Tom Stein
On rare occasion, the cause of a problem can also be the solution. That’s the premise behind a new group of spirituality and self-care startups offering to de-stress our tech-harried life with — yes — technology. Venture-backed companies like Shine, Calm and Headspace have created apps that promise the chance to relax, refresh and collect yourself, for […]
Startups have disrupted all sorts of personal-care industries: hair, skin, vision, nutrition, even shaving. Now, a few are sinking their teeth into dental. It’s a large industry: Spending on oral care is about $40 billion a year, Grand View Research estimates. But for decades it has seen scant innovation. “It’s amazing that with all the […]
You eat what you are. That’s the thesis driving a group of startups that offer nutrition advice customized to individual consumers. After all, nutrition is getting highly personal. Advances in DNA technology are pushing the science from broad guidelines, such as eat less meat and sugar, more fruits and vegetables, to advice tailored to your […]
Ken Hood, managing director at FusionX Ventures, knows how easily good people can fall into the addiction trap. Not long ago, he spent a week in hospital due to complications from knee surgery. “I can’t tell you how many times a nurse came in to ask if I was in pain,” he says. “If I […]
VCs have the means to appreciate the finer things in life. So it’s probably a safe bet that at least one or two have an original Picasso or Warhol hanging on their office walls. And beyond bragging rights, owning one of these greats is probably a good investment, especially given that Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi […]
One of the year’s most surprising stories was that New York City for the first time eclipsed San Francisco in venture funding. New York City startups attracted $4.23 billion in Q3, compared with $4.18 billion for San Francisco/North Bay startups, the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and CB Insights shows. Yes, the New York numbers were […]
Amazon has long been criticized as a retail killer, the bane of big-box stores and mom-and-pop shops everywhere. Even President Donald Trump recently weighed in, tweeting that Amazon is “doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt – many jobs being lost!” But as this president has […]
For most people, buying or selling a home is the biggest, most gut-wrenching transaction of their lives. That’s why a new set of venture-backed startups are hoping to take the stress out of residential real estate by transforming the way houses are bought and sold. Take Knock, which recently raised $32 million led by RRE Ventures. Unlike […]
There’s a boom in baby investments, with VCs going gaga over startups that cater to infants. Deal activity in baby and kids tech grew 48 percent from 2013 to 2016, peaking at 176 deals in 2016, according to research firm CB Insights. And 2017 is on track to exceed that number, with 185 deals expected […]
Chinese tech startups are notorious for copycatting and never innovating. Baidu is the Google of China, Renren is the Facebook of China, Didi Chuxing is the Uber of China, and Tujia is the Airbnb of China, to name a few. But now U.S. companies are flipping the script and starting to imitate a new wave […]