Starbucks’ 95,000 baristas have a competitor. It doesn’t need sleep. It’s precise in a way that a human could never be. It requires no training. It can’t quit. It has memorized every one of its customers’ orders. There’s never a line for its perfectly turned-out drinks.
It doesn’t require health insurance.
Don’t think of it as the enemy of baristas, insists Kevin Nater, CEO of the company that has produced this technological marvel. Think of it as an instrument people can use to create their ideal coffee experience. Think of it as a cure for “out-of-home coffee drinkers ” — Nater’s phrase — sick of an “inconsistent experience.”
Working mothers who choose to start their own businesses represent a new and growing type of entrepreneur. They are motivated primarily by the desire to be available for their children, and they turned away from the corporate world because their former jobs lacked the opportunity for advancement or flexible scheduling.
The Owlet is a wearable sock that delivers data to parents about their baby’s health.
Regular readers of Springwise may remember our recent covereage of Croatia’s Teddy the Guardian – a soft toy with hidden sensors that monitor babies’ vitals. Offering a similar service, the Owlet is a wearable sock that delivers data to parents about their baby’s health.
It’s starting to feel like the Internet of Things (IoT) train is finally leaving the station, as more and more household appliances become Internet-connected with a smartphone app providing the User Interface/remote controller.
Philip Kaplan, AKA “Pud”, AKA The Guy Who Made Being Online In The Late 1990s Bearable has just announced the official launch of DistroKid, a service for musicians to release unlimited tracks to various online music stores for a flat yearly fee. Folks wanting to try it out can upload any song for free without submitting a credit card.
Artists get 100% of the royalties for their music.
Despite the best efforts of vigilant parents, small children are like magicians with their ability to slip away unnoticed. BeLuvv, a startup in Taiwan, has created Guardian, a small wearable device that can be combined with a smartphone app to track your kid’s movements and prevent them from going into stealth mode. Guardian is currently available for pre-order and scheduled to start shipping at the end of November.
In what feels like an ever-so-slightly protracted seed round, ERN has raised a further $1 million in seed funding, bringing the total raised by the London-headquartered company to $5.6 million. This time the fresh injection of capital is pegged to finance its expansion into Asian markets, as ERN is also announcing that it’s hired ex-American Express Head of Global Marketing Brian Thom as its president for Asia.
La empresa Vitale, fundada por los emprendedores Asier Arregui Lizarbe, Gorka Núñez de Arrugaeta, Víctor Sanz Baztán y Jorge García Galduroz, todos ellos de Navarra y con una dilatada formación y experiencia en el mundo de la actividad física y el fitness, opera ya en España y planea expandirse a nivel internacional gracias, en parte, al apoyo de Sodena que les ha concedido un préstamo participativo.
”la Caixa”, a través del fondo especializado en tecnologías industriales, Caixa Innvierte Industria; el fondo tecnológico Seguranza, promovido por la Consejería de Economía y Empleo de la Junta de Castilla y León y gestionado por Clave Mayor; la sociedad de capital riesgo Ade Capital Sodical gestionada por Ade Gestión Sodical, y el actual equipo directivo de Fast Drinks, han invertido 3,5 millones de euros en la compañía.
