The Plaid ‘mafia’ begins with John Whitfield joining student loan fintech startup summer, TechCrunch
So far this year, one of the most eye-popping startup exits has been Visa’s $5.3 billion acquisition of fintech data services platform Plaid. It’s a major exit in the white-hot fintech space, and while that transaction is still going through regulatory reviews, already some current Plaid employees are becoming alumni and fanning out into the broader startup ecosystem. Could this be the start of a brand new mafia born out of fintech, à la PayPal?
Romania’s Govt. to replace Start-Up Nation with grants for students, diaspora
Romania’s Start-Up Nation program of state grants for entrepreneurs who start new businesses will be temporarily replaced with grants for students and Romanians returning from Diaspora, acting minister of European funds Marcel Bolos announced in an interview for Starupcafe.ro.
‘Uber of deliveries’: Innovative U of T startup is purchased by its biggest customer
A University of Toronto startup that uses crowdsourcing to deliver goods to small businesses has been acquired by its biggest customer. Blip Delivery, founded in 2018 by U of T Mississauga students affiliated with ICUBE’s accelerator program, is the Uber of deliveries, says co-founder and CEO Srikanth Srinivas, who is in his final year of studying computer science.
Students behind ‘boozy booch’ find recipe for success
Like many great ideas, the plan for Christchurch’s latest beverage offering started as a joke. Bomb Bucha co-founders Olivia Manaton, 21, Jack Kendall, 21, Finn Ross, 20, and Ashley Phibbs, 21, were fed up with chewing through so much kombucha in their Ilam flat, Ross suggested making their own brand.
Experts select 50 student startups for free training course – Ministry of Digital Transformation
The network of academic business-incubators YEP has selected 50 student startups that will undergo a three-month training course. The ministry explained that young startups will undergo the incubation program during three months and turn their ideas into their own business with the support of experienced mentors and practitioners.
Imperial launches innovation fund for staff and student startups
Imperial College London has launched its first Innovation Fund to invest in early-stage, high-growth, knowledge-intensive companies. The Fund offers alumni and investors the opportunity to support the commercial development of Imperial’s discoveries into tomorrow’s solutions in medicine, engineering, biochemistry, genetics, materials, quantum computing, data science and beyond.
Five new student startups go head to head in Venture Catalyst Challenge final
From freshwater-free textiles to virtual reality for memory, the teams represent some of the College’s most promising new businesses. The Venture Catalyst Challenge (VCC), run by Imperial Enterprise Lab and powered by Blenheim Chalcot, is the College’s largest entrepreneurial competition for students and alumni, enabling them to develop an innovative idea for commercialisation.
How China is using AI and big data to fight the coronavirus
Chengdu, China – Sitting at the entrance of Chengdu’s East Railway Station, Fu Guobin stared at a screen displaying infrared images of people passing through the station’s gates. As each person entered, a number popped up next to their image indicating their body temperature.
Hungry Marketplace Raises $20M Series B From Former Whole Foods Co-CEO, Celebrities
Hungry Marketplace, a startup that connects independent chefs to corporations that need catering, raised $20 million in a new round of funding.
