Roundup of news and ideas from the world of startups – Week ending 24th Feb 2019
News you can use
Average Student Expects to Make $60k Out of College, Reality is $48,400 – When young adults graduate college and head off into the “real world,” they often feel both excited and nervous. The uneasiness stems from leaving the comfort and fun of a college campus where a student just spent four or more transformative years while the excitement stems from the anticipation of a landing a lucrative job that opens up possibilities far removed from the days of dieting on ramen and Red Bull. However, LendEDU’s most recent study found that college students are overestimating how much they are going to make right out of college compared to what most will likely bring home.
Graduating student Katherine Thomas has “I Did It” written on her mortar board during Commencement Exercises at Boston College in Boston, Massachusetts May 19, 2014. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (UNITED STATES – Tags: EDUCATION SOCIETY)
The 10 highest-paying AI jobs – Trends in Artificial intelligence (AI) are closely watched by industry analysts and technologists. Even students planning a career in this dynamic field are closely watching for developments. This week, techrepublic featured “The 10 highest-paying AI jobs, and the massive salaries they command”
Corporate M&A
Walmart Labs acquires Bengaluru-based startup Dataturks – The digital arm of US-based retailing major Walmart has acqui-hired Bengaluru-based startup Dataturks. The acquisition is expected to enhance Walmart Lab’s machine learning capabilities for content enrichment. The retail giant’s digital arm has been on an acquisition spree. It recently acquired Spatialand and Artificial Intelligence Startup Int.ai.
Facebook acquires visual shopping startup GrokStyle – GrokStyle, a retail computer vision outfit announced that it is being acquired by Facebook. A blog posted on its homepage explained “We built state-of-the-art AI and visual search technology to help consumers readily find, explore, and decide on purchases. Our team and technology will live on, and we will continue using our AI to build great visual search experiences for retail. As part of this next chapter, we are winding down our business.
Apple Reportedly Acquires Pullstring, the AI Startup Behind Alexa, Google Assistant-Based Apps – Apple is pulling up its socks in the AI race and as part of its latest efforts, the iPhone maker has reportedly acquired a San Francisco-based AI startup called Pullstring – also known as ToyTalk. The startup helps companies design and publish voice-based apps which leverage existing voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant.
Coinbase Acquires Blockchain-Tracking Startup Neutrino for Undisclosed Price – Coinbase has acquired blockchain analytics startup Neutrino as part of a wider push to offer more diverse crypto assets across borders. “This is particularly important as we work with regulators and agencies in different countries to bring new assets there,” Coinbase’s director of engineering and product, Varun Srinivasan, told CoinDesk. He added that Neutrino would help Coinbase identify “which new tokens are gaining value and gaining traction in the space.” Neutrino’s eight employees will move into Coinbase’s London office this week, retaining their distinction as a separate entity in order to continue serving external clients. Srinivasan said this acquisition will help Coinbase research new assets while simultaneously ensuring the cryptocurrency exchange can identify undesirable activity, like theft, without handing over internal information to external companies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Failed Startups
Nigerian Fintech Startup, OyaPay Shuts Down – OyaPay, which launched operations in December 2017, was trying to digitize the payment landscape in Nigeria. The now-defunct startup was trying to ensure that offline businesses could accept payment and take forward orders from their customers with or without a smartphone. OyaPay was founded by Abdulhamid Hassan and Achille out of Achille’s apartment in Paris