CTRL raises $15M for software that reduces error and noise in quantum computing hardware→

Kabbage acquires Radius Intelligence, the marketing tech firm with a database of 20M small businesses

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Data is the new oil, as the saying goes, and today Kabbage — a fintech startup backed by SoftBank that has built a business around lending up to $250,000 to small and medium enterprises, using AI-based algorithms to help determine the terms of the loan — is picking up an asset to expand its own […] Continue reading Kabbage acquires Radius Intelligence, the marketing tech firm with a database of 20M small businesses→