Others

Wattpad ditches ‘Paid Stories’ for a freemium model

October 3, 2023
After launching its “Paid Stories” program in 2019, the social storytelling platform Wattpad is now replacing it with a new freemium model called “Wattpad Originals” that gives authors the best of both worlds– monetization and growing their audience of non-paying readers. With the new model, authors can hide certain chapters behind a paywall while also […]

Science lab automation and robotics startup Automata raises $40M

October 3, 2023
Automata, a company that combines software and hardware to automate science labs around the globe, has raised $40 million in an equity-based round of funding, as the U.K.-based startup looks to double down on recent growth across Europe and the U.S. Founded out of London in 2015, Automata in its original guise targeted myriad industries […]

Ten Key Labs wants to simplify managing equity for startups

October 3, 2023
Amar Varma, a three-time entrepreneur and VC, experienced firsthand the challenge of dealing with administering equity stakes within a startup. It’s his belief that many existing solutions — e.g. spreadsheets and even software-as-a-service tools — require founders to handle an outsize amount of the management and accounting work manually, and often end up complicating rather […]

Venture capital spring is here

October 3, 2023
Over the past six months, I have seen a trickle of early-stage financings turn into a river, and I predict we will soon see a gush.