In the U.K., a 12-month grace period for compliance with a design code aimed at protecting children online expires today — meaning app makers offering digital services in the market which are “likely” to be accessed by children (defined in this context as users under 18 years old) are expected to comply with a set […]
Sphere raises $2M to help employees lobby for Green 401(k) plans
In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored defined-contribution pension account. However, with legacy institutional investing, most of these have at least some level of fossil fuel involvement and let’s face it, very few of us really know. Now a startup plans to change that. California-based startup Sphere wants to get employees to […]
Google appeals ‘disproportionate’ French copyright talks fine
Google is appealing the more than half a billion dollar fine it got slapped with by France’s competition authority in July. The penalty relates to the adtech giant’s approach toward paying news publishers for content reuse. In a statement today, Sebastien Missoffe, a Google France VP and country manager, characterized the fine as “disproportionate” — […]
Shop prices rise amid driver shortages and Brexit red tape
Retail data shows 0.4% month-on-month increase in August, with 0.6% rise in non-foodUK shop prices rose last month, according to the latest data from the British Retail Consortium, in a sign that driver shortages and the costs of Brexit-induced red tap…
UK-based Heroes raises $200M to buy up more Amazon merchants for its roll-up play
Heroes, one of the new wave of startups aiming to build big e-commerce businesses by buying up smaller third-party merchants on Amazon’s Marketplace, has raised another big round of funding to double down on that strategy. The London startup has picked up $200 million, money that it will mainly be using to snap up more […]
Challenger bank Bunq rolls out Spanish IBANs
Amsterdam-based challenger bank Bunq is updating its service with a handful of new features. In addition to Dutch, German and French bank account numbers, existing and new users in Spain can now get a Spanish IBAN. European IBANs are supposed to work across Europe. Your employer or internet provider can’t force you to get a […]
Peak raises $75M for a platform that helps non-tech companies build AI applications
As artificial intelligence continues to weave its way into more enterprise applications, a startup that has built a platform to help businesses, especially non-tech organizations, build more customized AI decision making tools for themselves has picked up some significant growth funding. Peak AI, a startup out of Manchester, England, that has built a “decision intelligence” […]
US giants top tech industry’s $100M+ a year lobbying blitz in EU
The scale of the tech industry’s spending to influence the European Union’s tech policy agenda has been laid out in a report published today by Corporate Europe Observatory and Lobbycontrol — which found hundreds of companies, groups and business associations shelling out a total of €97 million (~$115M) annually lobbying EU institutions. The level of […]
Dance launches its e-bike subscription service in Berlin
German startup Dance is launching its subscription service in its hometown Berlin. For a flat monthly fee of €79 (around $93 at today’s exchange rate), users will get a custom-designed electric bike as well as access to an on-demand repair and maintenance service. Founded by the former founders of SoundCloud and Jimdo, the company managed […]
Xayn launches a desktop version of its ad-free, privacy-safe search
Berlin-based Xayn, which as we reported last year is doing ad-free, personalized, privacy-safe search as an alternative to tracking and profiling adtech giants like Google, has expanded its product offering — launching a desktop version (in beta for now). The desktop Xayn WebBeta is described as a “light web version” of the product with similar functionality […]