Wattpad is revamping its creator program and making it more accessible
Storytelling platform Wattpad is revamping its creator program and making it more accessible for writers, the company announced on Thursday. Launched last year, the Wattpad Creators Program was limited in scale and “overly complicated,” the company says. Since its launch, Wattpad has paid out nearly $3.8 million in stipends through
Read moreGoogle Wallet adds support for QR-based cards and insurance cards
Google announced an update to Google Wallet today with new features, such as the ability to convert images into passes, a boarding pass integration with Google Messages, and an additional layer of security when saving health cards. The company said that users will soon be able to quickly scan barcodes or
Read moreBack-end development platform Platformatic raises $3.5M
Platformatic, a new back-end development platform, wants to make it easier for enterprises to modernize their infrastructure by giving them the tools to build and deploy microservices-based architectures with the simplicity of a monolith. The company, which was founded by Node.js veterans Luca Maraschi (CEO) and Matteo Collina (CTO), also
Read moreFord pilot program offers Uber drivers in California flexible Mach-E leases
Ford has launched a pilot that will give Uber drivers access to flexible leases on Mustang Mach-E models in three California cities. The pilot program, called Ford Drive, launched Thursday in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It’s an initiative of Ford Next, a division within Ford that incubates
Read moreNew New York-meets-Warsaw VC fund brings in Japan partner to hunt for European startups
The VC which backed such a startups as Socure (raised $741.9M) and Cornerstone OnDemand (now NASDAQ:CSOD) is launching a new fund to support startups in Central Europe. To date the new “ff Red & White” fund from ff Venture Capital has closed €32 million so far, with a final target
Read moreBaidu’s $145M AI fund signals China’s push for AI self-reliance
The U.S.-China decoupling is giving rise to a divided tech landscape between the two major economies, shaping the development of the red-hot area of generative AI, which turns text into various forms of content like prose, images, and videos. China, in order to reduce dependence on the U.S. technological foundation,
Read moreAs part of AI push, Chinese tech giant Baidu is now rolling out an AI venture fund
Here comes yet more money for AI startups. Today, the Chinese search giant Baidu announced that it plans to establish a venture fund with 1 billion yuan ($145 million) to back start-ups focused on content generated by artificial intelligence applications. Reuters, which reported the news earlier, said the company will
Read moreThe elephants in the room at Computex
This year’s Computex, the first since Taiwan eased pandemic-related travel restrictions, was a celebration of the world’s computing and chip industries. But amid the exhibitions, speeches and product announcements, like Jensen Huang’s packed Nvidia keynote (just a day before the company hit a trillion dollar valuation), several topics were barely hinted
Read moreMeasurabl, an ESG platform for real estate, raises $93M
Measurabl, a startup developing a platform for environmental, social and governance (ESG) data in the real estate space, today announced that it raised $93 million in a Series D funding tranche co-led by Energy Impact Partners and Sway Ventures. The round, which Measurabl CEO Matt Ellis described as oversubscribed, brought
Read moreGetYourGuide books $194M at a $2B valuation with travel experiences back in business
The tourist industry is bouncing back after a rough couple of pandemic-stressed years, and in the case of some tourism and travel startups, its momentum is coming in at a pace that’s defying the even the current market climate. Today, GetYourGuide — a Berlin-based startup that has built a marketplace
Read more